Bela Farrar (1791 - 1877)

Born 26 Dec 1791 in Buckfield, Cumberland, Massachusetts Bay

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 25 Dec 1877 at age 85 in Buckfield, Oxford, Maine, United States

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Biography

Bela Farrar was born 26 Dec 1791 at Buckfield. View the original town record at image 12 of FamilySearch film 007595320 (original page 7). The database "Maine Births and Christenings" is wrong by 20 years due to a blunder in transcription.^[1]

The surname is given in the town record as "Farrow." At first blush this seems very odd, but if you hear both spellings pronounced with a Maine accent, you will notice very little difference.

Bela was a reasonably prosperous farmer, considering the rigors of the Maine climate. Every census entry for him is consistent with his having been born in late 1791, while none of them support the 1771 birth year formerly shown on this profile.

Bela died 25 Dec 1877, one day short of his 86th birthday. He is buried in the Farrar Family Cemetery with the inscription "Ae. 86 years," meaning in the 86th year of his age. If he had lived one more day he would have entered on his 87th year.^[2]The stone is very hard to read; scroll down to the bottom of the FindaGrave page for the transcription of the carving.

Bela Farrar was the grandfather of baseball great Sidney Farrar, and the great grandfather of opera legend Geraldine Farrar.

Sources

1. ↑ "Maine Births and Christenings, 1739-1900", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F44L-SGM : 14 January 2020), Bela Farrow, 1771.
2. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 10 June 2020), memorial page for Bela Farrar (26 Dec 1791–25 Dec 1877), Find A Grave: Memorial #80786914, citing Farrar Family Cemetery, Paris, Oxford County, Maine, USA ; Maintained by Tim Cooper (contributor 46907821)

• "Biographical Review: this volume contains biographical sketches of leading citizens of Oxford and Franklin counties, Maine Publishing Company; 1897, p. 612."

• "A History of Buckfield, Oxford County, Maine, from the Earliest Explorations to the Close of the Year 1900', by Alfred Cole and Charles Foster Whitman; CF Whitman/Buckman, Maine; 1915, p 724.'"

• "Find A Grave: 'Farrar Family Cemetery'"