Springfield-Greene
County LibraryEarly and Recent History and Genealogical Records
of Many of the Representative Citizens
JONATHAN FAIRBANKS. The name of Jonathan Fairbanks recalls the history of the public school system with which he has been identified for forty years and the successful development of which is due largely to his untiring efforts and capable administration as superintendent. A man of enlightened views, he has been while eminently practical while liberal in his consideration of the various propositions which enter into the scheme of modern education. His pupils and those who have been under his general care as head of the schools are filling places of honor and trust in all the walks of life in this community and elsewhere. Some who have been prepared in these schools for prosecution of their studies in higher institutions of learning in a manner which has reflected credit upon all concerned while the great majority whose period of tutelage ended with the completion of courses in the common schools have found themselves well equipped on entering the University of Life to continue their progress in a manner which has given an insight into its lessons enabling them to reach attainments in which they are not far behind the graduates of many colleges.
Early in his career, "Professor" Fairbanks, as the head of the schools was called in the old days, made his mark as a disciplinarian. And, yet, he was gentle while firm. He insisted on strict observance of the rules and regulations prescribed for the students but he was so human in his treatment of dereliction that he won the good will as well as the esteem of all. No stickler for the text, he was insistent on a knowledge of the principles of the subject with the result that the pupils of the schools became imbued with the love of knowledge for its own sake rather than with the desire for credits, diplomas and degrees, the value of which is problematical. This disposition has been made manifest also to those who have come in contact with him in his capacity of county superintendent and the various associations of school teachers. Always a student, he will be found today reading scientific works embracing the latest discoveries of the world's specialists on all that relate to the problem of life in its various aspects. This is the habit of a life-time and he has always given freely of what he has received from whatever source. In fact, he has regarded himself more as an instrument for the transmission of knowledge than as the possessor of it. He has been a fellow student with his pupils and teachers, rather than a preceptor, just as in his discipline he appealed to the self-esteem and ambition of all to keep them from delinquency and attain high standards of deportment.
He is public spirited to a degree and has forgotten more about politics than has ever been learned by some who have attained leadership in different parties. He is progressive in his views on this subject, but as on all others, he has never permitted himself to become dogmatic in his expressions thereon. He is a modest, kindly man whose open friendship for all he meets has won him favor on every hand. He is a humanitarian, a student, a teacher, all that is implied in the fullest significance of these words.
The boys and girls of other days in Springfield have in the course of their lives and in the pursuit of knowledge met various teachers, professors and eminent specialists but the quiet unpretentious man who directed them early in the paths of learning holds a place in their memory and claims an influence on their careers, greater perhaps than that of any other with whom they have come in contact. The people at large, in view of the visible results, are prone to believe that Jonathan Fairbanks is entitled to a niche in the local hall of fame which shall bear testimony for many years to his efficiency, general worthiness and the great popular esteem in which he is held by all classes of people in the city of Springfield, in Greene county, and wherever he has been known.
The man who has thus endeared himself to the people here, comes of one of the oldest New England families whose members have displayed singular talents and virtues wherever their lots have been cast in the great country to which they have assisted in bringing the blessings of civilization during a period of three hundred years. Hardy pioneers, they have been noted for patriotism, public spirit, devotion to the ideals of the republic and persistent application to tasks through which they sought the attainment of the higher ends of life. A well kept book of their genealogy brings the record of their lives in orderly precision and ample detail down to the present time showing that they have been prominent in each succeeding generation of people who in the proper conduct of business and the manifestation of care for the general welfare have led in 'the upbuilding of communities and the development of the country in various ways. A majority of them have- followed the pursuits of agriculture returning thereto often after adventures in business which have not proven profitable, sustaining reverses with equanimity, and bravely beginning the reconstruction of their fortunes after the failures which so often come in the magical changes of American life for which none are so well prepared as those who are imbued with the spirit of the patriot pioneers which has been the making of the Great Republic.
