Note - The parish of St James Northam was formed from St James parish in 1744. At the time of Thomas's birth in 1665, the land where he was born in Henrico county (later Chesterfield county) was not known as Farrar's Island.
Thomas Farrar was born about 1662, Farrar Isle, Henrico county, Virginia, to William Farrar II and Mary (Baugh) Farrar. He married (1) Mary Ligon[1] and (2) Katherine Perrin (on November 20, 1686 in Henrico, Virginia). Thomas and Katherine's children were Katherine (Farrar) Barnett, William Farrar, John Farrar, Martha Farrar, Sarah Farrar, Mary (Farrar) Watkins, and Joseph Farrar. Thomas died June 12, 1742 in St James Northam, Goochland county, Virginia.[2][3]
Land record in a book: "p.310 26 Sept. 1747 William Finney , Gent., to William Randolph Gent., for 960, 264 acres purchased of Thomas Farrar and Katharine his wife, and John and Joseph Farrar, their sons, by my late father William Finney 10 May 1723..."[4]
Will
WILL OF THOMAS FARRAR [5]
In the Name of God Amen. I Thomas ffarrar of the parish of St. James in the County of Goochland being of perfect mind and memory but calling to mind the uncertainty of this transitory life do make and ordain this to be my last Will and Testament in manner and form following.
Imprimis I Commit my Soul into the hands of Almighty God and my Body to be decently buried at the discretion of my Executrix and Executor hereafter mentioned and as touching my Worldly goods I give and bequeath as followeth.
Item I will that all my just Debts and funeral Charges be paid and defrayed. Item I give unto my son John ffarrar one shilling current money in full for his part of my Estate.
Item I give unto my Daughters Martha Sarah and Mary one shilling Currt money to each of them in full for their parts of my Estate.
Item I give and bequeath unto my Daughter Katherine Barnet one negro Woman called Jane wth her increase to be delivered to the said Katharine Barnet and her increase after the decease of my Wife Katherine farrar wch I give to her and her heirs forever.
Item I give and bequeath unto my grand Daughter Mary Watkins one negro boy called Davy to her and her heirs forever.
Item I give and bequeath unto my GrandDaughter Elizabeth ffarrar one negro Woman called Nanny wth her increase not already bequeathed with one New feather bed and Compleat furniture thereto to her and her heirs forever be delivered after the decease of my wife Katherine ffarrar.
Item I give and bequeath to my grand Daughter Lucy ffarrar one negro called Jenny (?) to her and her heirs forever.
Item my will is that all my Negroes not already bequeathed be kept and not any way disposed of till my Just Debts be pd wth all my personal Estate afterwards to be equally divided between my Loving wife Katherine ffarrar my son Joseph ffarrar whom I do hereby Constitute and appoint to Execute my last will and Testament hereby revoking all former wills by me heretofore and affixed my seal this twenty eighth day Ffeb MDCCXXXX. Signed Sealed Published and Declared in pressents of Us George Payne, John Watson, Edward M (his mark) Moore, Joseph ||| (his mark) Hamilton. [signed] Thomas T (sign Ligitt) ffarrar.
At a Court hold for Goochland County June 15, 1742 This will was proved by the oaths of John Watson and Edward Moor to be act of Thomas ffarrar dec’d and was ordered to be recorded.
15 JUN 1742, St James Northam, Goochland, Virginia, United States[14][15]
Age: 77
Melton
There is a troubling "myth" a genealogical crime, that was created by some member of the Melton Family, purporting that Thomas Farrar and Katherine Perrin had a daughter Elizabeth O (Pharr, Farr) Farrar that married a William James Melton and a daughter Mary that married a Robert Melton, these could not be further from the truth.
Thomas and Katherine did not have a daughter Elizabeth, and at no time in the Colonies or the United States of America was Farrar spelled Farr or Pharr.
Farar, Farrow (on a few occasions yes, but not Farr).
Further Mary Farrar married Joseph Watkins. Joseph Watkins had a sister named Mary Watkins who married Robert Melton.
