Taking up our McFarren story in the years immediately following the Civil War, we find the family beginning to spread and wander from Wells County, Indiana. Barbara McFarren shared some of the Land records she had collected in Wells some years back. They are wonderful to have, showing the sale of property by John 1792 and John, giving us some indication of when the actual moves took place. It appears that both the parents, John 1792 and Elizabeth, and son, John 1841 with young wife Mary Ann, all sold their property in Wells County in 1863 and 1864. John 1792 and Elizabeth had lived in Wells County, Indiana for about 25 years, John 1841 and Mary Ann were both born there.
the Emancipation Proclamation had declared all men free, but the War was far from overAt this time the Emancipation Proclamation had been made declaring all men free, but the War was far from over. In the midst of the conflict the McFarren families headed West several hundred miles. Nebraska Territory was loyal to the Union, though it had held dissenters early on. But it was out of the fray of the battle, perhaps even more so than Indiana. There were Indian conflicts there in those days still, but probably there was not a great deal of problem with that concern near Nebraska City, on the borders of Iowa and Missouri, where they landed. As we mentioned earlier, John and Elizabeth’s son, Wilson, had settled in Otoe County by 1860. Along side him at that time was the family of Hiram Jackson’s sister, Hannah Jackson Parker and her family. They would have been Aunt and Uncle to Mary Ann Jackson McFarren. When the rest of the family arrived in Nebraska the mid 1860’s there was kin to come to, who no doubt welcomed them and made the move a bit easier. It surely made an easier transition.
Before leaving Wells County, John 1841 and Mary Ann became parents to Louisa Ellen (known to us later as our parent’s Aunt Lou) born 1861, and a very new addition, Harriet Ida, born in 20 June 1864 (known later as Hattie). I would hope that the trip west was delayed until after Hattie was born, but there were not always those considerations made, since there was so often a “bun in the oven.” Life had to go on.
Traveling with the two John McFarren families was the family of daughter Elizabeth McFarren Fifer and husband Peter, with their 3 children. By 1865 they all appeared in the Nebraska Territorial Census.
Left behind in Wells County were daughters Maria Neff and Melissa Murray and their families, and sons Jacob and Adam and their families. All four families remained and lived out their lives in Wells County. Many of their progeny did the same. Thus we can still find McFarrens living in the area. Some of Jacob's family became merchants who built the McFarren building in Bluffton. And there is a McFarren Cemetery nearby where many relatives were buried, though other cemeteries in the area are gold mines of family history for us as well.
Daughter Mary Esther, with husband William Mendenhall, and family, was still living in Lincoln Township, Harrison County, Missouri. This was in the NW corner of that county. With the effort of traveling 80-100 miles, the McFarrens and Mendenhalls must have occasionally visited one another’s families.
An excerpt from THE MENDENHALLS 1825-1985 by Chester Mendenhall (grandson of William) describes the Civil War consequences for this family.
…because of the Civil War, he (William) went back to Ohio. He served as a private in Co. K 152nd Reg., OH National Guard and Co. K 194th Reg., OH Volunteer Infantry. He was mustered out at Washington, DC, on 24 Oct 1865. He applied for an invalid pension due to contracting measles in the summer of 1864 near Lynchburg, VA, stating that as a result, he lost almost total sense of hearing, sight, smell and taste. He received $12.00/mo until his death.
Poor Mary Esther had her hands full with the farming, her family’s needs, and the care of her unfortunate spouse.
Now a more elderly mother of this brood, Elizabeth, did not live long after the arrival in Nebraska. She died 5 August 1865 at 69 yrs of age. They buried her in Wyuka Cemetery in Nebraska City in a plot provided by her son Wilson McFarren. He had evidently purchased this plot two years before as a resting place for his little daughter, Melissa, who died at age ten. This cemetery would eventually hold Wilson’s entire family.
It was quite a challenge to find John 1792 in the census of 1870. We knew that he had lived until 1874, but were unable to locate him in 1870 after Elizabeth’s death. Finally, while searching for all his children in the1870 census, Peter and Elizabeth (McFarren) Fifer were found, still living in Nebraska City with their 5 children. With them was listed J. “Manning,” a 77 year old gentleman, born in Pennsylvania. The name is clearly written, unlike some handwritten census. How the census taker got “Manning” from McFarren is hard to imagine, but I’m quite confident that this is Elizabeth Fifer’s father, John McFarren, born 1792. Not until the 1880 census did they make note of the relationship to the head of household for each member of household, so we are left to make our best judgement in the early records. My fellow researchers have agreed with me that this is our John 1792.