Their work in this country was begun by an immigrant family the head of which is known in their genealogy as Jonathan Fairbank (Fairbank, Fairbanks), of Dedham, Massachusetts, a town which he helped to establish after coming to Boston from England in 1633. He came from Sowerby in the West Riding of Yorkshire. He was born prior to 1600. The family had an interesting history in the old country, mementoes of which are found among the heirlooms of the old Fairbanks home at Dedham, built in 1636, and now preserved as a memorial after having been continuously occupied by the builder and his lineal descendants longer than any other homestead in New England. The-first Jonathan Fairbanks passed from the scene of pioneer activities to another life at Dedham in 1668,. In the fifth generation another Jonathan Fairbanks was born at Holliston, Massachusetts, March 29, 1755. He was a soldier of the Revolution and died after a long and useful life at Sudbury, Massachusetts, February 28, 1840. One of his sons was Joseph Bradley Varnum Fairbanks, father of our Jonathan, who engaged in wool manufacturing at Andover, Massachusetts, and Fort Edwards, New York. With the assistance of two brothers, he built up an extensive business but when they were stocked up with a surplus they were bankrupted by a change in the tariff in 1833, Joseph Bradley Varnum Fairbanks married Miss Margaret Hadden in 1827. She was born in Scotland, February 25, 1803. They had three children, Jonathan, born in Andover, Massachusetts, January 7, 1828; James Dexter, born in Monroe, New York, August 19, 1830; Joseph Bradley Varnum, Jr., born in Sudbury, Massachusetts, August 29, 1833. The head of the family never recovered from the shock of his disastrous failure in business. He died at Monroe, New York, shortly afterward, May 20, 1833. The youngest child followed soon afterward, October 31, 1833. The mother had taken him to Boston, where she had gone to live, the two elder boys being placed in charge of relatives. The family had thus been reduced from affluence to poverty and broken up in a very short time. The widow made her home in Boston for a number of years and afterward moved to Worcester, Massachusetts, where she died October 19, 1865.
Jonathan Fairbanks was just five years old when with his younger brother, James Dexter, he went to live with James Quinn and his wife, an .aunt of the boys. Beginning to learn the hardships of country life at this tender age, he mastered all the details of the work so thoroughly that his relatives parted with him reluctantly when the time came for him to leave the farm at the age of nineteen. He had up to that time received no compensation for his labor except his board and clothes and the privileges of the district school, taking advantage of the meager advantages thus afforded for obtaining an education with such earnestness that there was little left for him to learn there.
Realizing the necessity of seeking a betterment of his condition he struck out for himself with resolution. In starting away he passed through a field in which James Reilly, a nephew of his wife's husband was working. "Where be y' going 'Jonton,' " said the Irish lad. "To look for a job." "But y' have no moneys, here's a 'sovron' for you.'" The gift was accepted in proper spirit, for the boys were somewhat of comrades. It was the first money Jonathan Fairbanks had ever received and he took it with the intention of returning it, although he had spent all the years of his young life in labor on the farm which Reilly was to inherit. Jonathan went to Boston, where he called on his mother and remained five days; after which he returned to the neighborhood in which he had been raised and went to work on the farm of another relative, Nelson Fairbanks, who paid him wages at the rate of ten dollars per month.
In the meantime James Dexter had left the Quinn farm after remaining there a short time and gone to Concord where he grew up, learning the painter's trade in shops where he was under the tutelage of skilled work- men and became an expert, afterward making his mark in the business. He was wounded while serving a second term as a veteran volunteer in the Civil war and died October 19, 1864. He had married Olive Green, November 2, 1855. They had five children. The widow moved to Worcester, Massachusetts, where she died June 11, 1886.
