Meliora Clarkson Woolworth Fairfield was the daughter of James Woolworth, whose marker and family is discussed on the Woolworth page on this site. Meliora is buried in the Woolworth family plot.

Meliora also has the now dubious distinction of being crowned the first Queen of Aksarben in 1895. Aksarben, which is Nebraska spelled backwards, was a charitable society to the public, but in reality it was a conclave of wealthy Omahans who restricted membership in the society to other wealthy Omahans. I say dubious because Aksarben lost much of its aura of wealth and privilege over the past four decades. After the 1960's and their upheaval of all the cultural norms, the wealth and false prestige of the old Omahans began to wane and Aksarben's luster also faded. Aksarben closed down around 2003, but it really had been on its last legs by the early 1990's. The race track it sponsored closed down, and the coronations, once such a part of Omaha history, stopped. Still, Meliora was the first Queen of that society and that in itself is worth noting.

 

Meliora was 27 when she married Edmund Minor Fairfield in 1900. Edmund, who was born in Michigan, had been in Omaha for awhile. He worked for the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad while still in college, and after college he worked at the Equitable Trust Company of Omaha, and then went to work for Byron Reed and Company. In 1900 he became the manager of the Omaha Water Company, which, from what I've found through some quick research, was the precursor of the Metropolitan Utilities District, which is the water company for Omaha today. In 1912 Omaha purchased all property of the Omaha Water Company, after four or five different lawsuits between the City and the Water Company. Whether he stayed on as manager after the City bought the company, or left, I haven't yet found out. Once again, I found a photo of Edmund, but have not found a picture of Meliora yet. As I've said elsewhere, women were considered unimportant in the founding of Omaha, and the only pictures I've found are of the men. If anyone has a photo of Meliora they'd like to share, I would love to post it.

Edmund Minor Fairfield

While Meliora is at Prospect Hill, Edmund is not. On the FairfieldFamily.com site it is mentioned that Edmund is at Wyuka Cemetery in Lincoln, and it looks like he is buried in the family plot there, with his mother and several other siblings.

After Meliora and Edmund married, they had two children, Elizabeth and Mary, and built a grand house in Omaha, designed by Thomas Kimball, who designed a lot of the famous buildings in Omaha. While doing research on architectural styles around the turn of the century I ran across a two page spread that featured the new Fairfield house in Omaha, in a 1904 edition of "Architectural Review." The pictures of that house and the text, are below. There is no address given, but I would assume a house of this type and size would have been located around the Gold Coast/Bemis Park area of Omaha, which was the ritzy area of town in those days. This area is anywhere from 30th Street, between Hamilton and Pacific, up to 50th Street. Many of the grand houses built then are still there today, but many have also been raized. I don't yet know if Meliora's house is still standing, but further research may shed some light on it. It would be a shame if the house is gone, simply because it was something unique. I've also run across a City Directory for 1910, which gives Edmund's address as 2219 St. Mary's Avenue, and if this is truly where the house was, it's gone. That area has been almost completely rebuilt with apartment buildings and medical complexes.