Joseph Gaskel Farr

Joseph married Iris Flake 7 Oct 1915, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., UT. Iris was born 28 Aug 1890, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., UT; died 28 Jul 1984, Fairview, Sanpete Co., UT; was buried Aft 28 Jul 1984, R V Mike Ramsay Memorial Cemetery, Snowflake, Navajo Co., AZ. [Group Sheet]

1. Marion Joseph Farr was born 8 May 1917; died 18 Jan 1918; was buried Aft 18 Jan 1918, R V Mike Ramsay Memorial Cemetery, Snowflake, Navajo Co., AZ.
2. Minnie Farr was born 22 Jul 1918, Snowflake, Navajo Co., AZ; died 24 Jun 2012, Mesa, Maricopa Co., AZ; was buried 2 Jul 2012, National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona, Phoenix, Maricopa Co., AZ.
3. Sanford Flake Farr was born 3 Nov 1919, Snowflake, Navajo Co., AZ; died 27 Jul 1920, ____, Apache Co., AZ; was buried Aft 27 Jul 1920, R V Mike Ramsay Memorial Cemetery, Snowflake, Navajo Co., AZ.
4. Herand Karl Farr died Unknown.
5. Nellie Farr died Unknown.
6. Wanda Iris Farr died Unknown.

Notes:

Son of Lorin Farr and Mary Bingham

Married Mary Elizabeth Ballantyne, 13 Oct 1877, Eden, Weber, Utah

Children - Mary Lillian Farr, Willard Richard Farr, Lettie Jane Farr, Lorin Farr, Ethel Farr, Willard Ballantyne Farr, Florence Farr, Isaac Farr, Zechariah Farr, Dewey Farr

Married Mary Ann Romney, 29 Apr 1886, Logan, Cache, Utah

Children - Ada Sarah Farr, Lorin Miles Farr, Joseph Gaskel Farr, Laura Farr, David Ernest Farr, Albert Farr, Golden Farr, George Farr, Winslow Farr, Jesse Romney Farr, infant son Farr
__________

LDS Biographical Encyclopedia, Andrew Jenson, Vol. 1, p. 555

Farr, Willard, a Patriarch in the St. Johns Stake of Zion, was born July 5, 1856, in Ogden, Weber county, Utah. He received his infantile blessing under the hands of Elder James Brown in 1856, and the ordinance of baptism by immersion at the hands of his father in 1865, who also confirmed him a member of the Church.

His father is Lorin Farr, an American by birth, and a man of noble character, well known throughout Utah for his sterling worth in public and private life. His mother is the late Mary Bingham Farr, also an American, who embraced the gospel in Vermont in the early days of the Church, and who was always ready to lend a helping hand to those in sickness or distress of any kind. His grandparents, on both sides, embraced the gospel and emigrated to Utah, where they proved faithful to the cause they had espoused, and laid their bodies down in peace among the Saints.

Willard's boyhood days were spent on his father's farm, assisting in tilling the soil, in connection with a number of his brothers. There he early imbibed the spirit of industry, which has followed him through life, and learned many other useful lessons which have been of great worth to him. It was not his lot to enjoy a luxurious home. He was born in a humble cottage, and beneath a similar humble roof was he in youth taught to love God and keep His commandments. Having been trained from infancy to be obedient to his parents and to the Priesthood, he was worthy of holding a portion of that Priesthood; hence, on Jan. 12, 1874, he was ordained an Elder by his father at Salt Lake City, Utah.

Naturally inclined to be studious, he embraced every opportunity to obtain an education. During the winter months he attended the district school until 1873, when he had the privilege of attending the High School taught by Prof. Monch, five or six months of each year for three years. In the year 1873 an organization was effected, called the "Young Men's Literary Society," of which he was an active member.

In the spring and summer of 1875 he was employed as bookkeeper and shipper of lumber at Willard Bingham's saw-mill, about thirty-five miles northeast of Ogden. In the fall of 1876 he went to work in the tithing office at Ogden as clerk, where he continued until the next spring, when he again took up the farm labors for his father.

Oct. 13, 1877, he married Mary E. Ballantyne, daughter of Richard Ballantyne and Mary Pierce. Two weeks after marriage he began teaching school in the Third Ward, Ogden, where he continued six months, and the following winter taught at Hooper. April 21, 1878, he was appointed president of the Y. M. M. I. A. in the Fourth Ward, Ogden, with E. A. Stratford and Alma D. Chambers as counselors. He discharged his duties faithfully in this work of mutual improvement until there was a division of the Wards, in Ogden, which placed him in the Third Ward.

During the summers of 1878 and 1879 he was employed as clerk in Lorin Farr and Sons' store, who dealt in woolen goods and kept a tailoring establishment. In the fall of 1879 he, with three of his brothers, went into the flour, grain and feed business, continuing in the same until the spring of 1881, when he and one of his brothers started for Arizona by team on the 25th of April.

