Sportsman, Heir, second son of Senator James Graham Fair & Theresa Rooney, he was studious and his father planned to send his gifted son to one of the country's leading technical schools to prepare himself for a career as a mining engineer. But, somewhere along the line, that program was abandoned. "Too much money and alcohol, too many race horses and women," had the expected result. Following in the wavering footsteps of his elder brother, Charley was brought up short by the other's tragic death. He too retired to Los Gatos, took the "gold cure," and on his return caused a minor sensation among habituates of the town's cafes by drinking nothing stronger than milk. To help the young man's rehabilitation, his father made some notable additions to Charley's racing stable and financed an invasion of the Eastern tracks. But Charley's horses consistently failed to win, and soon word came back that he was finding solace not only in alcohol but in the company of a young woman for whom he had recently formed an attachment.
That lady, "a handsome blonde of considerable embonpoint," was variously known as Maud Nelson, Maud Thomas, Maud Ulman, and Maud Corrigan; her real name was Caroline Decker Smith. She hailed from New Jersey and was a year or two older than Charley. In San Francisco she conducted, at 404 Stockton Street, what the local papers termed, with unaccustomed delicacy, "a questionable resort." Charles and his wife Caroline were killed in an automobile accident in Evreux, near Pacy-Sur-Eure, outside of Paris, France. They were racing in a brand new Mercedes Special from Paris to his sister's summer villa.
Chauffeur Louis Bretty was thrown clear and escaped injury. The bodies of Charles and Caroline were sealed in lead caskets, with the outer caskets of carved oak, were placed in an improvised chapel on the steamer Saint Louis and brought to America. In New York, the bodies were transferred to a private car and dispatched across the continent, accompanied by Charley's two sisters, his brother-in-law William Kissam Vanderbilt, Jr., two maids and a valet. No member of the Nelson family was with the funeral party, but several were present on the morning of September 12 when the bodies were sealed in niches in the Fair mausoleum at Laurel Hill in San Francisco. Due to overcrowding and vandalism, San Francisco Mayor Phelan signed an order prohibiting the burial of the dead within San Francisco's city limits in 1900. As development in the city expanded, the Inner Richmond was also seen as a prime spot for new housing. In 1913 the Board of Supervisors ordered all cemeteries closed and bodies removed, but voters overturned the orders. Nonetheless, the City of Lawndale (now Colma) was incorporated by the Associated Cemeteries in 1924, and the other three cemeteries began to relocate south. Laurel Hill burials were eventually relocated to Colma after 1937, when the Supervisors successfully passed their ordinance. WWII slowed the relocation efforts, which weren’t completed until 1948. The vast majority of bodies were moved to mass gravesites, and anyone wanting to have decedents privately reburied had to pay for it themselves. Laurel Hill's site is located in Cypress Lawn Cemetery, and called Laurel Hill Mound. Anyone who wanted to preserve a loved one’s tombstone had to pay for it themselves, and those left more than 90 days after the relocation were turned over to the Department of Public Works. They were repurposed for sea wall construction at Aquatic Park, creation of a breakwater in the Marina, lining for rain gutters in Buena Vista Park, and erosion control at Ocean Beach. Today, James Graham Fair, His Ex wife Theresa, their son's and Caroline are buried in the Fair mausoleum at Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery in Colma, San Mateo County, California.
That lady, "a handsome blonde of considerable embonpoint," was variously known as Maud Nelson, Maud Thomas, Maud Ulman, and Maud Corrigan; her real name was Caroline Decker Smith. She hailed from New Jersey and was a year or two older than Charley. In San Francisco she conducted, at 404 Stockton Street, what the local papers termed, with unaccustomed delicacy, "a questionable resort." Charles and his wife Caroline were killed in an automobile accident in Evreux, near Pacy-Sur-Eure, outside of Paris, France. They were racing in a brand new Mercedes Special from Paris to his sister's summer villa.