Jonathan remained with his cousin, Nelson Fairbanks, a year, working eight months of the time and attending school four months. He had an excellent tutor here, who in addition to assisting Jonathan to rapid advancement, induced him to prepare for entrance to the academy at New Ipswich, an institution famous as a training school for teachers and preparing students for college. Hither the two journeyed together the next year, -master and pupil, to complete their education in the same excellent school. Jonathan took with him fifty dollars, the savings from his first year of work as a wage earner. He had. received eighty dollars for eight months' work and had spent thirty dollars for clothing, books and other necessities. He was now twenty years of age. He remained at New Ipswich two years, working his way, and at the completion of his course there started out as a teacher. He was successful in his first application for a position. He spared no pains when he entered upon his work at Ashby. He taught night school four nights in the week for the benefit of ambitious students, specializing in arithmetic, penmanship and rhetoricals and preparation for a great exhibition at the end of the year. The people said that they had never had such a school and that the young tutor would never teach such another. They took it for granted that he was working for a reputation, when as a matter of fact his single purpose had been to do all he could for his pupils. But that first year's work opened the way to great opportunities. The president of the school board at Wilmington, Delaware, had written to his father-in-law at Ashby to send him the name of some young man whom he could recommend, some up-to-date teacher who could come down to Wilmington and "wake 'em up." Jonathan Fairbanks was mentioned in complimentary terms and correspondence led to his employment at Wilmington. He says, speaking of his experience at that place: "I spent four years at Wilmington. It was like a heaven on earth. , I was told that if I would get married and settle down in Wilmington the people would build me a house. I formed lifetime friendships there and have corresponded with one of my pupils of those days for sixty years."
But he was persuaded to go west with his old teacher, George G. Parker, and so they went together to Ohio, as they had gone to attend the academy at New Ipswich. Mr. Parker stopped at Dayton but there was no school for his friend to be found at that place. Never dismayed Jonathan Fairbanks continued his quest and began seeking a country school. Finally, after meeting Mr. Parker again at Piqua, he was informed of an opening at St. Mary's and started over in company with Ardivan Rogers. Passing through the Ohio woods, a land of leaf and moonshine, he seemed to come under a mystical influence in which he received an impression of something unusual about to happen. He was in no desperate straits but repeated failures to find employment at this time had been discouraging., He arrived in a canal town, St. Mary's, at 3:00 A. M. There he was informed that they wanted an assistant teacher. Without waiting to sleep after his long ride he called on the members of the board as soon as they were awake, with the result that he was engaged. Rogers was employed as principal and instituted an unusual division of the pupils. The boys of the school who worked on the canal part of the time had the name of being a hard lot The people said they knew when school was let out, because they could hear for a distance of two miles the noise made by the boys as they came down stairs. One teacher after another had failed to restrain the disorder and it was said that nobody could discipline that school. Now the principal turned over the boys whom he could not handle, the larger ones in a body to his assistant, himself taking charge of the older girls while the smaller boys and girls were left in charge of lady teachers. The first thing Mr. Fairbanks did was to get well acquainted with his boys and explain to them the advantages of having order in the school, showing how it would promote their advancement and the interests of all concerned. The boys fell in with his ideas and he soon had them coming in and going out in orderly fashion with their arms crossed behind them. This kept their hands from meddling with those in front of them. After a couple of days there entered school a taciturn stubborn boy and there were knowing smiles when the teacher began to question Luther Bradley, who it was soon learned had been the leader in mischief in the school. Luther was cross-eyed and the teacher could not tell where he was looking, at him or the grinning boys. To the questions, have you studied this and have you studied that he answered a reticent "yes, sir" or "no, sir" without any particular respect in voice or manner. He was told to take his place and after a little was dismissed for recess with the rest of the boys. When they came back all entered in order with their arms crossed behind them, all except Luther, who despite instructions, came swinging his arms. The new teacher stepped up to him quickly. The boy was stocky and almost as large as the teacher, but the wiry little man grabbed the delinquent by the coat collar, gave him a jiu jitsu twist and the lad's feet flew out from under him. He went up in the air and bumped his head hard on the floor as he came down. It was a hard jolt but he was not hurt badly, but all the rebellion had been knocked out of him. The punishment was more severe than the teacher had intended. He merely meant to give the boy a good shaking but lost his hold on the coat collar with the result described. After helping Luther to his feet the teacher restored order and everything moved smoothly during the rest of the day. That evening some one on the street who had heard of the occurrence asked one of the reputed tough boys how they were getting along with the new teacher. "I dunno, he don't punish, he kills 'em." Mr. Fairbanks never had to "shake" another boy in that school. But the irrepressible Luther Bradley came in for it just one more time. Passing along in front of the class looking out of the corner of his eye, the teacher saw Luther drop a paper wad into his pocket. Quick as a flash he turned and grabbed Luther and shook him till his teeth chattered and the bones in his body seemed to be unjointed. Never again did Luther trouble the teacher, but on the contrary they became fast friends. At the end of the year, Mr. Fairbanks was offered fifty dollars a month to teach the school in the summer time but he had made an engagement to teach at the Piqua high school, an exclusive private institution. There he had for pupils fifty-seven fine boys and it was a pleasant and profitable year for all concerned. Then he returned to St. Mary's as principal of the schools. He remained there seven years, leaving behind him an enviable reputation when he resigned for the purpose of engaging in another business. He had acquired an interest in a new patent steam engine and was to put it on the market. The time was not propitious however. The Civil war had upset business throughout the country. Mr. Fairbanks then accepted an invitation to return to Piqua, where he remained teaching during the next five years. At the end of that time he received all kinds of offers to continue teaching. Almost any position in the public schools of Ohio was open to him. But he had other ideas. The best that was offered to the school teacher in those days in the way of remuneration was but meager compensation compared to the rewards of ability and energy in business. Mr. Fairbanks had received a flattering offer from the West, a place called Springfield, in the heart of the Ozark region and the principal city of southwest Missouri, from J. C. Wilber, who was close to Col. John M. Richardson, then prominent in the affairs of the city.
