Shawnee County KS Archives Biographies.....McFarland, James M. 1851 - 
************************************************
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 September 26, 2006, 7:56 pm

Author: James L. King (1905)

JAMES M. MCFARLAND.

    JAMES M. MCFARLAND was born at Hamilton, Ohio, in 1851, and was educated in
the Hamilton public schools and at South Salem Academy prior to entering Miami
University, where he was graduated. From his alma mater he received the degree
of M. A. on July 21, 1887.

    In addition to his distinguished father, Mr. McFarland has had other noted
ancestors. The stock is Scotch Presbyterian. His great-greatuncle, Major
McFarland, was the officer, who, under General Scott, led the attack at Lundy's
Lane in the War of 1812. His great-uncle, Hon. Samuel Mc-Farland, was nominated
for the vice-presidency, on the Abolition ticket, as running mate with Gerrit
Smith. Up to the time of his death, he continued a radical Abolitionist, and he
left a part of his estate to the Freedmen's Bureau, as an evidence of the
earnestness of his convictions. Lieutenant-Colonel McFarland, that gallant
officer of the 19th Iowa Regiment, who fell at the battle of Prairie Grove,
during the Civil War, was another uncle.

    James M. McFarland's life has been entirely devoted to literary pursuits and
he is well known as an essayist and author. He is also a noted bibliophilist and
owns the largest and by far the most valuable private library in the State. This
magnificent collection of books, entirely English, includes some 6,000 volumes,
and he has devoted four rooms in his beautiful home at No. 1192 Fillmore street
to their housing. In the arrangement of his books, Mr. McFarland has shown
artistic taste as well as that almost personal affection which marks the true
lover of such treasures. The works are carefully classified. One room, with
several small windows just under the roof, with no outside doors, in its
exclusiveness invites to the study of history and biography, a wealth of works
on these subjects lining the shelves. Here, with other rare editions, one finds
Clarendon's "Rebellion," Burnett's "History of the Reformation," a set of Hume,
published in 1800, and Rankin's "History of France," published in 1801. Another
beautiful set is an eight-volume publication of Murphy's "Tacitus," bearing the
date of 1811. From these the book lover turns to the rare set of 13 volumes in
embossed calf, published in London, in 1837, containing the dispatches of Field
Marshal Wellington.

    The section devoted to American history includes all the best works on all
pertinent subjects, by the best acknowledged writers, and a very interesting
corner is entirely given over to works on the great Napoleon. A smaller room on
the east adjoins the apartment given to history, and this contains about 1,500
volumes of fiction, many of these being in rare and costly bindings. Even the
casual visitor with uneducated taste can appreciate the beautiful, leather-bound
sets of Barbauld's English novels, and the choice bindings which add to the
value of complete sets of Dickens, Thackeray and Reade. A very expensive edition
of the original "Arabian Nights," for which he has been offered $700, occupies a
prominent place. Another apartment is devoted entirely to essays and travels,
and here is found the choicest of literature. Only a catalogue could enumerate
them all, but we may mention a rare edition of Montraye's "Travels," in three
large octavo volumes, published in 1732; Swinburn's "Travels in Spain,"
published in 1779; Wilson's "Pelew Islands," published in 1789; Bruce's "Travels
to Discover the Source of the Nile," in five large volumes, published in 1790;
Polehapton's "Gallery of Art," in six volumes, published in 1818, and also a
complete set of Buff on,— nine volumes on the natural history of birds, nine on
the natural history of beasts, and one on the natural history of insects. These
are treasures indeed, being the original editions published in 1791, 1792 and
1793, and their value is beyond price.

    While every volume in the library has intrinsic financial, as well as
literary, value, there are two little volumes which are held in higher regard by
their discriminating owner than any other of the rare collection. These, bound
in tree calf and as perfect as the book-binder's art can achieve, are the two
volumes of Osborn's "Monumental History of Egypt," published in 1854. Mr.
McFarland has been offered as high as $400 a volume for them, but no price can
tempt him to part with them.

    The luxuriously appointed room in which Mr. McFarland does his own literary
work, is also the one which he has devoted to philosophical works and to his
reference library, this collection including volumes of inestimable value to the
student and writer. Surrounded by this great aggregation of printed thought, and
encompassed, as it were, by an inspiring atmosphere, Mr. McFarland spends many
happy hours, and scarcely could more congenial environment be imagined. In his
accomplished wife he finds a companion whose tastes and aims are in harmony with
his own. His literary work has been mainly on economic subjects and displays
depth of thought and logical reasoning. From collegiate days he has been a
traveler and has leisurely visited almost every part of the United States, on
many occasions lecturing before educated bodies, his favorite subject being
history. Although his studious life has made him acquainted with almost every
line of thought, history has appealed most strongly to his taste and has given
him the most enjoyment.

    Mr. McFarland was connected with the State Board of Agriculture from its
inception until 1886, during a part of this time being its assistant secretary,
and for a long period has been State statistician for the Department of
Agriculture. Recently he has become a member of the Benevolent and Protective
Order of Elks.

    Many of Mr. McFarland's rare and valuable books have been imported, some of
these by himself from London, and others by a Chicago firm in his employ, who
exhaust all their resources in his behalf. He keeps in constant communication
with those who handle choice literature of any time or age, the price being no
object, the mere possession of a rare volume bringing to him its own reward.
Essentially a bibliophilist, Mr. McFarland is also a connoisseur as to bindings,
taking delight in the beautiful enveloping fabrics, combinations of color and
intricate designs. These satisfy his artistic sense, while still another sense
notes the contents and rejoices in the date on the title page, which proves the
volume's antiquarian worth.


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.

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ks/shawnee/bios/mcfarlan58nbs.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/ksfiles/

File size: 7.3 Kb