Marshall County KS Archives Biographies.....Farrar, Henry H. 1860 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ks/ksfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com May 21, 2007, 10:49 pm Author: Emma E. Forter (1917) HENRY H. FARRAR. Henry H. Farrar, one of the best-known and most progressive young farmers and stockmen of Marshall county, the proprietor of a fine farm in Guittard township, former clerk of Murray township and the holder of banking and other extensive interests in this part of the state, is a native son of Marshall county and has lived here all his life. He was born on a pioneer farm in Lincoln township, this county, October 25, 1882, son of Horatio N. and Martha L. (Minter) Farrar, natives of Ohio, who became early and influential residents of this county, where the former spent his last days and where the latter is still living, now making her home at Axtell. Horatio N. Farrar was born in the city of London, Madison county, Ohio, and became a well-to-do farmer and stockman. He and his brother, Thomas Farrar, served as soldiers of the Union army during the Civil War, serving as member of a Kentucky regiment. He married in Madison county, Ohio, Martha L. Minter, who was born in that county on April 19, 1850, and in 1870 came with his wife to Kansas and settled in Marshall county, where he spent the remainder of his life, one of the most active and influential pioneer residents of this county. Upon coming to Marshall county Horatio Farrar entered a soldier's claim to a quarter section homestead in Lincoln township and there established his home. He prospered in his farming operations and eventually became the owner of a full section of land, in addition to extensive banking and other interests in the county. He was one of the organizers of the Citizens' Bank of Axtell and for years served as president of the same. Politically, Mr. Farrar was a Republican and from the very beginning of his residence in this county took an active interest in local civic affairs, long having been regarded as one of the leaders of his party in that part of the county. For some time he served as treasurer of Lincoln township and in other ways gave of his time and energies to the public service, ever interested in such movements as were designed to advance the common welfare hereabout. Horatio Farrar died on August 24, 1913, and his widow is now making her home in Axtell. They were the parents of eleven children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the eighth in order of birth, and all of whom are living. Henry H. Farrar was reared on the home farm in Lincoln township and received his early schooling in the schools of Axtell, from which he was graduated in 1903. He then taught school for a year and later entered Baker University, from which he was graduated with the class of 1908, one of the members of that class being the young woman who later became his wife. During his university course Mr. Farrar took a particularly active part in the athletic events of the institution and in 1907 won a medal for high jumping, his performance in that line breaking all records for the state of Kansas. Mr. Farrar was married in the fall of the year following his graduation from the university and in that same year became engaged with his father and one of his brothers in the live-stock business. He had previously bought his present farm of one hundred and sixty acres in sections 35 and 36 in Guittard township and there established his home and has ever since lived there, he and his family being very comfortably and very pleasantly situated. In addition to his own quarter section, Mr. Farrar has an interest in a half section of land near Axtell; has shares in the Farmers' Elevator Company at Beattie, and a considerable block of stock in the bank at Axtell. He is a Republican and for some time served as clerk of Murray township, but resigned that position in 1910. Mr. Farrar has been an extensive breeder of live stock, giving his special attention to Shorthorn cattle and to sheep, having now a flock of seven hundred head of the latter and is known as one of the most successful sheep raisers in the county. He has ever taken a warm interest in the general welfare of the county and has given his intelligent attention to numerous movements designed to advance the same. On September 2, 1908, at Baldwin, Kansas, Henry H. Farrar was united in marriage to Ivy Riley, who was born in Johnson county, this state, January 26, 1885, daughter of James Francis and Elizabeth Lucretia (Williams) Riley, natives of Ohio, who became pioneers of Kansas and who are now living at their pleasant home in Baldwin, this state. James F. Riley was born at Zanesville, Ohio, June 6, 1838, eldest of a family of nine children, and his wife was born near Circleville, in that same state, December 6, 1841, the sixth in order of birth in a family of fifteen children. She moved with her parents by wagon to St. Louis and by boat up the Missouri river to Johnson county, Kansas, settling, in 1864, near Monticello, where she taught school until her marriage to Mr. Riley on September 17, 1865. Fifty years later, at their home in Baldwin, Mr. and Mrs. Riley celebrated their golden wedding anniversary, the occasion being made one of much felicitation on the part of their many friends, the reunion and celebration being attended by all members of the immediate family, eleven of the eighteen grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, besides a numerous company from this and other states. The event attracted much attention among the newspapers and a comprehensive account of the celebration, together with a reproduction of portraits of the celebrants, appeared in the Topeka Capital, while the Brooklyn (New York) Daily Eagle featured the affair by giving it a half page, with portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Riley, together with a very interesting story relating to Mr. Riley,'s experiences as a "bull-whacker" along the old Santa Fe trail in pioneer days in Kansas and other interesting and illuminating reminiscences of that period in the history of Kansas. James F. Riley came to Kansas in 1858, when even the eastern counties of the then territory were inhabited chiefly by Indians, when there was no Kansas City, Kansas, and when what is now Kansas City, Missouri, was known as Westport Landing. He helped to lay out the original site of White Cloud, in Doniphan county, and was present at the barbecue that was given in Kansas City when the first shovelful of dirt was thrown in building the first railroad that entered the place. During the five years from 1859 to 1864 Mr. Riley made numerous trips in hauling freight by ox and mule trains from Ft. Leavenworth across the plains to Salt Lake City and to Ft. Union and Albuquerque, using the now famous Santa Fe trail and having many thrilling experiences with the Indians. In 1864 he was sergeant of cavalry in the Kansas State militia and aided in guarding Lawrence against the expected raid of the Confederate General Price in October of that year. Two or three years after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Riley bought two hundred acres of land from Polly Green feather and other Indians on Indian creek in Johnson county, where they made their home until their retirement from the farm in 1901 and removal to Baldwin, where they now reside. To them were born nine children, four sons and five daughters, of whom Mrs. Farrar is the youngest, and all of whom are living. In keeping with the pioneering instinct of their parents, this family of nine children is now widely scattered and its members engaged in various pursuits. The eldest son, Charles Allen Riley, and three daughters, Mrs. Ralph Coppock, Mrs. Joseph J. Baker and Mrs. Thomas J. Coppock, are prosperous farmers and ranchmen in Alberta, Canada. The eldest daughter is the wife of Col. Andy J. James, the widely-known auctioneer of Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma, and owner of "Meadow Brook Stock Farm" in Johnson county. Three sons are engaged in educational and philanthropic work. The eldest, Thomas J. Riley, is general secretary of the Brooklyn bureau of charities, Brooklyn, New York; Edgar F. Riley is director in the Teachers' Training School of the Wisconsin State Normal at Plattville, and the youngest son, Elmer A. Riley, is head of the department of economics and sociology in Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, Ohio. To Henry H. and Ivy (Riley) Farrar two children have been born, Virginia, born on February 24, 1911, and Roberta, February 19, 1914. Mr. and Mrs. Farrar are members of the Methodist church at Axtell and take a proper interest in the various beneficences of the same, as well as in the general social activities of the community in which they live. Additional Comments: Extracted from: History of Marshall County, Kansas: its people, industries, and institutions by Emma E. Forter Indianapolis, Ind.: B.F. Bowen & Co. 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