The school teacher, who was bent on changing his vocation, arrived in Springfield, November 10, 1866. He found a prosperous town of two thousand in the midst of a region of such great resources that he was satisfied there would be extraordinary development. There was so much building in progress that there was an unprecedented demand for lumber and when Fairbanks and Wilber opened up in the sawmill and planing business they had all the orders they could attend to. They increased their facilities and their business expanded rapidly. Mr. Fairbanks worked early and late. Some weeks he would leave home Monday morning and eat, sleep and work at the mill until Saturday night. He and his partner prospered for nine years, while his family grew up around him, he built a comfortable home and the prospects of life were fair from every point of view. Then came the hard times following the panic of 1873, in which men possessed of property amply sufficient to secure all their obligations under ordinary circumstances were bankrupt before they knew it. Mr. Wilber had borrowed fifteen hundred dollars and Mr. Fairbanks had signed a note for the amount and in the general crash of credits he was called upon to meet the, obligation for its payment. Friends tried in vain to help him. The holder of the note; perhaps himself pressed by creditors, was inexorable and the money had to be forthcoming. The real estate owned by Mr. Fairbanks embraced one hundred and ten acres located in what is now a populous part of the city between Washington avenue and the National boulevard. Different tracts and numerous town lots estimated at the time to be worth eight thousand dollars were sold to satisfy the note for fifteen hundred. John M. Richardson purchased much of the land, which was resold at great advances. Mr. Fairbanks, acting as agent for Colonel Richardson, afterward sold forty thousand dollars worth of property. He bought back his old homestead from the heirs and still lives there. Following the climax of his misfortunes which came in 1874, Mr. Fairbanks made preparations to leave Springfield. He -was on the point of returning to Ohio, when Hon. John McGregor, president of the Springfield school board, following a suggestion made by Hon. L. H. Murray, came to him with a proposition to take charge of the schools of this city. Mr. Fairbanks accepted, assuming the duties of superintendent the next year. From that time down to the present, forty years, his work in connection with the schools of this city is well known. However, it may not be amiss to recall some of the incidents connected with this part of his extraordinary career. There had been half a dozen superintendents of education during the years immediately preceding the beginning of the forty years administration of Jonathan Fairbanks. The chairman of the school board complained that the board had been called together nearly every week for a while to consider cases which should have been disposed of by the superintendent. On coming into office one of the first things which Superintendent Fairbanks noticed was the absurdity of some of the rules which had caused trouble. The pupils were forbidden by one of these from entering the school building after a certain number of minutes during the noon hour when a number of them who lived at a distance had no other place to eat their lunches. This rule was quickly abrogated, the children being left free to enter the building at the noon hour and special provision was made for their comfort in other ways. The students of the high school were put on their honor, the pupils of the lower grades were treated with consideration, the schools were in a manner reorganized on a basis of reciprocal justice and kindness. Changes were-made in the course of study by which the interests of practical education were conserved with continuous progress in liberalizing and otherwise improving it. Various other changes were made to meet the demands of the times and the efficiency and popularity of the schools continued to increase from year to year. The teachers of the Springfield schools welcomed the change to an enlightened administration at the beginning of Superintendent Fairbank's first term and became loyal supporters. He was re-elected without opposition for another term, and again and again until his re-election at the end of each consecutive year became a mere matter of formality. In politics, Mr. Fairbanks has been a Republican all his life, though liberal-minded, progressive and independent in his views. In view of this fact, the Greenbackers having made great progress in this section in 1878, and wishing to put out a strong county ticket, sent a committee to Mr. Fairbanks soliciting him to allow them to use his name as their candidate for county school commissioner. As a concession to the spirit of reform represented by their movements, he gave his consent with the result that he was elected by a majority of four hundred. Results similar to those which had followed his assumption of the duties of city superintendent followed throughout the county. The teachers of the country schools, as those of the city, had soon felt the inspiration of Jonathan Fairbanks' presence and helpfulness in all their works. So he was re-elected county commissioner at the end of the term. He was re-elected continuously during a period of twenty years until the office was merged in that of county superintendent.
