Tim's Manti Temple Experience

Many years ago while at the Manti temple, I was visited by a large number of people from the other side that wanted their work done. I told them I would do it (on two different occasions), but I didn’t know who they were. While at the FHL in SLC I was going down an aisle with Massachusetts records on one side and Canadian records on the other. The Canadian records began to be very blurry except for one thin book with no title on the spine. I grabbed the book, opened it, and found that it was Farr Cemetery Records of Wainsfleet, Welland, Ontario, Canada. I checked the IGI and none of the names had been done. I called Joe Reimann to go to the FHL and get the book and extract the names. When Joe got to the FHL, he couldn’t find the book. A young man told him that the book he was looking for was at the end of the aisle on the red shelf. Joe hadn’t asked the young man where the book was! Joe found the book and turned to thank the young man but he was gone.

Joe extracted all the names from the typed manuscript of the book and checked them against the IGI. All of the names needed their work done. My wife, Lisa, went to the cemetery and took pictures of all the graves. We checked the pictures of the graves with the manuscript of the book and found two more children that were not in the book. After the names were submitted and the baptisms, confirmations, and initiatories were done, we took the names to the SLC temple during a family reunion and did the endowments along with Elder Richard G. Scott. At the end of the endowment session, Elder Scott felt impressed to take us to a sealing room and do the sealings. We were there until nearly midnight. At the end of the sealings everyone stayed in the room because all the lights were out in the hall. Elder Scott was walking across the room, stopped, looked up and paused for a moment. Elder Scott then asked for our attention and said that the people we had done the work for that night wanted us to know how thankful they were for us doing their work. At that point I knew that these were the ones that approached me in the Manti temple earlier.

OBJECTIVES
· Confirm or disprove the identity of the parents of Jonathan Farr. Jonathan Farr was born about 1739 and married Persilla/Priscilla Smith on 21 October 1770 in Shirley, Middlesex, Massachusetts. It is believed that he was the son of Dr. William Farr and Jemima Farr. Jemima Farr died 18 Nov 1739 in Stow, Middlesex, Massachusetts.
According to previous research, Mary Hooker was reported to be the aunt of Jonathan Farr. She was the sister of Jemima Farr, his proposed mother. One theory is that Jemima died in childbirth and it is a possibility that Jacob and Mary Hooker took in the infant Jonathan because his father was unable to care for him upon Jemima’s death. To that end, this family was researched more fully. One record previously cited appears to link the couple to William Farr through a court case brought against the administrators of Nathaniel Russell’s estate. As was mentioned previously, this is very likely the father of Abigail Russell and the two administrators, Isaac and Nathaniel Russell, were her brothers. Other records were found to link Jacob and Mary Hooker to Wiliam Farr. In a deed dated 17 June 1754, Jacob Hooker, of Littleton, sold to Salmon Whitney, of Littleton, land on the pine plain southerly of Beaver Brook in Littleton. Neighbors included: Samuel Porter, John Russell, Nathaniel Porter, and Samuel Porter. Wm Farr was a witness to this deed. This record was also cited previously. If Jacob and Mary Hooker took in the infant Jonathan, did Mary serve as a wet nurse to the baby boy? Birth records for their children were located. In one record, the children listed were a few years younger than Jonathan Farr. This would seem to indicate that she might not have been a nursing mother at the time of Jonathan’s birth and the death of his mother, if it were Jemima. The children were born in 1750, 1752, 1755, and 1758. The birth of a daughter Mary, born in 1742, was also located. Interestingly, the birth of a child of William and Abigail Farr was listed right before the birth record of Mary. Her age is closer to that of Jonathan. Some deed records were found for Jacob Hooker. They included the following that also included individuals with the Farr surname. • 12 September 1768. Jacob Hooker and Mary, his wife, to Joseph Bellows of Lunenburg, Worcester County. Borders the land of Paul Hayward, formerly belonging to Stephen Farr, Jr. • 4 June 1770. Joseph Bellows, of Lunenburg, Worcester County, to Jacob and Mary Hooker, of Stow. Neighbors include Paul Hayward. • 27 August 1772. Jacob Hooker to Paul Hayward. “land situate in Stow and Acton … being formerly the estate of our hond father Stephen Farr of said Stow deceased.” • 16 February 1775. A deed of sale between Samuel Hayward and Paul Hayward. Jacob Hooker owned land formerly owned by Stephen Farr, Sr.

