Collection F704 - Fairfield family collection

The Fairfields were a well-known United Empire Loyalist family. William Fairfield, the first settler, chose the location of the Fairfield homestead near where Amherstview is today when he came to Canada from Vermont in 1784.William Senior was the father of six sons and six daughters, of whom three were born at the Fairfield homestead. Stephen Fairfield, the fifth son of William Senior, and his son and grandson were the only descendants who stayed on the original homestead. During the war of 1812, some interesting family ties provided correspondence between Major Brown of Brownsville, N.Y., husband of Clara, William Senior's youngest daughter, and brother of General Brown who commanded the American forces, and his Canadian in-laws. About 1840, Stephen, now "land-poor" and without Negro help, turned his house into a tavern run by tenants. With an increase in his personal fortune the old house was restored to its original use.