Francis Edward Farr and Family

Frank Farr lived a life of marital adventure. He seems to have liked women a good deal, as he was seldom without one. Francis Edward3 Farr (Edward Henry2 Wildey, Thomas1) was born 26 October 1864 in Rome, Oneida County, New York. [1] Frank was the son of Edward Wildey and Victoria Weeks but was raised by his uncle, Archibald Farr, the husband of Edward's sister Harriet, after the death of Frank's mother in 1865. Archibald Farr's will described Frank as "my adopted son Francis Edward Farr son of Edward Wildey" and he bequeathed him the sum of $500.[2] Except for the 1880 census, [3] Frank always appears in records as "Farr" rather than "Wildey," and in the records for his first and second marriages, he listed Archibald Farr and Harriet Wildey as his parents. [4]

Frank's marital adventures began at the age of 22 when he married 25-year-old Jennie Elizabeth Hughes in Utica on 24 August 1887. [5] Jennie was born 18 September 1861 in Western, Oneida County, the daughter of John R. Hughes and Margaret Jenkins, both immigrants from Wales. At that time Frank was working as a clerk at the Mansion House, Archibald Farr's hotel. He continued to work at the Mansion House until his father gave it up c. 1891.[6]

Perhaps seeking employment, Frank and his wife left Rome and settled in Syracuse in Onondaga County. In that city their only child, Francis Excelsior Farr, was born at their home on 116 White St. on 27 June 1893. [7] Frank was employed in commerce, his occupation variously described as "agent", "commercial merchant" and "collector." He last appeared in the Syracuse City Directory in 1897.[8]

In 1898 he resettled in Rochester, Monroe County, now working as a "canvasser." In 1902 they were still in Rochester, Frank working as a clerk and Jennie as a dressmaker. [9] The family worshipped at the First Methodist Episcopal Church, where young Frank attended Sunday School in 1902. [10] Sorrow fell upon the family later that year with the death of Jennie on 4 November at their home at 6 Eagle St. Her death was attributed to consumption (tuberculosis) and diabetes, both wasting diseases and either one of which would have been sufficient to cause her death. Jennie's body was returned to Rome for burial. [11]

Frank did not mourn for long. A brief two months later, on New Year's Day in 1903, he married Mrs. Sarah Day. Frank was now 38, his bride 43. Frank was probably looking for companionship or a mother for his ten-year-old boy; Sarah was undoubtedly seeking refuge. Her life thus far had been a hard one. She was born Sarah Isabelle Beerman on 27 June 1859 in Canada, the daughter of Richard Beerman and Lucy Patterson. [12] In 1871 Richard Beerman and his family were living in Gananoque, Leeds, Ontario, where he worked as a laborer. He and his wife were Methodists and had both been born in Ontario. [13] The family probably had only limited means, for by 1881 Sarah had immigrated to Rochester to work as a domestic. [14] Sometime thereafter she married Eugene Day, a shoemaker. [15] By 1900 Sarah was supporting her family as a laundress while Eugene was incarcerated in the Monroe County Penitentiary. [16] While Sarah described herself on the marriage record as a widow, Eugene Day was still alive in 1904, when he was sentenced to 10 years in Auburn state prison. [17] It is unknown whether Sarah and Eugene Day ever divorced. After the marriage, Frank and Sarah promptly relocated to Canada, presumably joining her relatives in Gananoque. [18] They were back in Rochester by 1906, where Sarah died on 20 October at the age of 47 of peritonitis and cholecystitis (gallbladder disease.) Peritonitis suggests that her gallbladder burst. Sarah is buried in the public grounds in Mt. Hope Cemetery. [19]

At his point, Frank's love life became exceedingly complicated. Soon after his wife's death he entered into a common-law marriage with Sarah's daughter Florence B. Day, who was about 18 at the time, born in Rochester on 2 February 1888. [20] The two had a daugher, Edna Mae, born in December 1907, 14 months after Sarah's death. [21] Their second child Albert Edward, was born in Rochester on 7 July 1909. [22] The 1910 census shows Frank and Florence living as man and wife, with their children Edna and Albert. [23]