Chauffeur Louis Bretty was thrown clear and escaped injury. The bodies of Charles and Caroline were sealed in lead caskets, with the outer caskets of carved oak, were placed in an improvised chapel on the steamer Saint Louis and brought to America. In New York, the bodies were transferred to a private car and dispatched across the continent, accompanied by Charley's two sisters, his brother-in-law William Kissam Vanderbilt, Jr., two maids and a valet. No member of the Nelson family was with the funeral party, but several were present on the morning of September 12 when the bodies were sealed in niches in the Fair mausoleum at Laurel Hill in San Francisco. Due to overcrowding and vandalism, San Francisco Mayor Phelan signed an order prohibiting the burial of the dead within San Francisco's city limits in 1900. As development in the city expanded, the Inner Richmond was also seen as a prime spot for new housing. In 1913 the Board of Supervisors ordered all cemeteries closed and bodies removed, but voters overturned the orders. Nonetheless, the City of Lawndale (now Colma) was incorporated by the Associated Cemeteries in 1924, and the other three cemeteries began to relocate south. Laurel Hill burials were eventually relocated to Colma after 1937, when the Supervisors successfully passed their ordinance. WWII slowed the relocation efforts, which weren’t completed until 1948. The vast majority of bodies were moved to mass gravesites, and anyone wanting to have decedents privately reburied had to pay for it themselves. Laurel Hill's site is located in Cypress Lawn Cemetery, and called Laurel Hill Mound. Anyone who wanted to preserve a loved one’s tombstone had to pay for it themselves, and those left more than 90 days after the relocation were turned over to the Department of Public Works. They were repurposed for sea wall construction at Aquatic Park, creation of a breakwater in the Marina, lining for rain gutters in Buena Vista Park, and erosion control at Ocean Beach. Today, James Graham Fair, His Ex wife Theresa, their son's and Caroline are buried in the Fair mausoleum at Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery in Colma, San Mateo County, California.
Sportsman, Heir, second son of Senator James Graham Fair & Theresa Rooney, he was studious and his father planned to send his gifted son to one of the country's leading technical schools to prepare himself for a career as a mining engineer. But, somewhere along the line, that program was abandoned. "Too much money and alcohol, too many race horses and women," had the expected result. Following in the wavering footsteps of his elder brother, Charley was brought up short by the other's tragic death. He too retired to Los Gatos, took the "gold cure," and on his return caused a minor sensation among habituates of the town's cafes by drinking nothing stronger than milk. To help the young man's rehabilitation, his father made some notable additions to Charley's racing stable and financed an invasion of the Eastern tracks. But Charley's horses consistently failed to win, and soon word came back that he was finding solace not only in alcohol but in the company of a young woman for whom he had recently formed an attachment.
That lady, "a handsome blonde of considerable embonpoint," was variously known as Maud Nelson, Maud Thomas, Maud Ulman, and Maud Corrigan; her real name was Caroline Decker Smith. She hailed from New Jersey and was a year or two older than Charley. In San Francisco she conducted, at 404 Stockton Street, what the local papers termed, with unaccustomed delicacy, "a questionable resort." Charles and his wife Caroline were killed in an automobile accident in Evreux, near Pacy-Sur-Eure, outside of Paris, France. They were racing in a brand new Mercedes Special from Paris to his sister's summer villa.