The next two documents were found grouped together and involved not only members of the Farr family but also Jacob and Mary Hooker. • 13 March 1722. Jonathan Farr, of Stow, to Stephen Farr. Jonathan’ wife Elizabeth gives consent. Neighbors include Jonathan Farr and Samuel Farr. Not recorded until 1 January 1740. • 1 January 1740. Stephen Farr to Stephen Farr, Jr., Joseph Farr, Jr., Jacob Hooker, and Wm Farr agree to let each pass through the land. Jacob Hooker also served in the French and Indian War. He was found on a couple of muster rolls. On one he is found on the same page as Jonathan Farr. He is listed as Jacob Hooker of Littleton and Jonathan is listed as being from Stow. Mary Hooker nee Farr was found in the FamilySearch Family Tree as a sister to Jemima. Although her birth record wasn’t found to confirm it, a deed record does. On 30 May 1766 Stephen Farr, of Stow, sells land to his daughter Mary Hooker, wife of Jacob Hooker, of Stow. Stephen’s wife is Sarah. Witnesses: Elias Farr and Henry Gardner. Mary must promise to pay some bills, including a doctor’s bill. She must allow him and his wife, Sarah, to live there during their natural lives. Jemima Farr Among the military records was one for a Jemima Farr, of Littleton. She received compensation for nursing Salmon Whitney. This may be the same Salmon Whitney who bought land from Jacob Hooker that was witnessed by William Farr. This record was dated 1 May 1756 and therefore could not be the proposed mother of Jonathan. Another Jemima Farr was a witness to a bond by Jonathan Powers to Stephen Farr of Stow, dated 3 December 1733. Stephen Farr, Jr. was also a witness. This may be the mother of Jonathan based on her age and the fact that she was the daughter of a Stephen Farr. Jemima Farr, the daughter of Stephen Farr and his wife, Sarah, was born 29 November 1713 in Stow. The death of Jemima Farr, wife of William, was also located. She died on 18 November 1739. Her age was reported as 25 years, 11 months, 28 days. This calculates to 20 November 1713, very close to her actual birth date. Therefore, this record also confirms that Jemima Farr, the first wife of William Farr, was the daughter of Stephen Farr and his wife Sarah. Conclusion Based on the available evidence, it is highly probable that Jemima Farr was the mother of Jonathan. Jonathan was warned out of Stow in the company of Jacob and Mary Hooker and their family, indicating a close association with that household. He also served in the military alongside Jacob Hooker. Jacob Hooker had numerous documented interactions with members of the Farr family,

Including William Farr. His wife, Mary, was the sister of Jemima Farr. Both women were daughters of Stephen Farr and his wife, Sarah. No evidence has been identified to suggest an alternative candidate as Jonathan’s mother. Although the case rests on indirect evidence, the cumulative weight of the associations and documented relationships supports the conclusion that Jemima Farr was Jonathan’s mother. It is further reasonable that she died in childbirth.

Tim Farr

The following is an email from Vanessa Herring:

Mr. Farr, I have been working on Ebenezer Farr b. 1806 d. 1877. He had been confused with Ebenezer Berry, who had the same birth and death years. Berry's death record in Lynn, MA showed he was born in Moultonborough, NH. I was able to confirm this. So Berry was a different person. The correct Ebenezer Farr enlisted in the army at age 23 in 1829 from Rochester [prob. NH?] and was born in Grafton [Co.] NH, according to his army record. The 1830 census of his father's household confirms he was not still living with his parents then. He served as a musician in the Black Hawk War, which took him to Illinois. He was discharged at the end of his 5 year service in 1834. He married Maria Unknown. I have not found a marriage for them. Their son Norman's entry in the 1880 US Census shows both parents born in NH, but it could have been in IL, too. They had 3 sons, two born in IL, and one later, in MI. I did find one court record in Jackson, MI where an Ebenezer Farr gave a deposition in a probate court case close to the birth year of the last son (John).

Son John died 7 months after his early discharge from his Civil War unit. His brother Norman served in the same unit, and reenlisted when his 3 years were up. He lived until 1902. I have not been able to reliably identify what happened to the eldest son, George W Farr after 1850.