Wilson McFarren who we know lived out his life in Nebraska City was not found on census at all that year, probably somehow overlooked by the censustaker. Mary Esther was still living in Harrison County, Missouri. And as mentioned the 4 Wells County siblings stayed put.
This leaves only youngest sibling, John 1841, to account for. He and wife Mary Ann were also still living in Nebraska, in Cass County, near Avoca. This is about 12-15 miles from Nebraska City, Otoe County. John claimed to be 31, but since his birthday was February 4, he would only have been 30 at census time but who’s counting? Mary Ann was 26, Louisa 9, Harriet 7, Franklin 3, and Benjamin 1.
Interestingly the census says that Franklin was born in Missouri. This sounds confusing, but actually Otoe County, Nebraska, abuts both Iowa and Missouri. They could have ventured as few as 25 miles and been living in Missouri in March 1867. Anyhow, they moved back into Nebraska Territory by the time Ben was born in August 1868. So, besides all the major moves they would make in their restless lives, there were smaller moves as well.
In August of 1872, I’m sure word reached the family in Nebraska that Adam McFarren had died. (His wife, Elizabeth, 13 years older than Adam, lived until 1900. She resided for a time with her daughter Samantha McFarren Hammons in Wells County in the 1880s, but by the 1900 census she was 89 and living at the Poor Farm. How sad!)
Evidently, John 1792, was homesick for Wells County after Elizabeth died. At some point before his death in August 1874 he returned to Indiana. He is buried in the Neff family plot in Batson Cemetery in Wells County. His stone is of impressive size. From all indications, he was venerated by both family and community.
Now that the preceding 3 John McFarrens are deceased in our story, I will refer to our great grandfather as simply John. His wife, Mary Ann, gave birth to two more girls, Della May (“Aunt Del”) in September 1871, and Phoebe Jane in May of 1874. Both girls were born in Cass County, Nebraska.
I have wondered if the Nebraska winters were uncomfortably severe for our wandering family because the next move for John and Mary Ann was to drop about two hundred and fifty miles south to Neosho, Missouri, where William Henry was born 3 days after Christmas in 1876. By October of 1879 they had moved even further south, by a few miles, into Benton County, Arkansas, where Edward Walter was born. We find the family in Big Spring, Benton, Arkansas in the 1880 Census. All eight children were alive and well.
The eldest daughter, 18 year old Louisa, had just married John Sims in December of 1879 and was living nearby. John Sims was the son of Frederick Patrick Simms of Ireland and Mary Callaghan from the Irish Callaghan family who had long resided in the area. The Callaghan family owned and operated a Tavern that was a popular stop on the Butterfield Stage route. Their family historians tell us that
the tavern operated by Dennis Callahan (Mary’s father) … stood beside a spring long known as Callahan's Spring. … At Callahan's, as at most Butterfield stations, wagon axels were greased and horses were changed. Breakfast was served to the passengers, for which a charge of 40 or 50 cents was made.
How does a family of farmers survive with the constant moving? John was, as usual, listed as a farmer in 1880 in Big Spring, Arkansas. Sons Frank, 13, and Ben, 11, were noted as “works on farm” that year. It also says they were attending school, along with sisters Harriet, 16, and Della, 8. That left Phoebe, 6, Will, 4, and little Eddie, 7 months at home with Mary Ann during the day.
Back in Nebraska and Indiana life had remained much the same for the families left behind. During the 1880s their families were growing, children married and produced families of their own, and they all continued to farm the land.
Mary Esther and William Mendenhall remained in Harrison County, Missouri, doing the same. By the way, Mary Esther, gave birth to at least nine children by 1866. Four of these children died between the ages of about 2 and 4 years. A daughter died at 36 years, mother of three. Two daughters lived into their 70s, but never married and lived together… farming! The last two sons, Charles Wilson, born 1863, and Joseph Aaron, born 1866, married and produced about 7 children each.
Transportation and communication improved, so one would think the family all probably kept in touch, at least through letters.
