Fairplay has a history to be proud of. It is one of the oldest communities in the county, west of the Sabine River, and with the exception of Grand Bluff and Clayton, has perhaps the oldest school on this side of the river. Though we had no public schools then as we have now, but each community that wanted a school would build a house and take a subscription for a school.
All houses were made of logs then, and the seats were logs split in halves, and two pegs driven in each end for legs. The first settlers usually settled close together for protection from the Indians.
Before going very deep into the history of Fairplay, let us go back a little before this. On October 5, 1835, Rev. Isaac Reed, bought from Immanuel Antonio Romeo 4000 acres of land, known as the Romeo League. He with his son, Isaac Reed. Jr., and two son-in-laws, John Morris and Hough Sheppard, settled on the spring branch near where the negro church, Bethel, now stands, about one mile over the line of Fairplay school district in Clayton School district. This evidently was soon after he bought the land.
32° 14' 21.156" N, 94° 27' 27.828" W
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