Following is a copy of the obituary of Timothy Fairchild as printed in the Brantford Expositor under date of April 10, 1884, furnished by Courtland Charles Fairchild and his daughter Nora V. Fairchild of Brantford, Ontario.
OBITUARY
A Brief Sketch of the Life of Timothy Fairchild
Probably the first settler in this portion of Ontario was Isaac Fairchild, the father of the subject of this sketch, who came to Port Credit and established, together with his brother Benjamin, the first trading post with the Indians. The establishment of this post with the Indians was due to circumstances which have a spicy flavour of romance about them, and which, if detailed, would read like a story book. Unfortunately we are not in possession of sufficient information to properly connect the story, and shall only touch upon the circumstances. Isaac and Benjamin were born in Dutchess County, New York State, on the banks of the Hudson. While a mere lad Benjamin was stolen by the Indians and carried into Canada, which then was uninhabited, probably by a single white man, certainly not by any settler. Isaac grown to manhood, set out with a determination to find his brother, but met him on his way home, having escaped from the Indians, and who pictured in glowing colours the rich harvest that could be made by establishing a trading post. His suggestion was acted upon, and at the close of the American Revolution, Isaac immigrated to Canada, settling on the banks of Fairchild's Creek. He engaged in farming and was on friendly terms with Chief Joseph Brant, and has often related to his children and grandchildren the romantic incidents connected with his life among the redmen.
Among others, he used to tell how Chief Brant accidentally dealt his son, Isaac Brant, in self-defense, a blow which resulted in his death and which blow, the old man said, he saw given.
After residing on this farm a few years Isaac Fairchild traded it to Mr. Whiting, an ancestor of the present family now residing in the vicinity, for a farm in the Township of Townsend, where Timothy, the subject of this sketch, was born on the 25th of November, 1799. In the year 1823 he married Sarah Ann Miller of the Township of Brantford, the union being blessed with eleven children, two of whom died in infancy. Of the others, Stephen, the oldest resides on the homestead, and with whom the deceased had of late years resided. Benjamin lives in Morpeth, Kent County, Ont.; Timothy is a resident of Iowa, U.S.; Rebecca is the wife of Robert Laird; Sarah married Abraham Kinnard, the latter now deceased; Isaac resides in the State of Iowa; Elvira, deceased, was the wife of the Reverend Hazelton, a Baptist Clergyman; Angeline married Garrett Terhune of the Township of Brantford; and William resides in the Township of Brantford; Mrs. Fairchild died in 1863.
He was a man of great physical endurance in either manual labour or as a pedestrian, and delighted in the sport of hunting and trapping; was extremely energetic, sober and industrious, and during his life accumulated good property; charitable, sympathetic and hospitable to all who needed it; a kindly husband and good affectionate father; in his domestic relations, sociable, upright and proverbially honest, and no one can point to a dishonest action during the course of his life. Up to the very last his remarkable physical endurance was sustained and he retired on a Saturday evening preceding his demise in excellent spirits, having entered heartily into the spirit of amusement in which the evening engaged the family. In the morning he was a paralytic and lingered until the following Friday, when death came to his release. The funeral was very largely attended and was conducted by the Rev. J.B. Moore, assisted by the Reverend William Hamilton. The remains were borne to their last resting place in the family burying ground by the following neighbors: Robert Miller, George Meadows, Obed Kerr, Solomon Chatterson, John McDermid and George Brice.
The family mourns the loss of a father whom all loved and revered and in their bereavement have the commiseration of a very wide circle of sympathizing friends.
