In 1937 and 1938 a man by the name of Colonel Robert5 Arthur, then stationed on the Hawaiian Islands, was in correspondence with Mrs. Eva4 (Farrington) Cary of Bowdoinham, Me. [half sister to Lila4 (Farrington) Mansfield and Cecil4 Farrington] regarding the Thomas1 Sewall Farrington family, of which Colonel Arthur is a descendant. Col. Arthur was also in contact with Mr. Frank5 A. Farrington, Attorney at Law, of Augusta, Me., a cousin, twice removed, of Eva4 (Farrington) Cary. In July of 1938 Colonel Arthur sent Eva4 (Farrington) Cary a Farrington Genealogy which began as follows:
"As a name, Farrington dates far back in English history, appearing first among the Saxons as Ferndon, signifying Fern Hill. There is an ancient town called Farringdon in county Berks, a township called Farrington in county Lancaster, and a parish called Farrington in another part of England. John de ffarington, whose will was dated 1549 and whose family motto was Domat Omnia Virtus, was the ancestor of ffarington of Warden and ffarington of Woodvale.
In the list of passengers on the Hopewell of London, which sailed for New England on April 1, 1635, appeared Edmund Farrington, of Buckinghamshire, aged 47, and his wife Eliza, 49, with their children, Sarah, 14, Matthew, 12, John, 11, and Eliza, 8. They came from a town called Olney and settled at Lynn, Mass., where Edmond died Jan. 2, 1671. Matthew had children, born at Lynn: Sarah, b. Feb 13, 1658, d. Jan 6, 1659; William, b. May 6, 1660; Sarah, b. June 15, 1663; and Theophilus, b. Aug 13, 1666. John had children, also born at Lynn: Edward, b. Jul. 5, 1662; John, b. Mar. 7, 1664; and Jacob, b. Jul. 22, 1666. Edward and Jacob removed to Andover, Me. where Jacob died in 1667.
John Farrington was of Dedham by 1646 and died there June 27, 1676. He m'd. Apr 23, 1649, Mary Bullard, dau of William Bullard, who outlived her husband. Their fifth child was,
Nathaniel Farrington was born at Dedham on Aug. 9, 1656, and died there May 8, 1723. He m'd Sarah Whiting, d. Dec. 1, 1723. Their sixth child was,
Jonathan Farrington was born at Dedham on Nov. 5, 1699 and died there Apr. 24, 1752. He m'd Aug 10, 1727, Prudence Childs, dau. of Joshua and Elizabeth (Morris) Childs, of Brookline, Mass., b Jul 22, 1703. Their sixth child was,
Nathaniel Farrington was born at Dedham on Mar. 15, 1735/6 and died there. He m'd Oct 19, 1758, Miriam Wight, dau of Joseph and Miriam (Stanley) Wight, b. Dec 5, 1736. they had children: Catharine, b. Dec 15, 1758, bap. Mar. 27, 1768; Nathaniel, b. Jul 1, 1760, bap. Mar 27, 1768; William, b. Oct 2, 1762, bap Mar 27, 1768; Abigail, b. Mar 10, 1765, bap Mar 27, 1768; Thomas, bap. Mar 27, 1768; Ambrose, b. Feb 10, 1770; Chloe, b. Mar 25, 1772, bap. July 12, 1772; David, b. Nov 13, 1774; and Leonard, b. June 25, 1777, bap. May 31, 1778. Although documentary information is lacking, it is possible that their fifth child,
Thomas Farrington may have been the Thomas Sewall Farrington of Maine. His date of birth is not given, but the date of baptism and the spacing between Abigail and Ambrose indicate a birth early in 1768. He apparently does not again appear in the Dedham records. Of Thomas Sewall Farrington it is known that he was born in Mass. in 1768. His tombstone gives his age as 85, indicating a date of birth earlier than May 27, 1768. In hundreds of Farrington names, both in this and other Farrington lines, the name Thomas does not occur except in these two individuls."
The remainder of the Foreword will be comments about Thomas Sewall Farrington of China, Me. and vicinity, which have come about in the confusion of whether or not the two Thomas' are one and the same or separate people.
The Gravestone of our Thomas1 Sewall Farrington, is located at the Baptist Church Cemetery, Route 32, North Windsor, Me. The Cemetery is on the right side of road going north and the gravestone is at the back left hand corner as you face the Cemetery from the road. The gravestone states date of death as March 27, 1853 at age 85, thereby, making his birth date at 1768, similar to the baptismal date of Thomas of Dedham, Mass.
In the book, History of Lynn, Essex County, Massachusetts, by Alonzo Lewis and James R. Newhall and published by John L. Shorey, 13 Washington Street, Boston, 1865, Annals of Lynn -- 1635, page 153:
"Edmund Farrington -- embarked in the Hopewell, of London, 1 April 1635 with his wife and four children. (Record in Westminster Hall, London.) He was a native of Oney, in Buckinghamshire and born 1588. He was a farmer and had 200 acres of land, part of which was on the western side of Federal Street, where he lived and part on the western side of Myrtle street. In 1655 he built a corn mill on Water Hill, where a pond was dug and a water coarse opened for half a mile. He died in 1670, age 82. The name of his wife was Elizabeth, and she was born 1586. His children were, Sarah, b. 1621; Martha, b. 1623; John, b. 1624; Elizabeth, b. 1627, and married John Fuller, in 1646. He also had a son, Matthew to whom he gave half his corn mill, "except the tole of my son [in law] ffuller's grists, which is well and duly to be ground tole free, during the life of my daughter, Elizabeth".
