Massive Amounts of Vermont Granite - Farrar Family Plot

Welcome to the Farrar's monuments. All of these massive pieces of Vermont granite are located at Bluff Cemetery in Springdale, AR.

William Talafaro Farrar's monument is the one in the foreground and his daughter's, Jewel, monument is in the background on the right. On the other side of this larger monument the Name "Farar" is written marking the family plot. There are also two smaller markers in this grouping (Not visible in this photo, but directly on the other side of the monument.) that are also made from Vermont granite. The two smaller ones are William's and his wife Dora's.

To give you an idea of how large these monuments are I will tell you this, William's larger monument took a team of eight horses to drag it into Bluff cemetery. Jewel's monument is considerably smaller but it is still large by any standards.

 This is the inscription on the larger of William's two markers.

Here Lies The Remains Of

W. T. Farrar

Husband of

Dora Farrar

Father of

E. Claire, Frank L., Jewel G., and Hal G. Farrar

This is the smaller one that marks the spot where William is actually buried.

I was able to find his obituary. And surprisingly it gave copious amounts of information about him.

The Springdale News
February 4, 1910

FARRAR, W.T. –Again has it most forcibly been brought home to the people of Springdale that "in the midst of life we are in death." W.T. Farrar, who a few short hours before, was in his customary health and going about his business affairs as usual, was lying at the Sanitarium a corpse Wednesday evening at 6 o'clock. Mr. Farrar was first taken ill about 3 o'clock Wednesday afternoon and a physician was summoned to his assistance at the Farmers & Merchants Bank. It was deemed advisable to remove him to the Sanitarium where he could have better attention and after arriving there and restoratives being administered he appeared to improve but the improvement was of short duration and he soon grew worse and quickly expired. Mrs. Farrar and her eldest son, Claire, reached his side shortly before the end came. Mr. Farrar apparently realized that the end had come for he remarked to friends that this attack would kill him. For a number of years he had been afflicted with stomach trouble but the immediate cause of his death was heart failure. The body was embalmed and removed to the family residence about 2 a.m. Thursday morning. Funeral services will be held at the Christian Church this afternoon at two o'clock, conducted by W.H. Johnson of Fort Smith, who was a former resident of Springdale and a close personal friend of the deceased. Interment in Bluff Cemetery. Mr. Farrar was one of nine children born to Junius and Cathrine Farrar, and first saw the light of day December 2, 1856, two and a half miles north of Elm Springs in Benton County. His life on the farm was not different from that which falls to the lot of the average Arkansas farmer's boy. He worked on the farm and attended the country school at intervals until he was 23 years of age. Believing there were better opportunities for him in the mercantile business than on the farm, in 1880 he went to Elm Springs and with Pen Reed and Frank Wasson began business under the firm name of Farrar, Reed & Wasson. Their stock consisted of general merchandise and they had about $1500 invested. After remaining here for two and a half years and feeling that he wanted a larger field, March 27, 1883 Mr. Farrar came to Springdale and accepted a position as clerk in the mercantile establishment of P. McGannon at a salary of $25 per month. When Mr. Farrar came to Springdale his total assets were $1300. He worked for Mr. McGannon for two years and for one year traveled for F. Smith & Son, wholesale grocers of St. Louis. August 6, 1886 he purchased the hardware business of D. Zerboni and Brother and thus laid the foundation for his fortune. In March 1897 Art and Bert Lewis were taken in as partners. Later they purchased the stock of dry goods, clothing, etc., in the adjoining building, both of which were sold in March 1907 to R.C. Clark, Jas. Hawn, J.W. Curtis and E.R. Cummings. After the sale of this business Mr. Farrar gave his attention to the affairs of the Farmer & Merchants Bank of which he was president and in which he had held a controlling interest since its organization August 6, 1894. He was also interested in the hardware and furniture business of W.T. Farrar & Co. at Fayetteville and was also a stockholder in the Bank of Westville of Westville, Ok. and likewise a stockholder in a bank at Exeter, Mo. Mr. Farrar was unusually successful in all his business affairs and leaves a fortune estimated at $200,000. Some four or five years ago Mr. Farrar executed a will and in this document it is presumed he named an executor but just who was named or what the provisions of the will are will not be known until the document is probated. The business enterprises in which Mr. Farrar was interested will be continued right along without interruption as there are men connected with the various enterprises who are entirely capable of managing the same. Dec. 12, 1883 W.T. Farrar was united in marriage to Miss Dora Daily at the home of the latter a short distance east of town. To them were born four children, three sons and one daughter, Claire, Frank, Jewel and Hal. The daughter died Jan. 6, 1906 at the age of 8 years. Her death was due to throat trouble and heart failure and was quite sudden. Mr. Farrar was at Bentonville on business when her death occurred and the family has never yet entirely recovered from the shock. Deceased is also survived by four brothers, Clark and Jas. Farrar, who reside near Hillsboro, Texas, and Jack and Sam Farrar, residing near Dinuba, Cal. There is also a sister, Mrs. Crank, living on Osage in Benton County. There goes out from the heart of every one in Springdale tenderest sympathy for the home upon which has so suddenly come this affliction.

This is Dora's marker. I was unable to find any info on her.

And the final one is Jewel's marker.  From what I can tell she is the only child buried here in the plot.  She died at the young age of 8 years.

Our Jewel

Though The Lovely

Flower Is Gone Yet The

Sweet Perfume Of Her

Childish Innocence And Song

Will Ever Linger With Us

1898   1906

I located three newspaper clippings that mentioned her passing.  Here is her obituary from the Springdale newspaper:

The Springdale News
January 12, 1906

Her death was result of throat trouble and failure of the heart. Funeral services were held at the family residence Wednesday morning at 10 o'clock, conducted by W.H. Johnson of Fort Smith, a close friend of the family and a former minister of the Christian church. The casket was opened in the yard to give the children and playmates of Jewel an opportunity to view the remains. The services were largely attended. The remains were interred in the Bluff Cemetery. Jewell was born March 1, 1898 and of a family of four children was the only daughter. The whole community sympathizes with them.

Here is another one from the Washington County newspaper:

Washington County Review

January 18, 1906


FARRAR, Jewell – {from The Springdale News} That death leaves a shining mark has been very forcibly brought to the minds of all Springdale this week by the passing of little Jewell Farrar daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W.T. Farrar. Jewell was in her accustomed health Saturday and although she complained Sunday of feeling badly no thought was entertained that her illness would develop into anything serious, however she grew rapidly worse Monday afternoon and at 12:15 p.m. the end came.

And the third was found it the everybody's business section. (If you arn't sure what I am talking about. In newspapers back in this period it was common to have a section that gave details about peoples lives. You could always find out who was traveling, who was visiting, who was sick, who was moving in to town or out of town and sometimes you could even find out who bought what. Strange as that is gossip was big news back then.)

The Springdale News
January 12, 1906

Frank Farrar, who was attending school in St. Louis, arrived home Tuesday night to attend the funeral of his sister, Jewell.