Charles S. Fairchild
38thUnited States Secretary of the Treasury
In office April 1, 1887 – March 6, 1889
President	Grover Cleveland
Preceded by	Daniel Manning
Succeeded by	William Windom
33rdAttorney General of New York
In office January 1, 1876 – December 31, 1877
Governor	Samuel J. Tilden Lucius Robinson
Preceded by	Daniel Pratt
Succeeded by	Augustus Schoonmaker Jr.
Personal details
Born	Charles Stebbins Fairchild (1842-04-30)April 30, 1842 Cazenovia, New York, U.S.
Died	November 24, 1924(1924-11-24) (aged 82) Cazenovia, New York, U.S.
Education	Harvard University(BA,LLB)
Signature

Charles Stebbins Fairchild (April 30, 1842 – November 24, 1924) was an American businessman and politician who served asUnited States Secretary of the Treasury from 1887 to 1889 andAttorney General of New York from 1876 to 1877. He was a notableanti-suffragist, challenging theNineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1920 and serving as president of the American Constitutional League.

Charles Stebbins Fairchild was born on April 30, 1842,^{[citation needed]} inCazenovia, New York, to Helennée Childs and Sidney Thompson Fairchild. He attended a localseminary and graduated fromHarvard College in 1863, thenHarvard Law School in 1865. He then began practicing law inAlbany with the firm of Hand, Hale & Swartz; and soon became active in theDemocratic Party of New York. He was married to Helen Lincklaen in 1871, and began serving in minor governmental capacities until 1874 when he became Deputy Attorney General of New York.^[1] He was involved in the prosecution and eventual conviction ofNew York City Police Commissioners Oliver Charlick and Hugh Gardner for removing elected inspectors without notice.^[2] WhenSamuel J. Tilden was electedGovernor of New York, he directed Fairchild to lead the prosecution of theCanal Ring.^[1]

Tilden then backed Fairchild to beAttorney General of New York, first at the Democratic party convention in Syracuse in 1875. He was elected in1875 and was in office from 1876 to 1877. Fairchild was not reelected and failed to defeat the Canal Ring.^[1] In January 1878, he was nominated to beSuperintendent of Public Works by Gov.Lucius Robinson, but was rejected by theNew York State Senate.^[3][4] He resumed the practice of law until 1885, when he was appointed AssistantU.S. Secretary of the Treasury. Fairchild led a commission that overhauled the department, resulting in the firing of hundreds of clerks, changes in methods of bookkeeping and cuts in expenses attributed to theUnited States Customs House.^[5] When SecretaryDaniel Manning's health forced him to resign in 1887, Fairchild was appointed to succeed, and served inGrover Cleveland's administration from 1887 to 1889.^[6]

In 1886, theUnited States Treasury had asurplus of approximately $94 million^[5] due to high taxes and custom collections. In an attempt to prevent money from accumulating, Fairchild asked theUnited States Congress to reduce taxes and allow money to be deposited in banks. After Congress refused both requests, Fairchild began buying backgovernment bonds to dispose of surplus revenue. His action is seen by some as averting a financial crisis.^[7] He was removed from office when Grover Cleveland lost reelection in1888, and refused to return after Cleveland won again in1892. As aGold Democrat, he opposed the nomination ofWilliam Jennings Bryan for president.^[5]

Fairchild then moved toNew York City and was a prominent figure in business and philanthropy. He was involved with theCharity Organization Society.^[1] He was President of theNew York Security and Trust Company from 1889 to 1904. He was on the board of theAmerican Mechanical Cashier Company (a competitor ofNCR) with investment bankerHenry L. Horton andJudge Hiram Bond. He was President of theAtlanta and Charlotte Air Line Railroad and a director of theErie and Pittsburgh Railroad.^{[citation needed]} He was a prominent figure in the opposition to a 'snap convention' held byDavid B. Hill in 1892.^[1][8] Fairchild also served as president of the American Constitutional League (formerly the Men's Anti-Suffrage Association).^[9]

Fairchild v. Hughes^[10] was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States decided whether a citizen, in a state that already had women's suffrage, hadstanding to challenge the validity of the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment. On July 7, 1920, Fairchild challenged the validity of the ratification process for the Nineteenth Amendment in theSupreme Court of the District of Columbia. The district court dismissed the case on July 20, and Fairchild appealed. On August 26, Hughes acknowledgedTennessee's ratification, and the Nineteenth Amendment became law. The Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court decision. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court, which heard arguments in November 1922.^[11][12] In February, the Court unanimously decided that Fairchild, as a private citizen, lacked standing to challenge the amendment's ratification under the limitations of theCase or Controversy Clause ofArticle III.^[10]

Fairchild died on November 24, 1924, at the age of 82,^[1] and was buried at the Evergreen Cemetery in Cazenovia, New York. At the time of his death, he was the last living member of the first Cleveland Administration.Fairchild and his wife lived in theLorenzo House.^[13]He was a brother of theDelta Kappa Epsilon fraternity (Alpha chapter).

• Works by or aboutCharles S. Fairchild atWikisource

• 1842 births
• 1924 deaths
• 19th-century American politicians
• People from Cazenovia, New York
• New York State attorneys general
• United States secretaries of the treasury
• Harvard Law School alumni
• New York state superintendents of public works
• Cleveland administration cabinet members
• Harvard College alumni
• American anti-suffragists

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