THOMAS FARR 1619-1672

[Ancestral Link: Marguerite Anderson (Miller), daughter of Hannah Anderson (Anderson), daughter of Mary Margaret Edmiston (Anderson), daughter of Martha Jane Snow (Edmiston), daughter of Gardner Snow, son of Abigail Farr (Snow), daughter of Jonathan Farr, son of Thomas Farr, son of Stephen Farr, son of Thomas Farr.]



General Notes(I) Thomas Farr, the first of this line, came from England and located first at Boston, Massachusetts, where he executed a power of attorney, February 2, 1645, giving authority to his brother, Henry Farr, a mariner, to lease or sell lands in England. He is said to have been a son of Thomas Farr (or Farrar), residing near Burnley in Lancashire. Thomas Farr settled in Lynn, where he died in 1604. His wife Elizabeth died January 8, 1680. There is no conclusive evidence that he was related to George Farr, of Lynn, though it is natural to suppose that they were in some way related. The early records of Lynn are fragmentary and defective, so that many things remain unproved. Among these is the supposition that Stephen Farr was a son of Thomas and Elizabeth Farr. Their children known were: Thomas, living in 1693; Susanna, born March 26, 1659; Mehitable, October 6, 1660; Pelcg, died young; there were probably others.

(II) Stephen Farr, believed to be a son of Thomas Farr, of Lynn, first appears on the records at Concord, Massachusetts, where he married, May 25, 1674, Mary, daughter of William and Mary Taylor, born March 19, 1649. He served in King Philip's war from Concord in 1675-76, as a member of Captain Davenport's company, and resided in the district now constituting the town of Stow, which lay between the towns of Concord and Lancaster. Two of his children were recorded at Concord but no record can be found of others, of whom there were probably several. Those recorded were: Ebenezer, born November 10, 1676, and Stephen, mentioned below.

(III) Stephen (2), son of Stephen (i) and Mary (Taylor) Farr, was born April n, 1679, recorded at Concord, and resided in Stow. He married, September 28, 1708, Sarah, daughter of Simon and Sarah (Farnsworth) Stone, of Groton, the latter a daughter of Matthias and Mary (Farr) Farnsworth, and granddaughter of George and Elizabeth Farr, of Lynn. Mary Farr was born January 6, 1644, in Lynn. Elizabeth, widow of George Farr, deposed, June 2, 1684, that she had lived fifty-four years in Lynn, on a tract of land given her husband by the town. George Farr was a freeman of Lynn, admitted May 6, 1635, and had a grant of land there in 1638. A George Farr was in Ipswich in 1643, was herd keeper there in 1647, and a famous killer of foxes. Children of Stephen (2) and Sarah Farr recorded at Stow: Jemima, November 29, 1713; Joseph, April n, 1718, removed to Cummington; Susanna, September 6, 1724. Records of other children have not been found, but there is no doubt that they were the parents of Stephen.

(IV) Stephen (3), son of Stephen (2) and Sarah (Stone) Farr, was born as early as 1710 and resided in Stow, where records show that he purchased one hundred acres of land from his father. He married Sarah' Bennett, and they had children recorded at Stow: Sarah, born January 19, 1735; Stephen, mentioned below; Silas, September 10, 1742; Olive, January n, 1745; Simeon, March 23, 1747; Elias, August 23, 1749.

(V) Stephen (4), eldest son of Stephen (3) and Sarah (Bennett) Farr, was born about 1739-40, in Stow, and settled in the adjoining town of Acton. The lands owned by the family were on the town line. Thence he removed to Cummington, Hampshire county, Massachusetts, being among the first settlers of the town. He owned much land, and was one of the original members of the church organized July 7, 1779. At the proprietors' meeting held July 19, 1771, at the house of Joseph Farr, innkeeper at Cummington, Stephen Farr was moderator. He later resided near the old road from Northampton, where some authorities say he also kept a tavern. Among the families in Cummington in 1776 were those of Stephen and seven others named Farr. Simeon and Silas Farr, of this family, from Hatfield Equivalent, Township No. 5, and Hadley, respectively, were soldiers in the revolution. After the war Stephen Farr went northward and in 1790 was shown by the United States census a resident of Washington county, New York. Before 1803 he settled in Essex county, that state, where he died June 10, 1822, and was buried at Fort Ann, Washington county. He married, March 1, 1764, at Stow, Lois, daughter of Samuel and Priscilla (Farnsworth) Randall. Their children were: Lois, born about December, 1764; Reuben, about 1767; Stephen, mentioned below; Joel, lived in Warren county, New York; Randall, born March 10, 1772; Levi, lived at Schroon, New York, and moved to Ohio; Arod, lived at Sacketts Harbor, New York; Sally, married Miller, and lived east of Whitehall, New York; a daughter, married John Parrish, and has descendants in Iowa.

Taken from the book: New England families, genealogical and memorial: a record of the ..., Volume 2
found on ancestry.com