Ebenezer's wife Maria died sometime between 1850 and 1864, when he remarried, to Catherine Quick. She had been married twice before him. As best I can tell, Ebenezer died in Decatur, Macon Co., IL, where he is found in the 1870 US Census. I could not confirm the year 1877 for his death. Death records there began in 1878. It may be that Catherine's obituary was the source for the date. The library there has a local history room, and an obituary database, but the search function does not seem to work.

Vanessa

I researched this after I got it and was able to add 41 people to our tree. And a number of ordinances were submitted. These Farrs descend from Samuel Farr the son of Stephen Farr Sr.

The following is another email from Vanessa Herring:

Mr. Farr,
I've got some additional information on the sale of 100 acres of land from Samuel Farr 1st to Ephraim Farr for 20 shillings. This was a full lot of land, Lot 11 in the 13th Range. The sale was on 17 April 1786.
Samuel had bought this lot along with Lot 9 in the 13th Range from Josiah Willard in 1764. He bought the two lots, 200 acres in all, for 25 pounds in 1764.

In Cheshire Co. NH unrecorded deeds, there was a sale of land on 22 April 1786, just 5 days later, from Samuel Farr 1st to his son Samuel Farr Jr.. He sold 34 acres, about 1/3 of his remaining lot, to Samuel Jr. for 80 pounds.

That helps to put into context how great a price Ephraim was getting for his 100 acres of land.
If Ephraim Farr was indeed a son of Samuel Farr and Rebecca, he would have been a child when Jonathan Cobleigh was working for the Farr family in Stow. Ephraim later married Jonathan Cobleigh's daughter Elizabeth.

I wounder if there might be a clue in Ephraim being the name of Samuel and Rebecca's first son that might indicate who Rebecca's father was?

Vanessa (Continued)

I Forwarded this to Price Genealogy because this is a problem that we gave them to work on.
I just finished cleaning up the downlines of Jacob Farr Sr. and am shifting to working on the downlines of Winslow Farr Sr.

I was cleaning up places in a place list in RootMagic and found that "Short Creek" was in my file. My ward is in Short Creek/Colorado City. So I looked at who the location was connected to and it was the same name as a member of our ward but probably his great grandfather. The last name is Bistline. He was married to Lula Amanda Farr, a grandaughter of Winslow Farr Jr. and his wife Susan Melvina Bingham. Sixteen days after marriage she died and the husband married her first cousin who was a Johnson. We also have Johnsons in our ward who just came out of polygamy.

I Found that Wilbur Jacob Farr married his adopted sister Edith Ann Keeler Powers. Edith shows as adopted in the 1900 and 1920 US census'.

I added her to the Jacob Wesley Farr family but didn't add the children because they are already there with Wilbur as the father.

I can't find any proof that Pattie A, Farr was a daughter of Jacob Wesley Farr and so I deleted her. She might be the same person as Jettie A Farr in the same family.

I was contacted a few weeks ago by a new DNA participant that descends from our Stephen Farr through his son Samuel Farr. Downline from Samuel we had a George A Farr Jr. with no known wife. This participant descends from George A Farr and with their contact, I was able to determine that George A Farr Jr. isn't really Jr. I found that his son, George Alton Farr is the one that should be called Jr.
Four children were added to George Farr's family and a wife named Pearl Ellen Manley. In all, 18 people were added to the chart.

Since working on this part of the chart, a long time ago, someone has posted some of the new information on FS that wasn't there before.

I’m currently working on downlines of Winslow Farr Sr. please check your lines from you to Winslow at www.dustyhills.net and see if you need to have me add or fix anything. Send changes to [email protected] .
I have submitted 80 ordinances for work to be done. 31 are in my file and the rest shared with the Temple system.

Tim Farr

I have submitted 10 ordinances to the temple system. Many of the submissions go back to 2015. I have either assigned the oldest ones to other members of the family or I've done them myself. At this point I have 55 reservations in my name and 424 shared with the temple system. When family members ask for names I just unreserve them from the Temple system and reshare them with family. I have many endowments that need to be done before we can do the sealing and many sealings, mostly male but some female. There are some that need everything and have been in the system for a number of years. 

Vanessa and I have come up with some new Farrs in our research that are not connected to our tree as of yet. Below is a biography of Shubael Farr that we can't connect to our tree. Shubael has a son, George Farr, Farr who married Augusta Lovell Farr whom we can't connect to our tree either. If anyone would like to try and make connections with the above persons, feel free to do so and contact me if you make any progress on it.

