Lorin was born July 27, 1820 at Waterford, Caledonia, Vermont. His parents are Winslow Farr Sr (1794-1867) and Olive Hovey Freeman Farr (1799-1893). There was much scurry and worry at Lorin' s birth about his safe delivery. Maternal grandfather Elijah Freeman kept things in balance with his wry sense of humor.

In 1832 Orson Pratt and Lyman Johnson came from Ohio to Charleston, Vt., preaching of a new religion based on the teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith. They went through Winslow Farr, Town Selectman (councilman) and school board member in securing the schoolhouse for their meetings. After the meeting in which these two elders, not yet twenty-one, taught the tenets of their religion, they were invited by Winslow to stay at his home.

After the long journey from northern Vermont, the Winslow Farr Sr. family took up residence in Kirtland, Ohio. Within a year, persecutions of the church heated up and Joseph Smith, along with Brigham Young, were forced to leave and go with others to Missouri. While Winslow Sr. headed back to Vermont to sell more of his acreage, Aaron and Lorin headed west with others to Missouri.

With the expulsion of the Saints from Missouri, many came back across the Illinois border. Among the saints were the Farr family members... Here they would establish Nauvoo, ìThe City Beautiful.î

Before Nauvoo could become truly habitable they had to drain the swamps thereand obtain pure water by drilling wells. Many became sick from the water before this was accomplished. At one time during great illness, much healing was performed by the Prophet Joseph Smith and others.

Lorin was called on a mission to the east in 1843 going to Vermont, Connecticut and other states. It was apparently on this trip back east that Lorin Farr was on board the iron boat, the Valley Forge, on the Ohio River in an incident recorded by William B. Allen. Mr. Allen recorded that he met Lorin.

In February of 1846, the first of the Saints left Nauvoo crossing the providentially frozen Mississippi and settled into their first encampment at Sugar Creek. Eliza R. Snow reported that nine babies were born at that first encampment.

While the rest of Winslow and Olive Farr's family were enroute to Salt Lake, Winslow, his wife Olive, and Diantha Farr Clayton had been left in Winter Quarters and Kanesville, Iowa. Winslow had seven wives: (1) Olive Hovey Freeman (md.5 Dec 1816); (2) Roxana Porter (md. 22 Feb 1846); (3) Almina Randall (md. 22 Jan 1846); (4) Adelia Maria Clemens ( md. 22 Jan 1846); (5) Amanda Bower Colburn (md. 7 Feb 1846); (7) Sans Earl Cole Achsach, to care for and help on their journey to Utah. From there Winslow served a two-year mission in the Eastern States from 1847-49.

We continue the history of Lorin Farr in writing of the fur trappers in the early settlement of Ogden and talking about the activities of Peter Skene Ogden and the military leader and explorer, John Fremont.

On January 1, 1846 in Nauvoo, Hancock County, Illinois, Lorin Farr married his first wife (first of six), Nancy Bailey Chase (1823-1892), daughter of Ezra Chase and Tirzah Wells Chase.

In May of 1843 Fremont with a company of thirty-nine men left Kansas City on his second exploring expedition and was met in Pueblo, Colorado by the famous scout and buffalo hunter, Kit Carson.

On August 9, 1847, not one month after the pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley , Brigham Young asked Jesse C. Little to lead an exploration party north into the country that Miles Morris Goodyear had described. Jesse C. Little was a Lt. Colonel in the Mormon Battalion, president of the Eastern States Mission and a capable pioneer leader. Of his visit to the Goodyear Fort, Little records:

“At Weber River we found a fort of Mr. Goodyear which consists of some log buildings and corrals stockaded in with pickets. This man had a herd of cattle, horses and goats. He had a small garden of vegetables, also a few stalks of corn, and although it had been neglected, it looks well, which proved to us that with proper cultivation it would do well”

The pioneers were very interested in the corn grown by Goodyear as they felt that if they could get corn to mature and harvest it, they could get any crop to grow and thus be assured of permanent settlement. Captain James Brown, of the Mormon Battalion, arrived in Salt Lake on July 29, 1847.

In August Brown left to go to California to get the rest of the pay for his men. While passing through Weber he stopped off to visit Goodyear's place. He was well pleased with the general appearance of things and approached Miles about purchasing his place. Miles was asking $2,000 but the Saints were unable to come up with that much money. When Captain Brown returned from California he had his Army pay. After negotiations, consideration by the high council and various visits by the brethren to the homestead, a deal was closed on November 24, 1947. Captain James Brown turned over $1,950 to Miles Goodyear and in return received a deed to the land, all improvements, 75 goats, 12 sheep, 75 cattle and 6 horses.

The deed described the purchased land as follows: ‘commencing at the mouth of Weber Canyon and following the base of the mountains north to the hot springs; thence wet to the Salt Lake; thence south along the shore to a point opposite Weber Canyon; thence east to the beginning.'

Miles Goodyear, the first citizen of Utah Territory, died on November 12, 1849. He was but 32 years of age. His brother, Andrew Goodyear, said of him that no savage came to his lodge but he would divide with him his last morsel.