In the last election he received one thousand seven hundred majority over three other candidates for county commissioner. In the administration of that office he did much toward the complete systematization of the county schools. Among other things, he kept a complete record of the proceedings of the boards and everything done in connection with the county during the twenty years of his incumbency. The record was unfortunately lost in a fire in Superintendent Bradley's office in recent years.
Superintendent Fairbanks never made a practice of punishing boys for fighting. His plan for dissipating this kind of trouble was to call them up and make them explain their differences and come to some kind of an understanding. Some interesting stories are told in this connection. Other problems which have vexed less capable minds were disposed of in a similarly happy manner.
Summarizing his observations on the subject of discipline Superintendent Fairbanks said in a recent conversation: "Teachers should assume as far as possible that there are no bad pupils. Boys and girls will do the best they know how. The thing to do is to make clear to them the reasons for the requirements made of them. They often do wrong when they think they are doing right. Reason and consideration will go farther in securing compliance with the wishes of the teacher than anything else. There is not nearly leniency enough in the world."
The Jonathan Fairbanks of today is as busy as though he had but begun his life's work at the end of the three-score years and ten allotted to-man. He is still a student teacher and reader, though no longer under necessity of hearing sixteen recitations a day, the first one at 7 A. M. and often continuing his tasks by lamplight and then getting up at 2 A. M. to go over the lessons in advance of his classes in preparation for the work of the following day as he used to do at the beginning of his career as Superintendent of the Springfield schools.
Much of the success and happiness of this venerable man's life is attributed to the helpfulness of the excellent woman who became his wife in youth and journeyed with him far toward the final rewards. Jonathan Fairbanks and Miss Angie Bowker were married September 3, 1856, in Sudbury, Massachusetts. She was born there June 13, 1832. She was a daughter of the Puritans, her parents, Samuel N. and Mary Earl Bowker, being descended from early settlers of New England, of Scotch-Welsh extraction. Children of Jonathan Fairbanks and Angie (Bowker) Fairbanks: Grace Ida, born in St. Mary's, Ohio, June 4, 1857, died October 1, 1958. Joseph Maybin, born in St. Mary's, Ohio, March 12, 1859, died May 19, 1865. Mary Caroline, born in St. Mary's, Ohio, April 7, 1860, died February 5, 1862. Alban Bradley, born in St. Mary's, Ohio, June 22, 1862, died in 1911. Annie, born in Piqua, Ohio, March 20, 1866, died June 21, 1899. George Bowker, born in Springfield, Missouri, April 16, 1868. John Wilber, born in Springfield, Missouri, November 13, 1870. James Otis, born in Springfield, Missouri, October 30, 1873. George Bowker Fairbanks is engaged in the general merchandise business at Foose, Dallas county, Missouri. He married Sarah Davis, July 31, 1910. Two children have been born to them, Perry George Fairbanks, September 23, 1911, who died March 11, 1913; and an infant daughter, Harriet.
John Wilber Fairbanks married Annie Jugram, June 5, 1902. They have one child, John Howard Fairbanks, born March 10, 1904. James Otis, Fairbanks married Miss Golden Sands, January 13, 1913.
Mrs. Fairbanks died December 29, 1912. She was a consistent member of the Baptist church.
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