At his point, Frank's tangled marital affairs became still knottier. On 30 August 1911, Florence B. Day married Frederick A. Cook, employed in the printing trade who at age 24, was nearer her age. Frederick, born in Rochester about 1887, was the son of J. George Cook and Catherine Huck. [24] Had she grown tired of the old man? Or had Frank grown tired of her? For a few months later, on 11 November 1911 in Rochester, Frank obtained a marriage license and promptly married "Minnie Smith." He indicated on the license that this was his third marriage, correctly omitting his relationship with Florence, who was never formally his wife. On the license, Minnie indicated that she was born in England about 1873 to William "Hamlin" and Sarah "Palem." [25] The 1915 New York State census, which includes in Frank's family stepson Frank E. Williamson, [26] links Minnie to the Emma "Tauling," born about 1859 in England, daughter of William "Tanling" and Mary Walker, who married Wm. Williamson, carpenter, on 28 October 1882 in Rochester. [27] William W. Williamson and Minnie appear as man and wife in the 1905 New York state census with their son Frank Williamson. [28] Mysteriously, the same 1915 enumeration of the Farr family includes "Mabel," born c. 1909. Mabelle's Social Security death index record indicates that her birthday was 6 January 1909, 6 months after the birth of Albert Farr. [29] Edna's children always understood that Mabel was their mother's half-sister. Did Frank and Minnie have a love child while Frank was still living with Florence? Was Mabel the product of a different relationship?

In any case, Frank's last marital adventure appeared to have been a happy one. Grandson Tom Sebring remembers "Grandma" as a warm individual and a good cook. [30] The family moved to Solvay, outside of Syracuse, in 1913. [31] There Frank worked as a fireman at the Solvay Process Works, a chemical plant. [32] They remained in Solvay until Minnie's death on 2 January 1938 from a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 71. Minnie was buried in Morningside Cemetery in Syracuse. [33] Frank went to live with his daughter Edna in Rochester around 1941. He was blind by then, and his grandchildren remember him as a religious man. He often requested mutton for dinner, a heritage no doubt of the Wildey family's English origins. His grandchildren sometimes took advantage of his blindness; Don Sebring used to tease his brother's and then run for refuge to his grandfather, who would hold the other boys off with his cane. Once they substituted dry dog food for his breakfast cereal. Grandpa requested the cereal again, but was mercifully never obliged. [34] He resided at the Sebring home until he died on 7 January 1944 of bronchial pneumonia due to pulmonary edema. He was 79. His body was returned to Syracuse for burial in St. Mary's Cemetery. [35]

Florence had died many years earlier. On 13 April 1914 she died of purpureal peritonitis, likely a complication of childbirth, at Rochester's General Hospital. She is buried in Mount Hope Cemetery. [36]

Solvay Process Works

Francis Edward Farr and Jennie Elizabeth Hughes had the following child:
 

+ 19 i. Francis Excelsior Farr was born 27 June 1893 in Syracuse, Onondaga County New York. [37]

Francis Edward Farr and Florence B. Day had the following children:

+ 20 ii. Edna Mae Farr was born 28 December 1907 at the family home at 5 Tremont St. in Rochester, Monroe County New York. [38]
22 iii. Albert Edward Farr was born 7 July 1909 at the family home on 2 Tremont St. in Rochester, Monroe County New York. [39] He died at the Homeopathic Hospital of bronchial penumonia on 24 February 1912 and is buried in Mt. Hope Cemetery. [40]

Francis Edward Farr and Minnie Tomling had the following child:
 

+ 22 iv. Mabel Farr was born in New York on 6 January 1909. [41]

Return to Once Wildey: A Farr Genealogy

Last updated on 10 July 2014

This web site created by Janice Sebring.
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