Leonard FARR [Parents] [scrapbook] was born on 1 Apr 1814 in Huntington, Chittenden, Vermont, United States. He died 1 on 24 Dec 1901 in Mount Pleasant, Henry, Iowa, United States. Leonard married 2 Margaret D BUSH on 22 Feb 1848 in Augusta, Virginia, United States.
History of Henry County, Iowa
FHL Book Area US/CAN 977.795 H2t
FARR, LEONARD, retired farmer; born in Chittenden Co., Vt., April 1, 1814; at the age of 18, moved to Ohio and engaged in teaching for about five years; then removed to Virginia, and engaged in teaching there for nine years. While in Virginia, he became acquainted with Miss Margaret D. Bush, from Augusta, Va., and they were married Feb. 22, 1848; they came to Iowa the same year, and arrived in Mt. Pleasant on Christmas Day, 1848; the snow at that time was thirty inches deep, and Mrs. Farr says that she did not see the ground for three months. Mr. Farr engaged in teaching for several years, and in improving his land; he taught the Seminary at Sakm for two years. He has held the office of Superintendent of Henry Co. When he commenced life, he had nothing, and now owns 1,400 acres of land in Henry Co. They have no children.Portrait and Biographical Album
Henry County, Iowa
FHL Book Area US/CAN 977.795 D3p
pp.299,300
LEONARD FARR, a retired farmer, resides at Mt. Pleasant. He was a pioneer in Iowa of 1841, and has been a resident of Henry County since 1848. He was born in Huntington, Crittenden Co., Vt., April 1, 1814, and is the son of Artemas and Mercy (Fitch) Farr. His father was born at ¹Tinmouth, Conn., in 1781,and removed to the wilds of Vermont with his family when but a lad. He was a soldier of the War of 1812, and commanded a company of volunteers at the battle of Plattsburg. A farmer by occupation, he emigrated to Ohio in 1824, settling in Butler County, where he was engaged in his chosen vocation. He came to Iowa at the time of the land sales, in 1839, and purchased claims in Henry County, returned east, and moved to Henry County in 1841, and settled in New London Township. He died near Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, Oct. 18, 1844. ²The paternal grandfather of Leonard emigrated from Wales to America in Colonial days, and settled in Martha's Vineyard. Leonard's mother, Mercy Fitch Farr, was born in Coventry, Conn. Her father, John Fitch, was also a native of that place, and came of old New England stock. Her mother's father was Maj. Elias Buell, an officer of the war of the Revolution. Her uncle, Hon. Jesse Buell, of Coventry, Conn;, and later of Albany, N.Y., was a prominent man of his day, being an eminent agriculturist and horticulturist of those early times, the publisher of the pioneer agricultural journal in this country, the well-known Cultivator and Country Gentleman, of Albany, N.Y., and a leading man of that place. The Buell family trace their descent from the nobility of England. William Buell, the founder of the family in America, came from England in the year 1630, and landed at Plymouth Colony, Mass. The family subsequently settled at Coventry, Conn., and to-day their descendants are to be found in every State in the Union, many of them having distinguished themselves as soldiers, Statesmen, and in the private walks of life.Leonard Farr received his primary education in the district school, and pursued his studies at the Hudson River Seminary, Kinderhook, N.Y. and at the Burr Seminary, Manchester, Vt. When nineteen years of age he commenced teaching school in Butler County, Ohio, and followed that calling in that county until 1838, when he removed to Rushville, Ind., where he was similarly engaged for one year. He spent the years 1839 and 1840 in traveling and teaching in the Southern States. In the latter part of 1840 he located in Augusta County, Va., and taught school in that county until December 1848. He was married, Feb. 22, 1848, to Miss Margaret D. Bush, a daughter of John Bush, a resident of Augusta County, Va. Previous to this time Mr. Farr had made several trips to Henry County, Iowa, the first being in 1841, when he purchased some land. He was back and forth afterward three or four times, seeing to its improvement, and in 1848 he removed west and made his home at Mt. Pleasant. In 1855 he bought the seminary property at Salem, and conducted that institution until the fall of 1856, following which he and his wife traveled east for two years. Returning to Iowa, he settled on his farm near Salem, in Salem Township, where he remained five years, and then moved to the city of Mt. Pleasant, where he has since continued to reside. In his life-work he has been reasonably successful, having at the present time some 1,600 acres of land, 1,300 of which lie in a body in Salem Township.
From its organization until 1870 Mr. Farr was a member of the Republican party, since which time he has acted with the Greenback party. In 1868 he was elected Superintendent of Public Schools of Henry County, and served with his characteristic ability one term. Religiously he is identified with and is a member of the Christian Church, and has contributed liberally to religious and educational institutions. While unpretending and disposed to avoid being thought a philanthropist, he is broad, liberal and humane in his views, and is ever ready to lend himself to the support of worthy objects. He gave twelve acres of land with good buildings to the Christian Church in Mt. Pleasant, the proceeds of which go toward the support of the church,, of which he and his wife are prominent members. His home is on the corner of Clay and Marion streets, and a fine view of it is given in this work. Portraits of this well-known citizen and his wife will also be found on preceding pages.
Notes added by Tim Farr:
¹There is no Tinmouth, Conn., but there is a Tinmouth, Vt. (The only place in the world with exactly this name, thought to be derived from one of two English towns: Tynemouth in Northumberland or Teignmouth in Devonshire, both of which are pronounced "Tinmuth" as is this Vermont town.)
²False familly tradition.DEATH: Buried in Forest Home Cemetery, lot 38, block 3.
