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The information on these pages comes from Ethel Dougherty who has researched the history of Fairlambs in the United States from initial emigration in 1700 to the present.
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This main page concentrates on just a few Fairlambs of interest from 1700-1900. SOME FAIRLAMB INDIVIDUALS 1700-1900The First Settler - Nicholas Fairlamb 1678-1722
Until recently it was supposed that Nicholas was born in Stockton, but there is no direct evidence to suggest it, and indeed the the certificate itself only refers to his having lived in Stockton since the time 'of his apprenticeship'. Boys were generally apprenticed between the ages of 7 and 14.
Family Origins in Northern England
Recent evidence found on the web, and corroborated somewhat by Ethel through information from Walter Borg, suggests Nicholas may have come from Hexham in Northumberland. A Nicholas Fairlamb married Mariam Leonard there, on July 20th 1677. They had a son, also Nicholas, who was baptised on November 19th 1679. This child would have been 21 in 1700, which is when Nicholas Fairlamb arrived in America. There may also be a clue to his having been apprenticed in Stockton - his mother's family (the Leonards) seem to have travelled around a fair deal in Tynedale, Allendale, Weardale and Teesdale, including Stockton itself. Such movement, even within an area of 50 miles, was unusual in those days. Perhaps he was apprenticed to a close family relative. The Fairlambs are known to have originated in Cumberland, in north-western England and gradually moved eastwards in the 16th and 17th centuries. See the location map for more detail. More research needs to be done, but there also seems to be a link between the Fairlambs of Hexham (and thus the USA) and the Fairlambs of Allendale. A Samuel Fairlamb, son of Nicholas Fairlamb of Bishopside, Allendale, married a Hexham girl in 1658. Hexham is the main market town in the area, 10 miles east of Allendale. Nicholas (b.1679) is listed as the grandson of that Samuel on the Joiner List on the internet.
Closer examination of the Hexham Parish Registers may confirm this. A Bustling Port - Stockton-on-Tees
By the late 17th century, at the time of Nicholas Fairlamb's apprenticeship, Stockton began to flourish. The shipbuilding industry prospered, together with the sailmaking and ropemaking industries. The port itself also flourished. Stockton began to take over Yarm's role as the main port on the River Tees and directed wine and raisins, coal, glass and household goods along the east coast of England. International routes, principally supporting Baltic trade, also developed. The dynamic bustling environment was ideal for expanding a young man's horizons and view of the world. Through the comings and goings at Stockton, Nicholas would have been exposed to the opportunities available to him in London, Northern Germany, and the exciting new world of America. Sailing to AmericaWhatever his orgins, Nicholas Fairlamb first settled in Philadelphia, where the Minutes of the Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, dated 9mo. 29, 1700, record that:
By June 1703 he had proposed marriage to Katherine Crosby of Middletown, Pennsylvania. The minutes of the Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, dated 6/27/1703 state: "Nicholas Fairlamb intimating his Intention of marriage with a young woman in Chester County , desired a Certificate from hence to the monthly meeting where she belongs." Once Nicholas had moved to Middletown, the marriage between Nicholas and Katharine was proposed in the Chester Monthly Meeting for the second time on 8mo. 25, 1703 and must have taken place soon after. Katharine's father Richard had come from London or Sussex as early as 1682. Part of his lands were located in Middletown, but he resided near Chester in Ridley Township. Life in Chester
Nicholas served also as a member of the Assembly from Chester County from 1704 to 1706 and from 1711 to 1714. He became Justice of the Peace in Chester County, May 30, 1715; Associate Judge of the Court in 1715; and Sheriff of the county 1717 to 1719. In early times the office of sheriff was not so profitable as later, and as a sort of perquisite, the sheriff was allowed to keep tavern. Hence, we find Nicholas Fairlamb, a newly elected sheriff, petitioning to the court to be recommended for a license. In later times the tavern was kept in the dwelling apartment of the prison. From time to time the Fairlamb named crops up in documents of the time. On March 1, 1711 Richard Crosby of Ridley, Yeoman, and his wife Eleanor, and Nicholas Fairlamb of Chester, merchant and his wife Katharine, conveyed to William Pennell 270 acres of land in Middletown, which Richard had given, but not conveyed to Nicholas and his wife. On March 25 of the following year Caleb Pusey and Henry Worley conveyed to Nicholas Fairlamb, John Sharpless, John Smith, Thomas Vernon, James Lownes and Joseph Vernon a lot of 103 perches (a perch is 16 1/2 feet) by 1-4 feet in Chester for the use of the Meeting. The will of Nicholas Fairlamb was probated October 22, 1722 (Chester County Wills). His wife Katharine was administrator. No record of where he is buried has yet been found. Colonial Civic Service - John Fairlamb 1713-1766
From 1755-58 and again from 1762-63, he served as Sheriff. In 1761 and 1764 he was the Justice of the Peace. He was also one of about eight from Chester County serving as a member of the assembly in 1764 and 1765. In Chester County Rates of 1765, he was listed as owning 350 acres, six horses, ten cattle and fifteen sheep. As assessor, John Fairlamb signed the following document:
After John Fairlamb's death in 1766, his widow married Robert Pennell, son of William amd Mary Pennell, 11-9-1769. Susanna died in 1793. John was buried in Friend's Cemetery, Edgmont Avenue, Chester, Del. Co. Pa. The graves were later moved to Friends Cemetery, 24th & Providence in Chester in a mass grave, no markers remaining, to make room for stores. It became a wasteland, not only to disturb the graves, but because in moving them the list of graves was lost. The War of Independence - Nicholas II Fairlamb 1743-1816
At a meeting held December 20,1774 at the Court House
in Chester County, Nicholas and his brother Samuel Fairlamb were
selected to be on a committee of sixty-nine members "to
carry into execution the association of the Continental Congress".
