Theresa Fair Oelrichs

Theresa Fair Oelrichs
Tessie Oelrichs (seated) c. 1910 with son Hermann, Jr. standing on left
Born	Theresa Alice Fair June 30, 1871 Virginia City, Nevada, United States
Died	November 22, 1926
Nationality	American
Spouse(s)	Hermann Oelrichs
Children	Hermann Oelrichs, Jr.
Parent(s)	James Graham Fair Theresa Rooney

Theresa Alice "Tessie" Fair ( June 30, 1871 - November 22, 1926 ) was an American socialite. She went from being the daughter of a hard-scrabble California miner to become heiress to a fortune in gold and silver, the wife of steamship magnate Hermann Oelrichs, mistress of the Rosecliff estate in Newport, Rhode Island, and a member of the elite "Triumvirate" of American society.

Theresa's father, James Graham Fair, was born in Clogher, County Tyrone, and immigrated to the United States from Belfast, Ireland in 1843 at age twelve. He worked the California mines until 1860, when he moved to Nevada to work the newly-discovered traces there. He met Theresa Rooney, an innkeeper's daughter, and they wed in 1861. Born in Virginia City, Nevada, Tessie grew up in mining camps as her father prospected for gold. The Fairs would have four children: Theresa (called 'Tessie'), Virginia (nicknamed 'Birdie'), Charles and James, Jr.

In 1859, James Fair and three partners discovered the in Nevada - the largest single deposit of gold and silver ever found - and became very wealthy. More than 100 million dollars worth of gold (over $2.5 billion in today's currency) was extracted from that mine before it was played out in 1898. James Fair parlayed his share on the railroad and real estate market into a private fortune of $50 million. Money led to a dissolute life of affairs and drinking for him, and in 1883 his wife filed for divorce, getting custody of Tessie and Virginia.

In 1889, in Newport, Tessie met steamship tycoon Hermann Oelrichs, whom she wed the following year. The lavish wedding was held in San Francisco. James Fair's gift to his daughter was one million dollars, but even so he was not invited to the wedding. Now a wealthy heiress, Tessie moved east permanently to join the social circles of New York, Newport and Europe.

Tessie's social peers, Alva Vanderbilt and Grace Vanderbilt, already had expensive mansions in Newport, which were called "summer cottages" by the elite of the day. Tessie set her sights on being mistress of her own grand estate, so she commissioned architect Stanford White to renovate their recently purchased Rosecliff. Begun in 1899 and modeled after the Grand Trianon at Versailles, Rosecliff was completed in 1902 with a final cost of $2.5 million. In 1899, Tessie orchestrated a coup for the family by marrying her younger sister Birdie off to William K. Vanderbilt II, son of Alva and William K. Vanderbilt in a wedding that was extensively covered in the society pages.