Background
John Fairfield the son of Ichabod and Sarah (Nason) Scamman Fairfield, was born at Saco, Maine.
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John Fairfield the son of Ichabod and Sarah (Nason) Scamman Fairfield, was born at Saco, Maine.
Little is known of his early life except that he served on a privateer during the War of 1812 and attended Thornton and Limerick Academies.
He engaged in business, unsuccessfully it appears, studied law in a local office, and was admitted to the bar in 1826.
Soon after his admission to the bar he formed a partnership with George Thacher and the firm soon acquired a considerable practise. Fairfield, being especially successful in jury cases, gave most of his time to court-room work. He had also been appointed reporter of supreme court decisions in 1832 and continued this work until 1833, when he entered the Twenty-fourth Congress as a Democrat. He was reelected to the Twenty-fifth Congress, but resigned before the completion of his term to accept the governorship of Maine. He made a favorable impression in the House, although he was active in the attempt to force an investigation of the circumstances attending the death of his colleague, Jonathan Cilley, in the famous duel with Graves of Kentucky. On March 8, 1838, he made a notable speech on the Northeastern boundary question ( Congressional Globe, 25 Cong. , 2 Sess. , App. , pp. 196-203), which undoubtedly contributed greatly to his election as governor in that year. The boundary dispute was becoming acute when he took office. On January 23, 1839, he asked the legislature to authorize the land-agent to expel trespassers front New Brunswick and put a stop to illegal timber cutting. This resulted in a clash with the British authorities and a flare of excitement all along the northern frontiers. War was expected on both sides of the line. Governor Fairfield, backed by the legislature and the public opinion of the state, acted vigorously and ordered the militia to occupy the disputed territory. The trouble soon blew over; on March 25 the Governor accepted the modus vivendi arranged by General Scott and Governor Harvey of New Brunswick, and the troops were recalled. His promptness and vigor, his readiness to challenge the power of Great Britain, contrasting with the somewhat complacent attitude of the Van Burén administration, had made him a national figure. He was returned to office in the same year. With the Whig landslide of 1840, however, he was defeated for the governorship, but was reélected in 1841 and 1842, resigning in 1843 to enter the United States Senate for the unexpired term of Ruel Williams. He thus saw the close of the boundary trouble in the Wcbstcr-Ashburton Treaty, and shared in the wide-spread dissatisfaction which resulted. In his messages he had insisted that the British claims were flimsy in character and had demanded recognition of the rights of Maine. While in the Senate, in reply to Webster’s assertion that the people of Maine were satisfied, he reviewed the whole transaction at great length, pointing out the disregard of Maine rights and interests, but declaring that the people of the state were willing to make the best of the treaty as a matter of necessity ( Globe, 25 Cong. , i Sess. , pp. 251-53). In 1845 he was reélected for the full term of six years. Due to the fact that Fairfield received strong support for the vice-presidency at the Democratic convention of 1844, there was considerable criticism at Polk’s failure to give him a cabinet place. Apparently the Southern wing of the party had some doubts as to his orthodoxy on the slavery question. His sudden death following an operation on his knees, and due apparently to the bungling or quackery of the surgeon, caused great regret and apparently unanimous expressions of opinion that he had been on the way toward unusual distinction in national affairs. His letters, which bespeak a keen analytic mind and a sense of humor, constitute a distinct contribution to our knowledge of Washington life in the days of Van Burén and Polk.
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That he was decidedly conservative in his views, however, is shown by his letters, in which he expressed an unwillingness to do anything prejudicial to the institution in the states, and a dislike for the agitation conducted in the House by John Quincy Adams. He also supported the expansion policy of the Polk administration and was a vigorous proponent of a large navy.
member of the Congress as a Democrat
United States Senate
He had on September 25, 1825, married Anna Paine Thornton.
