Fairbanks family.

Erastus Fairbanks (1792-1864), the eldest son of Joseph and Phebe Paddock Fairbanks, was the first of the family to move to Vermont, leaving his Brimfield, Massachusetts, birthplace in 1811; the rest of the family followed in 1815. While Erastus operated a store in Barnet, Vermont, his father and brother, Thaddeus (1796-1886), built and operated a gristmill and sawmill, and built carriages in St. Johnsbury. In 1823 Thaddeus built an iron foundry and Erastus joined him to establish E. & T. Fairbanks, to manufacture stoves and plows. Thaddeus, an inventor and mechanic, perfected and patented a design for a platform scale in 1830 and three years later Erastus, Thaddeus, and their youngest brother, Joseph P. (1806-1855), formed E. & T. Fairbanks & Company to manufacture and sell the scales. Erastus and Joseph managed the business while Thaddeus provided the mechanical expertise. E. & T. Fairbanks & Company continued in business until 1916 when it was purchased by Fairbanks, Morse and Company of Cincinnati and Chicago (originally an agent of E. & T. Fairbanks & Company).

Erastus was also active in civic affairs and politics. A member of the Congregational Church in St. Johnsbury, he was president of the Vermont Domestic Missionary Society, and a member of the American Board of Foreign Missions, and was active in the temperance movement. He was elected to the legislature in 1836 and was chosen presidential elector in 1844 and 1848 for the Whig party. He was elected governor of Vermont in 1852 and again in 1860. As one of six men to be granted a charter for the Connecticut and Passumpsic Rivers Railroad in 1835, Erastus supported the railroad project through its third charter and was named president when the company finally organized in 1846. He held that position until 1854.

Erastus Fairbanks married Lois Crossman of Peacham, Vermont on May 30, 1815 and they had nine children: Jane (1816-1852; George ; Horace (1820-1888); Charles (1821-1898); Julia (1824-1884,; Franklin (1828-1895); Sarah (1831-1858); Emily (1833-1859; Ellen (1836-1843).

Thaddeus Fairbanks was born in Brimfield, Massachusetts, on January 17, 1796 and moved to St. Johnsbury, Vermont, in 1815. He was an inventor with many patents including a cast iron stove and plow. In 1830 he and Erastus became interested in the raising and processing of hemp, and Thaddeus patented a hemp dresser (and was for a time manager of the St. Johnsbury Hemp Company). His most successful invention was the platform scale in 1830. He married Lucy Peck Barker (1799-1866) on January 17, 1820 and they had a son, Henry (1918-1830), and daughter, Charlotte (1837-1869). Thaddeus Fairbanks died April 12, 1886.

Joseph Paddock Fairbanks was born November 26, 1806. He studied law from 1828 to 1833 and had a law practice in Vermont before joining his brothers in the platform scale business. He was elected to the legislature in 1845 and fought for improvements in education, temperance, and spoke out against slavery and against the Mexican War. Together with his brothers he founded St. Johnsbury Academy. He married Almira Taylor on June 11, 1845 and had two children: Edward Taylor (1836-1919), and William Paddock (1840-1895). He died May 15, 1855.