Shawnee County KS Archives Biographies.....Farnsworth, Russell U. 1839 - 1897
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Author: James L. King (1905)

RUSSELL U. FARNSWORTH.

    RUSSELL U. FARNSWORTH, deceased, for a period of years was one of the
representative men of Monmouth township, Shawnee County. He was born at
Haverhill, New Hampshire, August 12, 1839, and died at Richland, Kansas, on
January 31, 1897. He was a son of Calvin and Mary Jane (Underwood) Farnsworth.

    The parents of Mr. Farnsworth were natives of New Hampshire, representative
farming people of their locality. They had five children, of whom Russell U. was
the eldest, the others being: Silas, who was killed in the army during the Civil
War, a bullet passing through a Bible which he had bound over his heart; Robert,
a Methodist preacher, who died in California; Charles, also a Methodist
minister, a resident of New Hampshire; and Nellie, wife of Rev. Orville Clapp,
of New Hampshire.

    The late Russell U. Farnsworth was reared on the home farm until young
manhood, when he came to Monmouth township, Shawnee County, and entered land. He
then went back to New England and soon after enlisted in Company G, Third Reg.,
Vermont Vol. Inf., for service in the Civil War. His regiment was attached to
the Army of the Potomac. From the first the life did not agree with him and he
was given the position of regimental clerk, but finally his health gave way
entirely and he was obliged to ask for his discharge on account of disability.
For a short time he traveled through Iowa as a book agent and then decided to
return to Kansas. The long journey in the open air, driving across the plains
with an ox team, brought about a better state of health and when he settled on
his claim he was able to begin its cultivation. He continued on the farm until
he went into the implement business at Richland, with E. U. McKee, in which he
was still interested when attacked by his last illness.

    Mr. Farnsworth was a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and
was unusually liberal in his support. He took a great deal of interest in public
matters and was a strong advocate of prohibition, but all his life continued to
act with the Republican party. He was strictly honest and upright, a man who
could always be found on the right side of any movement and was one who was
respected by the whole community. He identified himself with the Grange and
Farmers' Alliance and he belonged also to the Masonic organization of Auburn and
to the Richland Post, No. 370, Grand Army of the Republic.

    Mr. Farnsworth married, first, Ellen Fairbrother, and they had two children:
Josephine, wife of E. L. Hopkins, of Topeka; and Silas Herbert, who was drowned
when nearly 10 years old. He married, second, Harriet Isabella McDowell, who was
born in Illinois, December 3, 1852, and is a daughter of Jeremiah and Matilda
(Foster) McDowell. Both Mr. and Mrs. McDowell were orphans and they met and
married in Illinois and reared these •children: Harriet Isabella; James P.;
Edith A., wife of O. C. Kelley of St. Louis; Arthur, of Shawnee County; and
Noble and Cora, deceased. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Farnsworth were: Noble
Albert, who died aged two years; Jennie A., a graduate of the Emporia Normal
School, who is a successful teacher in Topeka; and Mabel lone, her mother's
assistant, who was a student in the Normal School for one year and now devotes
her spare time to music.

    Mrs. Farnsworth has been the capable postmistress at Richland for the past
eight years. She is a lady widely known and much beloved in the community where
her late husband was also held in such high esteem. Mrs. Farnsworth's uncle,
Luther Purley Foster, was prominent as a merchant and banker and resided in
Parsons, Kansas, at the time of his death.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

HISTORY OF SHAWNEE COUNTY, KANSAS
AND
REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

EDITED AND COMPILED BY
JAMES L. KING
TOPEKA, KANSAS 

"History is Philosophy Teaching by Examples"

PUBLISHED BY
RICHMOND & ARNOLD,
GEORGE RICHMOND; C. R. ARNOLD.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,
1905.

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