John Neff had died in 1878 and Maria (McFarren) Neff joined her husband and father at Batson Cemetery in 1881. She was the mother of eleven children, at least nine of whom survived her. Nearly all of them lived long lives, producing large families in Huntington County, IN, next to Wells. I was sent an amusing anecdote about two of Maria’s sons, by Diane Miller, who works in the library in Wells County. She was a wonderful source of information and a great help--also distantly related.
Item from Warren News- not dated
Last Saturday night H. M. Pancake, the sewing machine agent, attacked Adam Neff in Bert Coles drug store and was badly worsted. They were separated and both left the store. Afterwards, while Jake Neff, a brother to Adam, was in the same store, Pancake came in and attacked him. In this he came out even worse than with Adam. His face was badly bruised and blood flowed freely. When he begged for mercy Jake let him up. The next day he was found at Earhart's cider mill and taken home.
It seems the Neffs were a healthy crew and could take care of themselves.
Wilson and Rachel McFarren remained in Nebraska City, where Rachel died in 1878. Wilson continued to live in Nebraska City, with his youngest son, John, and unmarried oldest daughter, 32 year old Hannah, for a while. His son, Matthew, and daughter, Elizabeth, married, had families, and remained in Nebraska.
The widower Wilson McFarren remarried in about 1884 to a much younger widow named Elizabeth Rachel Bell Palmer. Her former husband was James Calvin Palmer of MO, who had died in 1879. Wilson and Elizabeth (Bell Palmer) McFarren lived out the rest of their days together in Nebraska City, but did not add to their family in this second marriage. However, Elizabeth (Bell Palmer) had 8 Palmer children from her first marriage, so they had plenty of family to look after them in their later years. Wilson died in Nebraska City in 1906, and Elizabeth lived on another 10 years, returning to her former home in Brownsville, NE, where some of her children lived.
Wilson’s youngest son married late in life, remaining in Nebraska City. He’s found in 1910 at the age of 52 with "Mary," aged 33 whom he had married about 3 years before. They had a son and daughter in less than 2 years. No time to waste, eh? He was a laborer in “odd jobs” by 1910, a common transition from the farming tradition to a more industrialized world.
Jacob McFarren’s wife Rachel had died in 1872. They had 10 children, most of whom lived well into the 20th century. Jacob remarried in 1873 to Emily Keys, 19 years younger, who gave birth to three more McFarrens, only one of whom survived into adulthood. This last, Minnie McFarren Rowe lived to be 93. She died in 1971 in Wells County.
Melissa and James Murray lived until 1896 and 1900 respectively. Daughter Amanda was the grandmother to Bernard Harrold, the attorney in IL who has done so much wonderful McFarren research. Bernard was born in Wells County.
Three of the generation of our great grandfather John McFarren lived into the 20th century, sisters Elizabeth Fifer, Mary Esther Mendenhall, and John.
In the 1900 Census for Palmyra, Nebraska we find John’s sister, Elizabeth, 64 years old, with 8 of her 9 children living, most still in Nebraska. Her husband, Peter Fifer, was 70 years old, working as a "day laborer." Son George, was living with them. He was 25 and working in a restaurant.
The Mendenhalls had moved to Kingman, Kansas, from Missouri, before William died in 1895. In the 1900 Census, Mary Esther was a 71 year old widowed farmer, living with her unmarried 49 and 51 year old daughters who were noted to be "servants." Were they bringing extra income into the home by working in other homes? Next door was Mary Esther’s son Joseph and family, so one must assume these ladies had help, though Joseph’s own sons were too young to help at this time. They would all soon pull up stakes in Kansas and move to Cleveland County, Oklahoma. A wandering family like John’s.
The third of this generation who lived to see the centennial celebrations of 1900 was our great grandfather, John. He was the youngest sibling and 59 years young at that time. John and Mary Ann were farming in Noble Township, Cleveland County, Oklahoma in 1900. They may have been beckoned by reports from daughter Hattie and husband who had moved there by 1883. Perhaps, in turn, they influenced John’s sister Mary Esther Mendenhall’s family to join them there.
In 1900 John had 20 year old son Edward (Uncle Ed) at home to help with the labor on the farm. Theodore (known to us later as Uncle Dode) was 14 and still in school at that time.