Of interest here a Mr. Donald G. Farrington, who at one time lived in Fall River, Mass., latter to remove to Pinellas Park, FL wrote to me, [Robert E. Anderson] that Colonel Arthur had quote, "made a wild guess that Thomas Sewall Farrington was the Thomas, son of Nathaniel and Miriam (Wight) Farrington", unquote. Mr. Donald G. Farrington stated further that, quote, "Nathaniel and Miriam had two sons who migrated to Francestown and Lynneborough, N. H. They then moved on to Walden, Vt. They were Thomas and Nathaniel. I, Donald G. Farrington, am a descendant of the latter. Both Thomas' and Nathaniel's descendants are well documented by Mrs. Dorothy Farrington Parker in her genealogy book, The Farrington's-- Colonialist's and Patriot's, 1976 and agrees with me", unquote. With his letter, Mr.Donald G. Farrington, also enclosed one page of his work sheets relative to Col. Arthur's Farrington Family. Under his numbering system, #208C he states, quote, "A Colonel Robert Arthur, who did research on this family says that this was Thomas (#138) but New Hampshire records appear to disprove this", unquote.
In the correspondence that Frank5 Alden Farrington had with Eva4 (Farrington) Cary, neither seem to know the parents of Thomas1 Sewall Farrington, even though they were both familiar with the names, Thomas Sewall Farrington and the wife, Content Leonard. In behalf of the competence of Colonel Robert5 Arthur, he stated in his letter to Eva4 (Farrington) Cary as follows: quote," I have not yet solved to my satisfaction the problem of the ancestry of Thomas1 Sewall Farrington. Mr. Frank4 Wright Farrington [a great grandson of Thomas1 Sewall Farrington] repeats the story of some British Officers remaining here in this country, marrying, and settling in Maine, but he does not vouch for it". unquote.
To quote from his ensuing genealogy records, Colonel Arthur was a graduate of the U.S.M.A. [West Point] and commisioned a 2nd Lieut., Coast Artillery Corps. He was in the American Expeditionary Forces, France, received the Distinguished Service Medal and the Croix de Guerre. He was a professor of Military Science at the University of Michigan from 1919 to 1924 and at the Massachussetts Institute of Techonogy from 1929 to 1935 and received his Master's Degree from Harvard University. He was author of the Coast Artillery School Journal, History of Fort Monroe, The Sieges of Yorktown, and The Coast Artillery R.O.T.C. Manuel. He was also a member of the New England Genealogy Society, General Institute, American Society of University Professors, the National Geographical Society and the American Military Historical Foundation. Quite an impressive list.
As the Farrington Family, in 1991, were fortunate enough to have a direct descendant working at the State of Maine Archives, namely, Donna6 (Farrington) Doore [grand daughter of Cecil4 Farrington and daughter of Donald5 Earl Farrington] we asked if she could find any additional information. Her reply was, quote "we have decided that Colonel Arthur was possibly right---we being the MSA archivists and myself. We need to know how or why this person (Donald G. Farrington) thinks Thomas went to Vermont and if so why couldn't he later have moved to Maine. One of our census' reports show a Thomas living with Ezekiel. We could check for an old will that shows where Thomas was living when Nathaniel (father) passed on. This would indicate we had the right Thomas, if he, Nathaniel, had any thing to leave to his children"., unquote. Donna6 (Farrington) Doore did find the grave site of Thomas1 Sewall Farrington. Over the years I have lost track of this Donald G. Farrington and meanwhile, Donna6 (Farrington) Doore has left the State of Maine ArchivesDepartment.
The 1790 Census shows that the only Farrington's in Maine were at Fryeburgh, Me., York County, as follows:
Note on page 6 that the author, Colonel Robert Arthur mentions the names of various Farrington's in Wisconsin in the middle 1800's. One of these names included Putman Farrington. Col. Arthur goes on to say that Putman Farrington, Wisc., may have been the John Putman Farrington who was born at Andover, Me., a son of John & Dolly (Adams) Farrington. Also, in the second paragraph of his foreword, the author relates to Edward, b. 1662, and Jacob, b. 1666, sons of John Farrington, b. ca 1624, removed to Andover, Me. where Jacob died in 1667. This means Edward would have been 5 yrs. old and Jacob only 1 yr. old. Who would they have gone to Maine with, if John died in Dedham June 27, 1676 and his wife outlived him ? We do need to check the book mentioned by Donald G. Farrington and any other possible leads, as we proceed.
Would like to add that the Down East Ancestry magazine, Vol 6 #1June 1982, page 9, gives a list of Marriages by the Rev. Joshua Cushman of Winslow, Me. and his successors, one of these being; "Thomas S. Farrington, m'd Content Leonard, dau of John Leonard, both of Winslow in the Cty. of Lincoln". The book, Winslow, Me.V.R. by Sara Drummond Lang, 1937, also gives the same information to include the date of June 16, 1795. Again, the Down East Ancestry magazine, Vol 6 #2 Aug 1982, page 55, China, Maine Family Records as follows; "Farrington, Ezekiel b. China, Me. and Mary b. China, Child: William O., b. 21 June 1854" "Farrington, Wm. O., b. China, Me. & Mary Metcalf, b. Albion, Me., Child: Arthur Earl, b. 7 Aug 1890, China, Me. Same magazine, page 57, "Martin Weber & Mary3 A. Farrington, b. Windsor, Children: Ernest M., b. 18 June 1878 and Cony N. b. 18 Jan 1884". ©Copyright Robert E. Anderson 1996
©Copyright G. Robert. Anderson, 1996