Charles S. Fairfax - Marriage and Estate

Marriage and Estate

Fairfax met his wife, Ada Benham (1833–1888), in 1854 in San Francisco. They were married on January 10, 1855, in Louisville, Kentucky, at the home of her stepsister, Henrietta Prentice. They had no children.

After their return to San Francisco, Fairfax and his bride visited his boyhood friend, Dr. Alfred Taliaferro, at his country home in Marin County. When they expressed their great admiration of his estate, he gave them the property as a wedding gift. Thus, in 1855, the couple became residents of what would eventually become the town of Fairfax.

They made many improvements to their new property. Fairfax imported game birds to satisfy his zeal for hunting and improve his chances for success. Ada planted trees and flowers around the home and grounds and named the estate Bird's Nest Glen, which is now on the National Register of Historic Places as California Registered Historical Landmark No. 679.

They entertained lavishly and it became so customary for their friends to say, "Let's go to the Fairfax's," or "Let's go to Fairfax," that the area took on the identity of Fairfax, which continued long after their departure, up to the time of incorporation of the town in 1931.

The Fairfax estate was also the site of a duel, on the afternoon of May 25, 1861, between State Assemblymen Daniel Showalter and Charles W. Piercy, who were having a political dispute. Though Fairfax served them lunch and tried to dissuade them, the two men walked to a grassy meadow and, brandishing rifles at 40 paces, Piercy was killed upon the second fire. It marked the last political duel fought in California.