This was his first undertaking in seeking a home away from the city where he had been born and raised. The Presidency of the Church asked for volunteers to assist in colonizing Arizona. Willard and his brother, Elijah N. Freeman, gave their names in response to the call, and after a somewhat tedious journey of between six and seven hundred miles they arrived in St. Johns June 2. 1881.

Feb. 1, 1885, Willard was ordained a Seventy under the hands of Elder Joseph A. Moffett; he joined the 83rd quorum. In 1886 he married Mary A. Romney. For several years he was chorister in the St. Johns Sunday school and an active teacher in the Ward.

June 14, 1887, he was ordained a High Priest by Elder Lorenzo H. Hatch, and chosen on one of the alternates in the High Council the same day, in the Eastern Arizona Stake of Zion. When the Stake was divided, July 23, 1887, he was ordained Bishop and set apart to preside in the St. Johns Ward of the St. Johns Stake, by Apostle John Henry Smith. He continued in that calling until 1892, when he was set apart as a High Councilor in the same Stake.

Willard's advancement has been steady from youth up to the present time, holding many positions of trust. He is a member of the board of education, which position he has held since its appointment by the High Council in 1888. He has served as Stake tithing clerk since 1889.

Elder Farr is naturally spiritual-minded and therefore a fit advocate with the Father in administering to His children in the capacity of a Patriarch, to which office he was ordained in the St. Johns Stake, Nov. 27, 1895, by Apostle Francis M. Lyman.

In 1894 he was elected probate judge of Apache county, and served in that position two years.

He has had sixteen children born to him, ten of whom are living.

Since locating in St. Johns he has been variously employed. For six years he was salesman in the Co-op. Store; farmed for several years; taught school one term of three months; performed various labors at the saw-mill of Willard Farr & Co., and was employed two years as bookkeeper in the Co-op. Store.

As head teacher of the theological class in the Sabbath school he is ever aiming to make it a success. His heart is in the work and he is a zealous laborer.

Elder Farr is five feet ten inches in height, of rather slender build, and has brown hair and eyes. He is unpretentious in demeanor, humble and unassuming in all the walks of life, deliberate in counsel and does not jump at conclusions hastily. His chief desire is, and has always been, to serve God and keep His commandments. To be honest, to do good to his fellowmen and live so that the Lord will approve of his life and labors. He is temperate in his habits, a strict observer of the Sabbath Day and the Word of Wisdom. He endeavors to do right because he loves God and his religion.

Willard married Mary Ann "Minnie" Romney 29 Apr 1886, Logan, Cache Co., UT. Mary (daughter of MIles Park Romney and Hannah Hood Hill) was born 31 Jan 1868, Saint George, Washington Co., UT; died 21 Nov 1951, Saint Johns, Apache Co., AZ; was buried Aft 21 Nov 1951, Saint Johns Cemetery, Saint Johns, Apache Co., AZ. [Group Sheet]

Lorin married Mary Bingham 2 Dec 1854, Ogden, Weber Co., UT. Mary (daughter of Erastus Willard Bingham and Lucinda Gates) was born 1 Apr 1820, Saint Johnsbury, Caledonia Co., VT; died 25 Sep 1893, Ogden, Weber Co., UT. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• 1850 Census: 1850, Great Salt Lake, Salt Lake Co., Utah Territory
• Newspaper Article: 2008, Boston, Suffolk Co., MA; Boston Globe

Notes:

Newspaper Article:
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/7207/romney.htm
http://history.utah.gov/FindAids/C00238/C0238ff.XML

After Elder Miles P. Romney returned from his mission in England he built a home in the Seventeenth Ward in Salt Lake City, Utah. Scarcely had it been completed when he, at the request of President Brigham Young, was to take a second wife. The marriage occurred in March 23, 1867, and the bride was Carrie Lambourne, a very beautiful young woman.

It was common for church members to take plural wives when instructed to do so by their ecclesiastical superiors. If the prophet asked you to take a plural wife, it would be hard for a devout Mormon to disobey. This quote shows how the Utah saints viewed polygamy as a deeply religious commitment, and how they connected it with their first prophet, Joseph Smith.

Incidentally, the marriage with Carrie Lambourne did not endure; she later separated from Miles Park Romney, and married a man named Abraham Meackin in Salt Lake City.

1850 Census:
p. 50
Miles Romney     44  M  Joiner  $200   England
Elizabeth             43  F                            "
Elizabeth             17  F                            "
Sarah                  15  F                            "           school
Joseph                13  M                            "              "
Brigham               11  M                            "              "
Miles P.                  8  M                          Ill:              "
Heber                    7  M                           "               "
Hiram                     5  M                           "              
Mary Ann              3  F                           Mo
Jane                  5/12  F                          Des

Newspaper Article:
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/specials/romney/articles/part2_main/?page=6

Addition to a marriage

It was then, in 1867, that Miles P. Romney had a fateful meeting with Young.

''Brother Miles P., I want you to take another wife,'' Young requested, according to Hannah's autobiography.

Miles faced the choice of obeying US law, under which polygamy was illegal, or the head of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He chose the church.

