"Here Come the Judge!"

Edward T. Fairchild was elected Wisconsin Department Commander at the Dept. Encampment held June 9-11, 1914, in Madison. At that time, the Department had 1,657 brothers in 49 Camps.

Edward Thomas Fairchild was born on July 17, 1872, in Towanda, Pennsylvania. As a boy, he came to believe in public service as a duty after hearing Civil War veterans talk about the sacrifices and risks they had undertaken in the war. His father, Harvey A. Fairchild, had served in the 189th New York Volunteer Infantry and had been mustered out a corporal at the end of the war.

Edward was raised and educated in Dansville, NY. He was admitted to the New York Bar in 1894 and was the last Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice not to earn a law degree from an institution of higher learning. Although he spent the majority of his life in Wisconsin, he never lost the connection with his hometown. He bought a farm in Dansville in the 1920s and returned to vacation there throughout his life.

In 1897, Fairchild moved to Milwaukee and practiced law for 19 years. From 1903 to 1906, he was an assistant district attorney for Milwaukee County. He was elected to the Wisconsin Senate in 1906 and served for two sessions. In 1910, he ran unsuccessfully for governor of Wisconsin, but was re-elected to the Senate in 1914.

Prior to moving to Milwaukee, Brother Fairchild had served as a Camp Commander of a New York Camp. He now was a charter member of C.K. Pier Badger Camp #1, joining on November 29, 1901. He later served as Camp #1's Commander from 1911 through 1913.

Interestingly, during Dept. Commander Fairchild's term, at least four other attorneys also served on his staff: William R. Graves (Council), Felix A. Kremer (Patriotic Instructor), Judge A.H. Schmidt (Counselor), and Herbert S. Siggelko (Organizer).

At the 1914 Wisconsin Dept. Encampment, the Auxiliary also met for the first time to perfect a state organization. The ladies organization had grown to nine Auxiliaries throughout the state.

During Fairchild's term, a new recruiting pamphlet was published and Camps were instituted at Augusta, Chetek, Fort Atkinson, Marinette, Marshfield, Monroe, Superior and Wausau.

Fairchild was appointed circuit judge for Milwaukee County in 1916, where he served until his appointment to the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 1930. Fairchild's chambers served as the "social center of the court." Fellow justices gathered there to have tea and tell stories. A skillful storyteller, Fairchild often entertained his company with amusing accounts of political and legal battles from the turn of the century.

Brother Fairchild was one of four Wisconsin men, who served as corporate officers when the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War was incorporated on August 20, 1954. With his help and that of many others across the nation, our Order became a non-profit corporation under Public Law 605.

After 40 years of service in the state judiciary, Fairchild, 84, retired from the Supreme Court in 1957. For the last three years, he had served as Chief Justice. Before retiring, Fairchild swore in his son, Thomas E. Fairchild, as a member of the state Supreme Court.

Throughout his life, Fairchild helped people. He was active in organizing Milwaukee's Community Welfare Council and the Urban League of Milwaukee. While in the Senate, he introduced legislation supporting vocational training and later became known as the "father of the Vocational School System in Wisconsin." He also served on a committee that wrote the Workmen's Compensation Act.

Besides the SUVCW, he was also active in the Wisconsin Club, City Club, and the Kiwanis.

Fairchild died in Madison on October 29, 1965, at the age of 93. Two of his five children, Anne and Thomas, survived him. Both Edward and his wife, Helen McCurdy Edwards Fairchild (who passed in 1962), were buried in Dansville's Green Mount Cemetery.

Biography researched and compiled by PCinC Steve Michaels.

Information Sources:

Find-A-Grave Memorial #128463330
New York in the War of Rebellion (3rd Ed), Frederick Phister; Albany; J.B. Lyon Co. 1912
Press Forward the Good Work: The History of the Wis. Dept. SUVCW (Vol.2) by PCinC Stephen Michaels, 1998
Wicourts.gov

Last Updated: 23 October 2018