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FAIRBANKS, Charles Warren (1852-1918)
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Senate Years of Service: 1897-1905

FAIRBANKS, CHARLES WARREN, A Senator from Indiana and a Vice President of the United States; born near Unionville Center, Union County, Ohio, May 11, 1852; attended the common schools and graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, Ohio, in 1872; agent of the Associated Press in Pittsburgh, Pa., and in Cleveland, Ohio; studied law; admitted to the Ohio bar in 1874; moved to Indianapolis, Ind., the same year and commenced practice; unsuccessful candidate for election to the United States Senate in 1893; appointed a member of the United States and British Joint High Commission which met in Quebec in 1898 for the adjustment of Canadian questions; elected as a Republican to the United States Senate in 1896; reelected in 1902 and served from March 4, 1897, until his resignation March 3, 1905, having been elected Vice President of the United States; chairman, Committee on Immigration (Fifty-fifth Congress), Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds (Fifty-sixth through Fifty-eighth Congresses); elected Vice President of the United States in 1904 on the Republican ticket with Theodore Roosevelt and served from March 4, 1905, to March 3, 1909; unsuccessful candidate for Vice President of the United States on the Republican ticket with Charles E. Hughes for President in 1916; resumed the practice of law in Indianapolis, Ind., where he died June 4, 1918; interment in Crown Hill Cemetery.

Franklin College Library
Special Collections
Franklin, IN
Papers: May 30, 1907. 1 photograph. With President Roosevelt at Fairbanks residence in Indianapolis.
Library of Congress
Washington, DC
Papers: 3 items.
Papers: Correspondence in William Howard Taft papers.
Indiana Historical Society
Indianapolis, IN
Papers: 1871-1919. Ca. 20 feet. 200 letters, 23 letterbooks (1876-1904), 16 letterboxes, 19 scrapbooks, and photograph albums. Finding aid.
Papers: Correspondence in James Arthur Stuart papers, 1907-1965; League of Women Voters of Indiana records, 1910-ongoing; W.R. Holloway papers, 1824-1899; Elijah Bishop Martindale papers, 1878-1907; Elizabeth Jane Miller Hack papers, 1875-1941; James A. Wildman papers, 1860-1898; Harlow Lindley collection, 1790-1913; James DuShane papers, 1828-1949 (bulk 1890-1914); Hilton U. Brown papers, 1853-1953; Delavan Smith papers, 1868-1921; and John C. Chaney papers, 1883-1942.
Indiana State Library
Indianapolis, IN
Papers: 1898-1916. 10 items. Personal and political correspondence. Also photographs.
Papers: Several items in other collections including John B. Stoll papers, 1854-1926; Abraham Lincoln Brick papers, 1853-1950; Walter D. Myers papers, 1908-1969; and Flora Gardiner Kling papers, 1888-1938.
Indiana University
Lilly Library
Bloomington, IN
Papers: 1819-1939. 150,000 items. Includes correspondence with prominent political figures and the papers of his son, Warren.
New Jersey Historical Society
Newark, NJ
Papers: Correspondence in Franklin Murphy papers, 1863-1921.
University of Michigan
Bentley Historical Library
Ann Arbor, MI
Papers: Correspondence in Arthur Hendrick Vandenberg papers, 1884-1974; and Oliver Lyman Spaulding papers, 1861-1921. Finding aid.
Yale University Libraries
Manuscripts and Archives
New Haven, CT
Papers: Correspondence in Byron Rufus Newton papers, 1861-1938; Arthur Judson Brown papers, 1864-1967; and Charles Dewey Hilles papers, 1885-1955. Finding aid.
Research Libraries Information Network: In addition to the institutions listed above, items are also cataloged in collections at: Brigham Young University, Special Collections, Provo, UT; Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA; and University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City, IA.

  • Gould, Lewis L. "Charles Warren Fairbanks and the Republican National Convention of 1900: A Memoir.'' Indiana Magazine of History 77 (December 1981): 358-72.
  • Madison, James H. "Charles Warren Fairbanks and Indiana Republicanism.'' In Gentlemen from Indiana: National Party Candidates,1836-1940, edited by Ralph D. Gray, pp. 171-88. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Bureau, 1977.
  • Rissler, Herbert J. "Charles Warren Fairbanks: Conservative Hoosier.'' Ph.D. dissertation, Indiana University, 1961.
  • Smith, William Henry. The Life and Speeches of Hon. Charles W. Fairbanks, Republican Candidate for Vice-President. Indianapolis: W.B. Burford, 1904.