Nearly all other major so-called robber barons were Protestants (Episcopal or Presbyterian) while Fair himself died a Roman Catholic though born into poverty to Anglican parents.

Born to a poor Irish family in Clogher, County Tyrone, James Fair came with his father to the United States in 1843 and grew up on a farm in Illinois.

His attention shifted to Nevada, where he operated a stamp mill on the Carson River and landed various mine superintendent positions around the Comstock Lode region.

"[3] Fair invested his portion in railroads and real estate, bringing his private fortune up to $50 million.

[4] Although Fair was acknowledged to be a capable mine superintendent and a shrewd businessman, he was not well liked, and carried the nickname "Slippery Jim.

[citation needed] In 1876, in partnership with several others, Fair established the narrow-gauge South Pacific Coast Railroad.

From its beginning near present-day Newark, the line extended down the east side of San Francisco Bay, through San Jose and Los Gatos and southward over the Santa Cruz Mountains over a route that entailed a 6,200-foot tunnel, another 5,000-foot tunnel and six shorter ones.

In that last activity, thirty-one workers lost their lives, primarily from explosions of underground natural gas.

In 1890, his eldest daughter "Tessie" was married to Hermann Oelrichs of Norddeutsche Lloyd shipping lines in the grandest wedding that San Francisco had seen.