I cite the exhaustive work done by Alvanh Holmes in Some Farrar Island Descendants (1977) on the family of Thomas Farrar and Katherine Perrin as proof that there was no daughter Elizabeth Farrar and that Mary Farrar married Joseph Watkins.
Will of Thomas Farrar states he bequeathed items to his son, John Farrar, daughters: Martha Sarah and Mary, and daughter Katherine Barnet. His wife was Katharine Farrar. Granddaughters Elizabeth and Lucy Farrar are also mentioned. His wife and a son Joseph received an equal amount after other requests were kept. The son, Joseph Farrar was also the Executor. The Farrar name in the will is listed as ffarar.
Burial location unknown.
This page has an abstract of his will (accessed 16 August 2021) which includes details not given in the preceding paragraph (e.g., granddaughter Mary Watkins). It cites Goochland County records for the following:
will dated 28 February 1740, proved 15 June 1742 (DB 3, p. 561)
"9 July 1742 Inventory of Thomas Farrar, decd. taken but value not totaled, by George Payne, Phil Webber, James Holman; rec. 20 July 1742 (Wills 1742-1745, p. 43)"
Sources
↑ references posted in 2011 by HHHFamilyAssoc from John Frederick Dorman, "Adventures of Purse and Persons, Virginia, 1607-1624/25"
page 266 mentions a Mrs. Thomas FARRAR and her mother's (Mary HARRIS LIGON) will.
page 269 mentions Mary LIGON, born about 1663, married Thomas FARRAR and died before 1686 when he remarried.
↑ biography based on information in data fields/attached profiles as of June 11, 2016. Inline citations to verifiable sources needed.
↑ "buried about 1742" from information for Thomas Farrar (gedcom imported by Robbin Knapp; GEDCOM upload #97652, Person I1729), citing FSFTID MJZQ-HZN.
S1: Ancestry Family Trees (Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members).
S1 Record ID Number: MH:S1 User ID: 533C175D70E3451A020689D507CDDE80 Title: Ancestry Family Trees Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members. Repository: #R1 Note: #N892 Record ID Number: MH:SC1224 Page: Ancestry Family Trees Data: Text: http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=22669066&pid=311 Note: #N556
This person was created through the import of greenwald-millerGEDCOM.ged on 27 September 2010.
WikiTree profile Farrar-423 created through the import of Griffin-Stade Family Tree_2012-11-26.ged on Nov 27, 2012 by Dan Thompson. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Dan and others for Farrar-423.
Farrar-796 was created by Ronald Rowland through the import of HERowland Family Tree (1).ged on Apr 19, 2014.
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It should be noted in the narrative which children are confirmed and which ones are not. The narrative should be written in objective case (no "I" statements). If you need help with rewriting it based upon what is confirmed via the will, please let me know.
Based upon other records, it appears that different dates applied? The VHS source that is on his daughter, Sarah's page, does give an extensive treatment of Thomas, and should further help to sort out children.
If the Farrar-Melton daughter is attached, and none of the above sources support her as a daughter of this Thomas and Katherine, then that daughter should be detached with statements on both profiles indicating the disputed origins/descent.
Land record in a book: "p.310 26 Sept. 1747 William Finney , Gent., to William Randolph Gent., for 960, 264 acres purchased of Thomas Farrar and Katharine his wife, and John and Joseph Farrar, their sons, by my late father William Finney 10 May 1723..."
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Based upon other records, it appears that different dates applied? The VHS source that is on his daughter, Sarah's page, does give an extensive treatment of Thomas, and should further help to sort out children.
If the Farrar-Melton daughter is attached, and none of the above sources support her as a daughter of this Thomas and Katherine, then that daughter should be detached with statements on both profiles indicating the disputed origins/descent.
Henrico County, Virginia deeds, [Vol. 2] 1737-1750. Weisiger, Benjamin B. (Benjamin Boisseau), 1924-. p. 42 Available in a Family History Center at https://dcms.lds.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE11894597&pds_handle=&from=fhd