Chauffeur Louis Bretty was thrown clear and escaped injury. The bodies of Charles and Caroline were sealed in lead caskets, with the outer caskets of carved oak, were placed in an improvised chapel on the steamer Saint Louis and brought to America. In New York, the bodies were transferred to a private car and dispatched across the continent, accompanied by Charley's two sisters, his brother-in-law William Kissam Vanderbilt, Jr., two maids and a valet. No member of the Nelson family was with the funeral party, but several were present on the morning of September 12 when the bodies were sealed in niches in the Fair mausoleum at Laurel Hill in San Francisco. Due to overcrowding and vandalism, San Francisco Mayor Phelan signed an order prohibiting the burial of the dead within San Francisco's city limits in 1900. As development in the city expanded, the Inner Richmond was also seen as a prime spot for new housing. In 1913 the Board of Supervisors ordered all cemeteries closed and bodies removed, but voters overturned the orders. Nonetheless, the City of Lawndale (now Colma) was incorporated by the Associated Cemeteries in 1924, and the other three cemeteries began to relocate south. Laurel Hill burials were eventually relocated to Colma after 1937, when the Supervisors successfully passed their ordinance. WWII slowed the relocation efforts, which weren’t completed until 1948. The vast majority of bodies were moved to mass gravesites, and anyone wanting to have decedents privately reburied had to pay for it themselves. Laurel Hill's site is located in Cypress Lawn Cemetery, and called Laurel Hill Mound. Anyone who wanted to preserve a loved one’s tombstone had to pay for it themselves, and those left more than 90 days after the relocation were turned over to the Department of Public Works. They were repurposed for sea wall construction at Aquatic Park, creation of a breakwater in the Marina, lining for rain gutters in Buena Vista Park, and erosion control at Ocean Beach. Today, James Graham Fair, His Ex wife Theresa, their son's and Caroline are buried in the Fair mausoleum at Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery in Colma, San Mateo County, California.
That lady, "a handsome blonde of considerable embonpoint," was variously known as Maud Nelson, Maud Thomas, Maud Ulman, and Maud Corrigan; her real name was Caroline Decker Smith. She hailed from New Jersey and was a year or two older than Charley. In San Francisco she conducted, at 404 Stockton Street, what the local papers termed, with unaccustomed delicacy, "a questionable resort." Charles and his wife Caroline were killed in an automobile accident in Evreux, near Pacy-Sur-Eure, outside of Paris, France. They were racing in a brand new Mercedes Special from Paris to his sister's summer villa.
Chauffeur Louis Bretty was thrown clear and escaped injury. The bodies of Charles and Caroline were sealed in lead caskets, with the outer caskets of carved oak, were placed in an improvised chapel on the steamer Saint Louis and brought to America. In New York, the bodies were transferred to a private car and dispatched across the continent, accompanied by Charley's two sisters, his brother-in-law William Kissam Vanderbilt, Jr., two maids and a valet. No member of the Nelson family was with the funeral party, but several were present on the morning of September 12 when the bodies were sealed in niches in the Fair mausoleum at Laurel Hill in San Francisco. Due to overcrowding and vandalism, San Francisco Mayor Phelan signed an order prohibiting the burial of the dead within San Francisco's city limits in 1900. As development in the city expanded, the Inner Richmond was also seen as a prime spot for new housing. In 1913 the Board of Supervisors ordered all cemeteries closed and bodies removed, but voters overturned the orders. Nonetheless, the City of Lawndale (now Colma) was incorporated by the Associated Cemeteries in 1924, and the other three cemeteries began to relocate south. Laurel Hill burials were eventually relocated to Colma after 1937, when the Supervisors successfully passed their ordinance. WWII slowed the relocation efforts, which weren’t completed until 1948. The vast majority of bodies were moved to mass gravesites, and anyone wanting to have decedents privately reburied had to pay for it themselves. Laurel Hill's site is located in Cypress Lawn Cemetery, and called Laurel Hill Mound. Anyone who wanted to preserve a loved one’s tombstone had to pay for it themselves, and those left more than 90 days after the relocation were turned over to the Department of Public Works. They were repurposed for sea wall construction at Aquatic Park, creation of a breakwater in the Marina, lining for rain gutters in Buena Vista Park, and erosion control at Ocean Beach. Today, James Graham Fair, His Ex wife Theresa, their son's and Caroline are buried in the Fair mausoleum at Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery in Colma, San Mateo County, California.
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