Six children were born to James Phair II and Hannah Murphy Phair in Whitehall, New York including James H. born in 1844. The others were: Thomas, Joseph, Mary, Alexander, and Emma. The family moved to Presque Isle in 1857 when Thomas was seven years of age.

James Phair answered President Lincoln’s first call for soldiers and entered the military in 1861 to serve his country during the Civil War. He retired in 1865 with the rank of Second Lieutenant.

Phair was appointed as our first official postmaster by President McKinley. He served in that position for several years until a new post office was built on the west side of Maine Street across from Hall Street in the Greenlaw/Higgins building shortly before 1914.

James Phair owned the Phair Hotel. He sold the hotel to the railroad in 1894 to make room for the construction of the Bangor & Aroostook Railroad station. The hotel would have sat behind what is now Wilder’s Jewelry store. In December of 1894, the first Bangor & Aroostook train steamed into Presque Isle. The hotel was demolished with the exception of one small part which was moved to the side and kept to serve as the station master’s quarters. That section of the building remained in use until the early 1960s.

With the money he received for the sale of the hotel, James built this home, which was completed before the end of 1895. Phair passed away in this home in 1924.

James also served as Sheriff and, was in fact, the Sheriff at the time of the Jim Cullen incident in 1873. Just east of Mapleton on the night of April 30th, Jim Cullen, local ne’er-do-well, was lynched by a mob of 75 – 100 men for robbing a local store and killing some of the posse that went after him. This is the only known lynching to occur in New England. Phair was actually in charge of Cullen and in the process of transporting him to the Presque Isle jail when the mob attempted to take him. He ordered the mob to stop and disperse telling them that they were acting illegally. This did not stop the group of men, who then proceeded to lynch Cullen. Phair cut the body from the tree and took it to town. He later served on the inquest jury as well.
Phair became Captain of the Fire Company in 1876 and served as one of the town fire wardens in 1877.

James Phair in Front Center	James Phair House 1915
James Phair Promotion Certificate