U.S. Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ -- USGenNet Inc. -- Please read the U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on the following page: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Farnsworth, Daniel D. T. (1819-1892) ------------------------------------------------------------------- The History of Upshur County West Virginia From its Earliest Exploration and Settlement to the Present Time by W. B. Cutright Buckhannon, W. Va., July 1, 1907 Pages 441-444 HON. DANIEL D. T. FARNSWORTH was a resident of what is now Buckhannon, Upshur County, since he was two years of age, and to him and his ancestors the county owes more of its development and prosperity than to any other one name. He was a merchant, Statesman, Publicist and Governor of West Virginia. He was born on Staten Island, New York, December 23, 1819, died December 5, 1892, at rest in Heavner Cemetery, Buckhannon, W. Va., where a handsome monument is erected to his memory. Son of James S. and Abigail Farnsworth, and grandson of Daniel Farnsworth, who owned the south end of Staten Island. His mother was a Wilcox, from New Brunswick, New Jersey. His grandfather had seven sons, James S., the oldest; and five of these sons were living when the family came to the town of Buckhannon in June 1821. James S. was a soldier in the 1812 war, and drew a pension till his death, which occurred in his eighty-fifth year. Daniel Farnsworth, the grandfather, was virtually the founder of Buckhannon; the town had been laid off, it is true, some years before his coming, but not a house was erected before his arrival, his family camped in an orchard (still standing) until he put up a large, two-story log house, still occupied by one of his grand children. Daniel Farnsworth gave his Staten Island property for 1,500 acres of land, including Buckhannon (except eighteen lots that had been sold) and 2,000 acres in Pocahontas County. D. D. T. Farnsworth married his first wife, Ann M., daughter of John and Lucinda Gibson of Harrison County, near Clarksburg. Her father was an 1812 soldier, and drew a pension until his death. She was born January 13, 1824, became the wife of Mr. Farnsworth November 30, 1841, and died January 23, 1852. Their children were six: Alice A., now widow of A. B. Jeffers; Abigail L., now the wife of Jesse Moneypenny; Louisa A.; George G.; Sarah C. and James S. These four now deceased. In November 15. 1853, Mary J. Ireland became the wife of D. D. T. Farnsworth, she was a daughter of Alexander R. and Sarah (Jackson) Ireland, and was born May 1, 1830. Of her union with Mr. Farnsworth were born Alexander P., now deceased; Flora L., now widow of Floyd Leonard; Roberta M., now deceased; Clinton I., Columbus, now deceased; Mary Etta, now deceased; Sally J., now deceased; Duane T., now deceased; Lottie Laurene, wife of George Frank Lawson and Emerson W. Farnsworth. His second wife, who was born near Buckhannon survives him. Mrs. Mary J. Farnsworth's mother was Sarah Jackson, the daughter of John Jackson and Elizabeth (Hadden) Jackson. Mrs. Farnsworth's grandfather and Stonewall Jackson's grandfather were brothers, and her grandmother and Stonewall Jackson's grandmother were sisters. The two grandfathers names were John and Edward Jackson. The two grandmothers were Elizabeth Hadden and her sister, Mary Hadden. Mrs. Farnsworth's father was living in Ohio where he was engaged in protecting his father's home from the Indians and assisting him in clearing out the forest, when he met Sarah Jackson, who was visiting relatives in that country and later married her in what is now Upshur County. The father of Alexander R. Ireland was a Revolutionary soldier and took his son A. R. Ireland at the youthful age of 12, to assist in the war of American Independence. Mr. Farnsworth, in 1836, engaged in the mercantile business in Buckhannon with his father-in-law, Alexander Ireland, for several years. He commenced life a poor boy, and died a well-to-do man for the country in which he lived. He was a man of great determination and will power. When once he began a task that he knew was right, he would work with the determination to win or die. An example of his will power was shown in his early days when he became addicted to the use of tobacco, when one day a friend of his made the remark to him, Mr. Farnsworth, it seems to me that you use more tobacco than any man I ever saw. If I were you I would limit myself to the use of tobacco until I could quit it entirely. Mr. Farnsworth, surprised at the remark, not realizing that he had been using so much tobacco, threw his tobacco in the fire at the same time saying, "Then I will quit it." "Oh!" said his friend, "I did not mean for you to quit all at once." Mr. Farnsworth then answered, "It is best to quit all at once." And from that day until his death he never touched the weed again. During the Civil War on one occasion when he was in the town of Buckhannon some little time after he had made one of, if not the greatest speech of his life, against secession, in Philippi. When with pointed muskets at his head, demanding of him that he stop speaking, or they would riddle him with bullets. And his answer to them was, that his voice would never be silenced while he could speak for his country and his flag, and that to die in its honor and be buried in its folds, would be his choice rather than the silence of a coward or traitor. It was but a short time after this occurrence that this same army, that so violently threatened his life, came riding through the streets of Buckhannon, and on seeing the Union flag floating in front of the old court house, they determined it should be torn down. When Mr. Farnsworth hearing their threats to