We also found another Jonathan Farr that turns out to be the son of Dr. William Farr. There were so many Jonathan Farrs back in that day that it is hard to keep them straight. This Jonathan, I believe, was married to Persilla Smith but I'm not sure and am hoping that the Price Genealogy Group can figure that one out(It's listed below).  

I have completed the bottom half of the chart but I'm still working on some of the families that go beyond the boundaries of the chart. Blower, Vincent etc. are names that I'm working on. Many families were put together with little or no valid sources. I have made many changes in our file and on FS. 

The biggest find during the last two months was another son of our direct line ancestor Thomas Farr Sr. His name is Joshua Farr. The following is an email from Vanessa:

Mr. Farr,
I checked the History of Hardwick MA by Lucius R Paige (1883) for Farr information. Pages 369-370 has the family. They were there by 1742, when Thomas Sr's first wife Elizabeth was admitted to the church. They include in his family most known children, and one who has been previously unknown, Joshua Farr. Joshua was also on page 265, in a list of Hardwick men who were in the French and Indian War. His age was listed as 21 years, born about 1735, in Littleton MA. He died 2 Oct 1756 in the mission to relieve Ft. William Henry.

I then checked the French and Indian War soldier index cards, and found there was a Joshua Farr, age 21, residence Hardwick, born in Littleton. The card shows his father was Thomas Farr. So, I made a profile for him as a son of Thomas and attached the relevant soldier cards

Vanessa

I checked all the records that Vanessa mentioned plus found a couple of other records.  This also means that since Joshua wasn't in the vital records for his birth, then maybe Jacob Farr Sr. could be part of Thomas Farr's family also and would be just a couple years older that Joshua making his birthdate about 1733.

Biography of Shubael Farr (1791–1880)
Identity
The individual is recorded under several variations of his name, including Shubael Farr, Shubb Farr, and Shuble Farr.
Birth
Shubael Farr was born on 14 November 1791 in Massachusetts, United States.
Residences
Shubael Farr’s life is documented across multiple states through census and residence records:

• In 1814, he resided in Vienna, Oneida County, New York, United States.
• By 1820, he was living in Jefferson Township, Wayne County, Indiana, United States.
• In 1825, he was recorded as a resident of Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio, United States.
• In 1830, he lived in Goshen Township, Clermont County, Ohio, United States, where he also appeared on the tax assessment rolls that year.
• He continued in Goshen Township, Clermont County, Ohio, as reflected in the 1840 residence record.
• By 1850, he had moved westward to Stark, Stark County, Illinois, United States.
• In 1870, he was residing in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, United States.
• In 1880, shortly before his death, he was recorded in Washington Township, Clarke County, Iowa, United States.

​Marriage
Around 1816, in New York, United States, Shubael Farr married Hannah Holmes (1791–1870).
Children
Shubael Farr and Hannah Holmes had at least two known children:

• Elizabeth Hannah Farr (1817–1895)
• George Farr (born 1824) Mar. Augusta Lovell Farr

Death and Burial
Shubael Farr died on 14 March 1880 in Osceola, Clarke County, Iowa, United States, at the age of 88. He was buried the same day in Cox Cemetery, located in Clarke County, Iowa, United States.

I have submitted the following for the Price Genealogy group to work on if approved by the board:

1. Jonathan Farr (RIN 17524) born 1739 and married to Persilla/Priscilla Smith 1770 in Shirley, Middlesex, Mass. It is believed that he was the son of Dr. William Farr and Jamima Farr. If Jonathan was born in 1739 as indicated, then he must be the son of Dr. William Farr and Jamima.  Jamima Farr died 18 Nov 1739 in Stow, Middlesex, Mass.  [Perhaps she died in childbirth or shortly after the birth of Jonathan].  It needs to be proven or disproven that Jonathan was the son of Dr. William Farr and his wife Jamima.
2. Maurice Xavier’s (15795) son Capt. Francis Xavier (15799) tested DNA, and it matches yours (I assume this is YDNA). Maurice was the 3rd great-grandson of Jacob Farr Sr. Jacob Farr Sr. is proven by this YDNA match to be a descendant of the immigrant Stephen Farr (RIN 134). It is believed Jacob Farr Sr. must be a son or grandson of one of Stephen’s sons; Thomas (141) or Samuel (139). It needs to be discovered how Jacob Farr Sr. descends from the immigrant Stephen Farr (134). Jacob’s sources in the military and other records mention Jacob Farr. It needs to be determined which of these sources refer to Jacob Farr Jr. and Jacob Farr Sr.
3. Ephraim Farr Sr. (15818) was born about 1735. It needs to be determined how he ties into the Farr family. He bought land from Samuel Farr Sr. for 20 shillings. Then he turns around and sold it to his son Ephraim Farr Jr. for 150 pounds. Was the Samuel Farr Sr. who sold him the land RIN 139 who married Hannah Whitney, or was it Samuel Farr “the First” who married Rebecca? Was one of these men his father or uncle, hence they sold him the land so inexpensively? Why did he then sell it to his son Ephraim for such an expensive price (150 pound instead of 20 shillings)?  He appears to have not had the same type of charity that Samuel Sr. had when he sold Ephraim Sr, the land.