Hannah was distraught.

''I felt that was more than I could endure, to have him divide his time and affections,'' Hannah wrote later. ''I used to walk the floor and shed tears of sorrow. If anything will make a woman's heart ache, it is for her husband to take another wife, but I put my trust in my Heavenly Father and prayed and pleaded with him to give me strength to bear this great trial.''

Then Hannah performed her duty: she prepared a room for her husband's new wife, Caroline Lambourne. Hannah wrote, ''I was able to live in the principle of polygamy and give my husband many wives.'' But her despair deepened when her younger daughter died at 10 months.

Soon, Young gave Miles and his two wives a new mission: sell your home, and move to the southern Utah town of St. George. The new settlement about 300 miles south of Salt Lake was in a vast desert, surrounded by red-toned ridges in a region where summer temperatures often topped 100 degrees.

Young prophesied that, ''There will yet be built between these volcanic ridges, a city, with spires and towers and steeples, with homes containing many inhabitants.'' The Romneys sold their Salt Lake City home and moved to St. George, where they lived ''in a little shanty, a small board room, and a wagon box,'' Hannah wrote.

From the shanty, the Romneys wrote themselves into church history as builders. Miles played a major role in the construction of St. George Temple. Then, Brigham Young hired Miles to build a two-story addition to his winter home in St. George. Miles took on the task with zeal, constructing one of the most lavish residences in Utah, a sandstone brick dwelling with an elaborate porch painted red and green. The restored home is visited today by Mormons from around the world, who are told of Miles's role in building the house. Pictures of Young and Romney hang in an adjoining building.

But while Miles was prospering as a builder, he had increasing trouble handling two wives. Hannah wrote that Caroline ''was very jealous of me. ..... She wanted all my husband's attention. When she couldn't get it there was always a fuss in the house. [Miles], being a just man, didn't give way to her tantrums.''

Miles and Caroline had two children, whom Hannah agreed to care for. But Caroline was not satisfied. She asked Young for permission to return to her parents in Salt Lake City. The separation was ''the severest trial ever experienced'' by Miles, according to ''Life Story of Miles Park Romney,'' written by his son, Thomas. Miles and Hannah ''made a special trip of three hundred miles by wagon to try to induce Carrie to return to her home in Saint George. But all their pleadings were in vain,'' and a divorce was granted, according to the biography.

For a brief time, with Caroline having left, Miles and Hannah were once again in a single-wife marriage. It was then, in 1871, that Hannah gave birth to Gaskell, the grandfather of Mitt Romney.

MIles married Hannah Hood Hill 10 May 1862, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., UT. Hannah was born 9 Jul 1842, Toronto, York Co., Ontario, Canada; died 29 Dec 1928, Colonia Juárez, Casa Grandes Municipality, Chihuahua, México; was buried Jan 1929, Colonia Juárez Cemetery, Colonia Juárez, Casa Grandes Municipality, Chihuahua, México. [Group Sheet]

Winslow married Olive Hovey Freeman 5 Dec 1816, Hanover, Grafton Co., NH. Olive was born 23 Jun 1799, Waterford, Caledonia Co., VT; died 10 Mar 1893, Big Cotton Wood, Salt Lake Co., UT. [Group Sheet]

Erastus married Lucinda Gates 20 Mar 1819, Saint Johnsbury, Caledonia Co., VT. Lucinda (daughter of Thomas Gates and Patty Plumly) was born 19 Sep 1797, Acworth, Sullivan Co., NH; died 3 Jan 1874, Ogden, Weber Co., UT. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• 1850 Census: 1850, Great Salt Lake, Salt Lake Co., Utah Territory

Notes:

1850 Census:
p. 50
Miles Romney     44  M  Joiner  $200   England
Elizabeth             43  F                            "
Elizabeth             17  F                            "
Sarah                  15  F                            "           school
Joseph                13  M                            "              "
Brigham               11  M                            "              "
Miles P.                  8  M                          Ill:              "
Heber                    7  M                           "               "
Hiram                     5  M                           "              
Mary Ann              3  F                           Mo
Jane                  5/12  F                          Des

Miles married Elizabeth Gaskell 16 Nov 1830, Dalton in Furness, Lancashire, England, UK. Elizabeth was born 8 Jan 1809, Dalton in Furness, Lancashire, England, UK; died 11 Oct 1884, Saint George, Washington Co., UT; was buried Aft 11 Oct 1884, Saint George City Cemetery, Saint George, Washington Co., UT. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• 1850 Census: 1850, Great Salt Lake, Salt Lake Co., Utah Territory

Notes:

1850 Census:
p. 50
Miles Romney     44  M  Joiner  $200   England
Elizabeth             43  F                            "
Elizabeth             17  F                            "
Sarah                  15  F                            "           school
Joseph                13  M                            "              "
Brigham               11  M                            "              "
Miles P.                  8  M                          Ill:              "
Heber                    7  M                           "               "
Hiram                     5  M                           "              
Mary Ann              3  F                           Mo
Jane                  5/12  F                          Des