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Willard FARR [Parents] [scrapbook] was born 1, 2 on 5 Jul 1856 in Ogden, Weber, Utah, United States. He died 3 on 18 Nov 1951 in Phoenix, Maricopa, Arizona, United States from of bronchopeumonia. Willard married 4 Mary Elizabeth BALLANTYNE on 13 Oct 1877 in Ogden, Weber, Utah, United States.
Other marriages:
ROMNEY, Mary Ann
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. [p.556] 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 [p.557] 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.—X.
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