​On the chart I have finished the Hovey, Warner and Barlow lines. Lisa and I have been going with the missionaries to give new member discussions and one of them is a Barlow who used to be in Warren Jeffs clan. It turns out that we are related to them through our Barlow line. There are many Barlows in the Colorado City area and some have joined the church and either live here or have moved to other areas.

I had to spend about three weeks straightening out our Farr line and the Hovey/Warren line again. 

Vanessa Herring in her project of identifying all Farrs in Vermont, New Hampshire and New York that are not our website, has been very fruitful of late. She found two more children of Solomon Farr the son of Jonathan Farr 3rd. This is a descendant line of our Thomas Farr's brother, Samuel Farr. After going through her finds and adding to it, I have added nearly 100 people to the file. 

In the process of adding these Farrs and their spouses and children, I was able to submit 174 ordinances to the temple system.

I was asked how my health is and I'm doing fine as far as doing research and should be fine for quite sometime into the future. 

If anyone is interested in doing family names that I have found that need work, they can email me at [email protected] and I can un-share names with the temple system and send a sharing link to them in an email. They will have to know how to accept these, download and print them or print a sheet with a bar code on it that can be scanned at the temple and then the temple will print them. I have done this with a few people that didn't know how to handle the emails that they received through FS from me and it was very difficult to help them by phone or email. They must know how to do it before they request names from me or know someone on their end that can help them in person.

If anyone wants to donate books, histories etc. to the FHL, just follow this link:

Vanessa and I were just finishing up some new discoveries in the downlines of Stephen Farr and Sarah Bennett. It took me a few days to enter all the people, changes and sources. I've added probably 80 people give or take to his son's line, Elias Farr and Mary Davison, to which we discovered that we had the wrong Mary for his wife. We originally had Mary Davidson who is different than Mary Davison. Mary Davidson married a Nichols.

We have also connected two Farr lines that were in my file but no connection to the rest of the file. This also added more additions and discoveries in the Farr lines. In total from the above and this, I have added well over a hundred people to our file.

I have submitted about 96 ordinances for Temple work to be done.

Needless to say, I didn't get much done with Gardner and Rolfe lines on the chart but did get a big mess straightened out on FS that was confusing my research.

I can't tell you how amazing Vanessa Herring has been to sniff out any Farr annomilies in the records of FS and in my file due to previous lack of information. She has been a God send. I don't think she is a member of the Church but she seems to be guided in this work. She has also found spouses and children that we were missing after I completed those lines. I have equally been able to help her with her Walker line which is how we crossed paths. At first she didn't dare mess with FS but I have gotten her to learn it and feel comfortable with making changes in it. 

I have finished with Johnson, Wiswall, Munter and Deane. I'm currently working on Gardner and Rolfe.

I have submitted 33 ordinances to the temple system.

Vanessa Herring discovered another son of Alpheus and Sybil Farr. Winslow Farr Sr. is the brother of Sybil Farr. The new son is Zelotas b. 4 Apr 1824 in Waterford, Caledonia, Vermont.

I have added all of the downlines I can find of Zelotas Farr and added them to our website last week. Vanessa will add Zelotas to FS and then I will add the downlines( or maybe I already did?, I'm getting older lol).

Vanessa also sent me a theory of where Ephraim Farr's line connects into our tree. I will be looking more closely at this possible connection and report on it if it pans out.

Zelotas Farr's downline for now.