Herman S Farr M D

FARR

Posted By: County Coordinator
Date: 3/11/2009 at 16:23:53

Herman S Farr M.D. who has been engaged in the practice of medicine for eighteen years, in Madrid, is a native of Canada, his birth having occurred in the province of Ontario, on December 12, 1853. His father, Daniel T Farr, was born in Seneca county, New York, and was a son of Bethel Farr, a native of Vermont. The family is of English lineage and was established in America at a very early day by representatives of the name who located in new England. The father of our subject was reared in the county of his nativity and when a young man went to Canada, becoming a contractor on the construction of the Great Western Railroad, his special line of labor being bridge building. While in Canada he met and married Miss Hannah Haines, a native of that country and a daughter of Peter Haines, who was of German lineage. The fir4st member of that family in America was Hessian, who came to the new world as one of the soldiers employed by the British army to aid in the suppression of the colonists during the Revolutionary war.. He did not desire to return to his native land and took up his abode in this country. The father of Mrs Farr served as a soldier with the British army in the War of 1812, at which time he was living in Canada. Mr Farr resided in that country for ten years and three children were born unto him and his wife there. He then came to Iowa, settling in Jackson county upon a tract of land which he developed into a good farm, making it his home for many years, and there reared his family. His last days were spent in that county, where he died in 1895, at the ripe old age of seventy years.
The Doctor is the third in order of birth in a family of six children, four sons, and two daughters, three of whom were born in Canada, while three are natives of Iowa. He was reared to manhood in Jackson county upon the old home farm and acquired his education in the district schools and afterward in a business college, where he was a student for three years. In early life he was engaged in teaching, but desiring to make the practice of medicine his life work he began studying with that end in view in Davenport, Iowa, pursuing three courses of lectures in the State University, in which institution he was graduated in March 1881. He then located in Des Moines, where he opened an office and practiced for three years, but since 1884 has made his home in Madrid. He is the eldest continuous resident physician of the city. He built up an excellent practice within a short time and has always received the liberal patronage due to his skill and ability, which is widely recognized and has gained in the reputation of being one of the successful physicians of Boone county. He is a member of the Central district and the State Medical Societies and thus deeps in touch with the advanced thought and ideas of the profession. He has red widely and comprehendingly and has continually broadened his knowledge concerning the science of medicine and its uses in the world.
Dr Farr was married February 10, 1886 to Ella L Luther, a native of Boone county and a daughter of Milden Luther, one of the early settlers of this locality who became a substantial farmer and is now residing near Madrid. Mrs Farr received her education in the public schools and by her marriage she has become the mother of five children: Imogene B, Eulah I, Milden L, Juno F and Herman L..
Dr Farr exercises his right of franchise in support of the men and measures of the Democracy, but the honors and emoluments of office have had no attraction for him. He and his wife belong to the Christian church of Madrid and he is identified with Star Lodge, No 115, F & A M of this city. He also has membership relations with the Knights of Pythias, has filled all of the chairs in the local lodge and has served as past chancellor. Throughout the greater part of his life he has been a resident of the state and for eighteen years has made his home in Madrid, where he is held in high regard socially as well as professionally. His comprehensive knowledge of medical principles, combined with close application, has made him a successful physician, while his genial manner and unfailing courtesy have gained for him many friends.

1902 Boone County History Book