Benton Co., AR - Biographies - Stephen Thomas Fair

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Stephen Thomas Fair, the subject of this sketch, a farmer and teacher 
residing near Center Point Church House, near the "McKisick Spring," 
in Benton County, Ark., is the second son of Ellia and Nancy H. Fair, 
was born in Sullivan County, East Tenn., in the year 1836, and came to 
Arkansas in the year 1859. His father, Ellis Fair, was born at Cheraw, 
S. C., in the year 1805. and there received an education common to 
those of that time and place. He immigrated from there to East 
Tennessee, and in the year 1832 was married to Miss Nancy Hamilton 
Easley, daughter of Stephen and Hannah Easley, of Sullivan County, E. 
Tenn., and to them were born nine children, to wit: Mary Ann, Harvey 
Cummins, Stephen Thomas, Edwin Franklin, John Dickson, George Fanning, 
Joseph Asbery, Sarah Edna. and Nathan Easley. Two of these children, 
to wit, Harvey Cummins and John Dickson, died in childhood, and one of 
them, viz., Mary Ann, who became consort of Mr. W. C. Sellars, of 
Benton County, Ark., died in the year 1871, leaving an infant son, 
Robert Lee, who in a few months also died, and its remains were 
interred by those of its mother in Bethel Cemetery, on Spavinaw. 
During the Mexican War the father of these children volunteered, but 
his company was not called into service. In the year 1859 these 
parents, in order to secure good homes for their children, sold out in 
Tennessee, and with their family immigrated to Benton County, Ark., 
bought lands and were prospering at the breaking out of the Civil 
War, in which, though opposed to the war, the five sons, before its 
close, became members of the army of "The Lost Cause," the father, 
mother and daughters remaining on the farm and managing to raise and 
retain enough of its products to support and clothe themselves, 
notwithstanding they were frequently robbed of everything that could 
be carried away by lawless bands of plunderers, who made it their 
primary object to scour the country for individual booty. On the 7th 
day of May, 1864, the father, on returning from his labor, was met by 
an enraged posse of "Pin Indians," and, notwithstanding his age and 
inoffensive life, was by them cruelly murdered. The mother and her two 
daughters, assisted by the good women of the neighborhood, managed to 
make a rude coffin and to bury his remains in the yard near the 
residence, where it rested till after the close of the cruel war, when 
it was disinterred and suitably re-interred in Bethel Cemetery, 
the Rev. Martin Thornsberry conducting the funeral services from the 
text: "Be ye, also, ready." This funeral was largely attended, and it 
is believed by all who are acquainted with Mr. Fair that at the last 
day, on the resurrection morning, his remains will, at the sounding of 
the first trumpet, come forth to life immortal. Edwin F., the third 
son, married Miss Sarah Jane, daughter of Dr. Samuel and Mrs. Mabala 
Martin; is a successful farmer and a Methodist class leader; resides 
in Scott County, Ark., and has ten children, to wit: John, George, 
Maud, Lewis, Albert, Samuel, Nancy, Ellis. Ann and -. George F. 
married Miss Martha Elizabeth Beard, of Yell County, Ark., is an 
itinerant minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. and 
resides at Sipe Springs, Comanche County, Tex. The names of their 
children are Nancy R., Mary E., Emma B., Ellis N., Floyd and Ennis 
Lee. Joseph A. married Miss Martha Ann Russell, of Benton County, 
Ark.; is a successful farmer and a local minister of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, South; resides in Benton County, Ark.; has nine 
children, to wit: Elija Ellis, Harvey Dickson. Lovic Pierce, Joseph 
Clark, Sarah Altha, Commodore Vanderbilt, Wiley Oicero, Hugh Lancing 
and Oma Pear. Sarah E. married Mr. Wiley C. Sitton, of Georgia, and 
resides in Benton County, Ark. They have no children. The mother, 
Nancy H. Fair, now seventy-six years of age, lives with this, her 
youngest, daughter. Mr. Sitton is a successful farmer, and is now 
serving his second term as justice of the peace of Decatur Township. 
Nathan E., the youngest son, [p.834] married Miss Amanda Hamilton, of 
Yell County, Ark., is a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
South, and teacher in Belleville Academy. Yell County, Ark. They have 
five children, to wit: Laura. Loula. Miunie, Grace and Pearl. Stephen 
T. was educated in the common schools of Sullivan County and at 
Jefferson Academy, in Blountville, E. Tenn. After leaving the Academy 
he taught several terms in the public schools of his native county, 
and then came to Benton County, Ark., where he resumed the business of 
teaching, in which he continued till in the summer of 1861, when he 
joined the Fourteenth Arkansas Regiment, Confederate States Army, in 
which he served, first as teamster, second as commissary-sergeant, 
third as forage master. fourth as wagon-master, and after the battle 
of Pea Ridge, fifth as hospital steward, until, overcome by fatigue 
and exposure, he was left by his command at the point of death, near 
Little Rock. Ark. After partly regaining his health, he returned 
to his home in Benton, where he remained about two months, and then 
joined General Standwatie's Indian command, under Maj. Joel Bryant. In 
this command he served, first as company clerk, second as 
quartermaster-sergeant, and third as adjutant of Col. William Penn 
Adair's Second Cherokee Regiment, Confederate States Army. He was in 
the battles of Sherley Ford. Newtonia, Fort Wayne, Honey Springs, 
Mazzard Prairie and a number of other minor engagements. At the time 
of the surrender of the Confederate States army his command was at 
Boggy Depot, I. T., from which place he went to Northwest Texas, where 
he remained about a year, and then returned to Benton County and 
resumed the business of teaching. On the 22d day of March, 1868, at 
Center Point Church, Benton County, Ark., in the presence of a large 
congregation, he was united in the bonds of matrimony with Miss Agnes 
Julia Ann Womack, the Rev. Martin Thornsberry officiating. Mrs. Fair 
is the daughter of Mr. Richard and Mrs. Matilda Lee Womack, who moved 
from Wilson County, Tenn., in the year 1855. She was born in Wilson 
County, Tenn., in 1851. There have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Fair ten 
children, to wit: first, William Wallace, who died in infancy; second, 
Mary Ann; third, an infant son, deceased, without name; fourth, Ellis 
Hamilton; fifth. Richard Lee; sixth, Martha Edna; seventh, Stephen 
Thomas; eighth, Cora Ethel; ninth, Emma Vivian; tenth, Edwin Claudia. 
Mr. Fair still follows teaching in the public schools of the county, 
holds a first grade certificate, and when not employed as teacher 
works upon and manages his farm. He is secretary of the Benton County 
Sunday-school Association, a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South. member of Bentonville Lodge No. 56, A. F. & A. M., justice of 
the peace of Osage Township, in which capacity he is now serving his 
fourth term; is Democratic in his political views, and is true to his 
honest convictions, but opposed to bigotry and ultraism in all things.