tear down the flag he loved better than his life, locked his store door, whirling the key around his finger, saying, "Gentlemen, if any man touches that flag, he will do it at the peril of his life," and in his agitation he walked back and forth in front of his store. They must have taken it for granted that he knew of some secret body of men in close hiding that could be quickly notified in an emergency, for after riding around over the town left without doing the flag any harm, going from there to Philippi. He was serene and level headed in everything he undertook. On one occasion in Charleston, while a member of the Constitutional Convention, the convention hall caught on fire, and Mr. Farnsworth and two other gentlemen, members of the convention, came near losing their lives in an effort to rescue the flag from a burning building. It was on April 6, 1872, in the convention, and is in print today in the journal of the convention of 1872, which Mr. Alexander Campbell, seeing the daring bravery of these three men, offered the following resolutions, which, on the motion of Mr. William A. Morgan, was tabled, reads as follows: Resolved, That the thanks of this convention and the people of West Virginia, are due Col. Morgan, Governor D. D. T. Farnsworth and Major George O. Davenport, for their efforts to save the "Old Flag," when the convention hall was in flames, and that each be presented with a gilt edge copy bound in Turkey Morroco, of the old and glorious song of, "Rally round the flag boys! Rally one and all! ! !" In 1851 the first grand jury was impannelled. It was the first jury that ever sat as a jury of inquest for the body of Upshur County. Those composing this body were Hon. D. D. T. Farnsworth, Alvin M. Bastable, Tilletson, Jenny, C. G. Miller, George Ambrose, John L. Smith, Elias Bennet, David Bennet, Lewis Karicoff, William E. Basley, John Lewis, Henry Reger, S. Hazeldon, Wilson M. Haymond, Archibald Hinkle and O. B. Loudin. They were sworn, and after hearing the instructions of this Court, retired to consider of their presentments. After some time they returned into the court room and presented six true bills of indictments. He was Justice of the Peace in 1851. Mr. Farnsworth was president of the Exchange Bank, of Buckhannon, which commenced business on the 6th of September, 1881, and was also director of the same body. He was a man of great liberality; was fond of his friends, and it was his delight to have them with him and to show his hospitality in his home. On one occasion, while the County Court was in session, after he had moved into his new home on the Island, which was a large and comfortable house and one that he was proud of, he made the remark to his wife, that he might bring some of his friends over to dinner and for her to have dinner prepared for them. During the week of Court, he had entertained at least 30 of his friends, which afforded him great pleasure. He owned stock and was a director of the railroad between Clarksburg and Buckhannon. He was stockholder in the Buckhannon Bank and was its President. He was elected a Militia Major of the 133d Regiment of Virginia before the Civil War. He was one of the Board of Directors of the West Virginia Hospital for the Insane, for several years. He was one of the earliest Magistrates of the County. At the outbreak of the Civil War, he was one of the staunchest defenders of the Union; his voice ringing from every rostrum against secession. He was elected to the House of Delegates, which convened in Richmond in the spring of 1861, and by virtue of that election, was a member of the Legislature which convened in Wheeling July 1st, 1861. He was a member of the Wheeling Convention June 11, 1861, for the reorganization of the state government, and offered the first and only resolution looking to the formation of a new State, at the risk of his life. The resolution was tabled, vote 50 to 17, but at the reconvened Convention in August, the ordinance forming West Virginia was passed and Mr. Farnsworth was chairman of the committee presenting it. He was a member of the First House of Delegates in West Virginia, and was some seven years member of the Senate, and in the session of 1868-9, he was president of that body. From February 1869 to March 4, he was Governor of the State to fill the unexpired term of Governor Boreman, elected to the United States Senate. He was one of the committee of twenty that revised the first Code of the State, the Code of 1868, and he was a member of the convention that framed the New Constitution in 1872. During the war his life was many times threatened, and at one time in Philippi, while speaking against secession in the face of armed confederates, he was told that if he persisted in speaking he would be riddled with bullets. He continued to speak, declaring "his voice should never be silent while he could speak for his country and its flag, and that to die in its honor and be buried in its folds was his choice rather than the silence of the coward or the traitor." He was a warm advocate of equal rights and the protection of labor, and would have the government issue the only money, whether gold, silver, or paper, making all legal tender, and was opposed to the Perpetuation of the bonded debt with the treasury overflowing with money. His motto was "The greatest good to the greatest number, equal rights to all and exclusive privileges to none." ------------------------------------------------------------------- If you've reached this file through a SEARCH, you can access other biographies for Upshur County, WV by going to the following URL: http://www.us-data.org/wv/upshur/bios.html -------------------------------------------------------------------