(They were authorized to) "continue until one month after the
adjournment of the next Continental Congress and to transmit such
business and to enter into such associates as to them might appear
expedient." On June 30th 1775, the assembly appointed a committee of safety, including five members from Chester County. Benjamin Franklin was made President. In October the committee was reorganized, and Nicholas Fairlamb was added to their number. "There were a considerable number of Quakers who openly advocated a resort to arms." Even within the limits of this little county, one hundred and ten men were disowned by the society for having entered the service of their county." Nicholas and Samuel were complained about for joining combatants and resisting Civil Government. Both these actions were inconsistent with the principles of the meeting, and were disowned in 1775, as was their brother Frederick Fairlamb. On May 17, 1777 Nicholas Fairlamb was commissioned Lieutenant Colonel in the Sixth Battalion of the Chester County Militia. He served on Anthony Wayne's staff and assisted in the capture of Stoney Point; in his Quaker garb he rode through British line to Harrisburg and received arms and association, which he covered with hay and took back to his company in Chester. After the war, Nicholas served as Sheriff from 1789 to 1796, and in 1798 he was made Justice of the Peace for Middletown. Civil Engineer - Jonas
Preston Fairlamb 1785-1860
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Nicholas
Fairlamb came to America in the summer of 1700. He was around 21/22
years old, carrying a certificate from authorities in Stockton,
County Durham. 
Stockton
was a small market town from 1310. Being on the River Tees and with
access to the North Sea, it grew into a busy little port exporting
wool and importing wine. In 1642 came civil war and in 1644-46 Stockton
was occupied by the Scottish army. 
Later
Nicholas and Katharine lived in Chester, where they raised 6 children.
For several years he was clerk of the Monthly Meeting and she was
one of the overseers. 
John
Fairlamb was the second son of Nicholas and Katherine. He lived
most of his life in Middletown,Chester County (later Delaware Co),
Pa. In 1752 he served as Commissioner of Chester County his duties
similar to justices, grand jury and assessors. Commissioners were
required to issue precepts to the constable, requiring them to make
returns to the assessors of the names and estates of the inhabitants
and the assessors were required to lay the rates herein. 
The
son of John Fairlamb, Nicholas lived his whole life in Chester County.
In 1769 a group interested in establishing a library met and formed
themselves into a company. The library opened in 1770 with Nicholas
as one of the five directors. That same year according to the Chester
County Rates, Nicholas owned 200 acres, 3 horses, 4 cattle and 11
sheep.
The
only son of Nicholas II Fairlamb, Jonas Preston became one of the
most widely known civil engineers of his day and was regarded as
a man of unusual capacity in his profession.
Son
of JP Fairlamb, he was an attorney at the Law in Philadelphia's
North Ward, and was a very successful criminal lawyer. He also served
in the U.S. Army as Colonel of the First Regiment of Volunteer Infantry
of the First Brigade. In the first page of the New York Times, October
5th,1852, appears the following item under the headline:
"
A composer and organist, he was born in Philadelphia, Pa., the son
of Col. Jonas Preston Fairlamb and his wife, Hannah Kennedy. He
was playing in church at the age of fourteen, and before he was
twenty had held the position of organist and choirmaster in several
Philadelphia churches.