John Farmer M.A. (1789 - 1838)

Born 12 Jun 1789 in Chelmsford, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States

Ancestors

Died 13 Aug 1838 at age 49 in Concord, Merrimack, New Hampshire, United States

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Wikidata: Item Q6232724, en:Wikipedia

Biography

John Farmer was born at Chelmsford, Mass., June 12, 1789, and was grandson of Oliver (son of Edward) Farmer of Billerica.

At the age of sixteen he became clerk in a store, and in 1810, owing to feeble health, he quitted this employment to teach a school. In 1820, he began the study of medicine, but again was forced by his weak constitution to resign his plan, and, removing to Concord, N. H., he became an apothecary. He soon however devoted himself to historical researches, was corresponding secretary to the New Hampshire Historical Society, and joint editor of its publications; and in 1837, was appointed by the legislature to arrange the State Papers.^[1]

He was described as the most distinguished Genealogist and Antiquary of this country.^[2]

He died on the 18th of August, 1838, at an age when his powers should have been in their greatest vigor; but the record he left behind him, is sufficient to justify our warmest praises. Besides writing several local histories, he annotated a new edition of Belknap's History of New Hampshire, contributed to the Historical Collections of the Massachusetts Society as well as to the New Hampshire, wrote Registers and Collections and published a Genealogical Register of the First Settlers of New England, which we shall hereafter examine in detail, a work of incalculable value, as pointing out a new field of research, and as the commencement of our national taste for genealogy. We have had many authors who have done more work in this field, but to the pioneer is due the greatest praise; and John Farmer was not only the first to show the way, but the first to enter and to prove its importance."^[3]

He died in 1838. He is possibly buried at Old North Cemetery in Concord, Merrimack, New Hampshire.^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ Cleveland EJ Cleveland HG. The Genealogy of the Cleveland and Cleaveland Families. Ann Arbor Mich: University Microfilms International; 1986. p.2441-2442
2. ↑ [ Cogswell, Willian, D.D. Memoir of John Farmer, M.A., late Corresponging Secretary of the New Hampshire Historical Society, The New England Historical and Genealogical Register (NEHGS, Boston, year) Vol.I , p.9.The New England Historical and Genealogical Register New England Historical Genealogical Society. Boston: Society; 1874.
3. ↑ The American genealogist. Being a catalogue of family histories and publications containing genealogical information issued in the United States, arranged chronologically, by William Henry Whitmore; Joel Munsell; 1868, p. 33.
4. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/170027829/john-farmer: accessed 26 January 2023), memorial page for John Farmer (12 Jun 1789–13 Aug 1838), Find A Grave: Memorial #170027829, citing Old North Cemetery, Concord, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, USA; Maintained by Linda Dukes (contributor 46842176).

• A genealogical memoir of the family by the name of Farmer, who settled at Billerica, Mass., by John Farmer; Hingham; Farmer and Brown, printers; New Hampshire, USA; 1828, p. 14.

• The New England historical and genealogical register: "Memoir of John Farmer", by Henry Fitz-Gilbert Waters; The Society; Boston, Mass. 1847, pp. 9-34.

• Taylor, Nathaniel Lane. Genealogist John Farmer Discovers His Ancestry: The Warwickshire Family of Edward¹ Farmer, Isabel¹ (Farmer) (Wyman) (Blood) Green, and Thomas¹ Pollard, of Billerica, Massachusetts, NEHGR (NEHGS, Boston, 2006-2008) Vol. 160, Page 261-272. Vol. 161, Page 62-72, Page 146-155, Page 208-222, Page 289-299. Vol. 162, Page 299-301.

• Savage, James. A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England (Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1862)