YUBA COUNTY
Biographies
FAIRLEE FAMILY TO YUBA
The Fairlee family emigrated across the plains in 1852 from Iowa and reached the Sierra Nevada Mts. only to be blocked by heavy snows at Emigrant Gap. They went to the La Porte area where they mined, continuing their journey the next spring to Marysville. There they lived in a large brick house, said to be still standing, on B Street near Second. The family then included George Washington Fairlee, born in Ohio in 1807; his wife, Mary Williams Fairlee, born in Canada July 1, 1827; and their sons, John C. and George Warren Fairlee, both born in Iowa. A daughter, Alice, was born December 26, 1855, in Marysville and when only a few months old was carried in her mother’s arms as Mrs. Fairlee rode horseback on a side-saddle to reach their new home at “Butte Mountain.” The Fairless house, still in use as a dwelling, was known in early days as the “White House.” Fairlee, Sr. took up a large acreage in Sutter and Butte counties north of the buttes. Three other Fairlee children were born there – Belle on July 3, 1859; Stephen A. Douglas on June 21, 1861; and Nettie on June 29, 1867.
The elder Fairlee was killed in an accident near North Butte Sunday, November 20, 1870, when the horses drawing a two-seated wagon bolted as part of the harness broke. Fairlee, with some of his children and a school teacher, Mrs. Cox, were returning from the funeral of a child of the James G. Dow family when the accident occurred “near Live Oak House” on North Butte Road. Fairlee tried to control the team, but was thrown from the vehicle and instantly killed. The wagon overturned and the other occupants were thrown out, but without serious injuries. Mrs. Fairlee had remained at home with her younger children. The funeral of Fairlee took place in Marysville at the old Presbyterian church, under the auspices of the Marysville Pioneer Society of which he was a member. He was buried in the Marysville City Cemetery.
On August 20, 1877, in Yuba City, his widow married Aaron Pugh, a native of Ohio, born in 1823. Pugh came to California in 1850 and obtained 1,900 acres of land that originally had been settled by Cullen Lee and Dr. Lee, brothers. Mrs. Pugh, who was his third wife, died July 22, 1895, at Pennington. Her funeral was held there but interment was in the Marysville cemetery Fairlee family plot. A strange occurrence marred the solemnity of the event. As the hearse, followed by numerous other vehicles, proceeded from Live Oak to Marysville, one of the black horses drawing it toppled over dead, apparently from the excessive July heat. There was some delay before the cortege could continue to the cemetery. Mrs. Pugh’s property, including about 600 acres, had been kept separate from the Pugh holdings, and was left to the six Fairlee children.
Sutter County Historical Society News Bulletin, January 1970, pp 13-15