Cooper Farr was born on February 8, 1807 in Pennsylvania. When he was about seven years old, his family moved to Hamilton County, Ohio. There he grew to his majority. It seems that his parents Nathan and Susan Farr died when the children were young. The family has not been found in the 1820 Census in Ohio. Family oral history says Nathan and Susan died of cholera, which was not uncommon in Ohio at the time.
On March 23, 1828, Cooper married Eddy Lynn in Clermont County, Ohio. He was 21 and Eddy was 15. Eddy or Ada was born in Pennsylvania on February 10, 1813 to Solomon and Elizabeth Lynn. In Solomon Lynn’s estate papers, Elizabeth Lynn requested that her son-in-law Cooper Farr be appointed administrator. Cooper was educated and could sign his name very legible, but Ada made an X on the estate document meaning she probably did not know how to read or write. In 1830, Cooper and Ada were living in Anderson Township, Hamilton County, Ohio, with one daughter Eliza Jane who was a year old. The Cooper Farr family left Ohio and came to Fulton County, Illinois in 1836 with the families of Solomon Lynn, William Rose, and probably brother Samuel Farr and it is not known who else. They took about one month traveling from Hamilton County, Ohio to Fulton County, Illinois by covered wagon.
“…he (Cooper Farr) landed in Astoria township, where he purchased 160 acres of heavily timbered land, which he set about clearing with energy. The first year he brought about 4 acres under cultivation, and year by year he cleared more and was soon on the road to prosperity. He built on his arrival a rough log cabin, and the first winter he lived rather roughly. Ventilation was quite abundant; although no window or door adorned the cabin, yet the wind, sunlight, rain and snow gained free access through the cracks between the logs…” History of Fulton County 1879
On March 15, 1837, Cooper purchased from the Federal government one hundred-twenty (120) acres in the southeast quarter of section three of Astoria Township, Illinois for $150 dollars. Then on January 29, 1840, he purchased the remaining forty acres of the southeast quarter. The original log house was still standing in 1908. By 1840, Cooper’s family was living between the William Rose family and the Solomon Lynn family with John Lynn and Alex McCartney being the neighbors next in line. William Rose and Alexander McCartney married sisters of Ada (Lynn) Farr. In April 1850, Astoria Township, Fulton County, Illinois was formed and Cooper Farr was chosen as a member of the Commissioners of Highways.
1860 – Cooper’s Farm Prospers
When the census taker called on Cooper in the summer of 1860 a year before the Civil War, Cooper who was 53 years old, told him he had 130 acres of improved land and 190 acres of unimproved land, along with six cows, fifteen sheep, and thirty pigs. Plus, in the last year his farm had produced 400 bushels of wheat, 2000 bushels of Indian corn, 200 bushels of oats, 50 pounds of wool, 20 bushels of Irish potatoes, 520 pounds of delicious butter, 6 tons of hay, 20 bushels of clover seed and $50 dollars worth of home manufactured items.
Cooper and Ada lived their life out on the farm that they owned, except for a short time when they moved to Vermont Township in Fulton County. They were on the farm at the time of the 1880 census, but moved to Vermont Township shortly thereafter. By May of 1881, they had moved back to the farm and continued to live with their son Samuel’s family. On May 23, 1881 they deeded the town property to their daughter Eliza J. Farr Webster who’s husband had died. They also deeded over the original 160 acres in Section 3 to son William, another 120 acres in Section 10 of Astoria Township to son John and son Samuel received 100 acres which he lived on in Section 10 of Astoria Township. This action by Cooper and Ada eliminated an estate settlement after they both died.
Four years later Cooper Farr died on October 9, 1885. He was buried in the Vermont, Illinois Cemetery. His obituary read: “B.F. Bader, of Vermont, came down to Baders last Sunday… Frank’s father-in-law, Cooper Farr, an old and respected resident of Vermont, died on the 9th inst., at his home. Mr. Farr was born in Pennsylvania in the year 1807 and came to this state in 1835.” Rushville Times, October 15, 1885 Ada Farr died on October 14, 1893.
Children of Cooper and Ada Farr: (1) Eliza Jane Farr born 25 Mar 1829, (2) Malinda Farr (1830 died in infancy), (3) Susanna Farr born 9 Oct 1832, (4) Elizabeth Farr born 1835, (5) Mary Ellen Farr born 15 Jan 1837, (6) William Farr born 11 Aug 1839, (7) John Farr born 23 July 1841, (8) Amanda Farr born 9 Apr 1844, (9) Azuba Farr born 31 July 1846, (10) Samuel Farr born 2 Sep 1848, (11) Edith Farr (died in infancy).
Farr's of Fulton County, Illinois 