Amasa Lyman and Jedediah Grant had gone with Captain Brown to advise him on the purchase of Goodyear's property. They reported to Brigham Young the advisability of buying the property and Brown actually turned over 3,000 Spanish doubloons, which was worth $1,950 in American dollars.

On January 12, 1848, Captain James Brown sent his sons, Alexander Brown and Jesse Sowell Brown, to take care of the livestock left by Miles Goodyear at Fort Buenaventura . Two months later Captain Brown moved the remainder of his family there.

Shortly thereafter they were joined by families of Henry C. Shelton, Louis B. Myers, George W. Thurlkill, Robert Crow, Reuben Henry, Van Stewart, William Stewart, Artemus Sprague, Daniel Burch, Ruth Stewart and her eight children, and Dr. William McIntire.

The Brown family took possession of the fort with the other settlers scattered along the Weber River. Some went as far north as the Ogden River . The majority of these early colonists settled in the southwest section of the present city at 28th Street west of Pacific Ave. Fort Buenaventura became known as Brown's Fort. Brown's Settlement and Brownsville during the next few years. Brownsville became very prominent until Brigham Young and the Legislative Assembly he controlled, changed it to Ogden City. Brown retained all the livestock and 300 acres of the immense amount of land [22 square miles] he had purchased from Goodyear. In an immensely generous gesture truly characteristic of Captain James Brown, he gave the rest of the land to new colonists without cost as they came north to settle. The purchase price of the 22 square miles was paid from Captain Brown's pay and that of his soldier sons, as well as from business conducted by Captain Brown while in California. The purchase price of $1,950 was actually Brown's, the balance of the $10,000 Spanish doubloons collected represented the balance due to the Sick Detachment (the portion that had not been collected when they were in Pueblo). The pay collected in California was distributed to the Sick Detachment of the Mormon Battalion.

Brown's sons, Alexander and Jesse, made a plow and were the first to turn the sod in Ogden . In the spring of 1848 they planted five acres of wheat, a patch of corn, turnips, cabbage, potatoes and watermelons. They were also first to build a dam and divert water to their planted ground. The first winter in Salt Lake was extremely hard, there being a scarcity of food. In the Spring of 1848 millions of crickets arrived to torment the settlers by devouring their crops until the seagulls arrived to save them. The settlers in Ogden did not suffer as much as those in Salt Lake as Brown and his sons went to Fort Hall some 160 miles to the north to obtain flour. They brought back 600 pounds of flour, the 200 hundred pounds being retained for the Ogden settlers and the other 400 pounds he sent to Salt Lake . The main food supply for that winter was the dairy products produced by Brown's cows. The Captain's family milked 75 cows and slaughtered some, which they shared freely with the other settlers. Mary McRee Black Brown, one of James' wives, made several hundred pounds of butter and cheese during that first year.

By the fall of 1849, two years after the Goodyear purchase, some 33 families had joined James Brown in Ogden . Pioneer life was hard in these new settlements with some settlers living in dugouts and sleeping on piles of straw or straw ticks. Often they had little more than ground grain to eat. Yet these settlers fared better that winter of 1849 than the 75 families of Shoshones and 60 families of Utes who suffered heavy losses due to an outbreak of measles.

The first fuel used by the settlers in Weber County was sage brush. As sage brush became scarce, the men drove teams into the mountains and secured loads of oak, pine and cottonwood trees for their wood.

The families of Ezra Chase (Nancy Bailey Chase's father and Lorin's father-in-law) and Charles Hubbard came to Weber County in the fall of 1848 and settled at a place later called Mound Fort, a half a mile west of 16 th and Washington Blvd. Lorin purchased a fair sized piece of land from one of his fathers-in-law, Ezra Chase, just below the mountains and near the Ogden River. He built the first(?) saw mill and grist mill in league with Charles Hubbard.

In the spring of 1849 the families of Ambrose Shaw and William Shaw arrived to join Chase and Hubbard. The families plowed, planted and dug the first irrigation ditch from the Ogden River to their plots. Ezra Chase harvested 100 bushels of potatoes that fall, along with a good harvest of wheat and corn. There were no gristmills in Ogden as yet so the farmers had to take their crops to Neff's Mill, seven miles south of Salt Lake , a round trip of 100 miles.

In addition to the settlements located adjacent to the five forts which finally became part of Ogden City other towns sprang up as the population increased. There were five other towns established by 1850, three more by 1853 and by the end of the nineteenth century there were twenty-two towns and cities thriving in Utah.

Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Jedediah Grant and others visited the people in Ogden in September 1849. This was the first visit by the pioneer leader and marked the beginning of annual visits he would pay to this and other communities he would direct the settlement of. His clerk, Thomas Bullock, reported of their visit to Ogden City : “Here were regaled with plenty of mountain trout. Ogden's Fork is about a rod wide and eighteen inches deep, the water is soft and clear and the banks of the river lined with willows, rose bushes and small trees”. Ezra Chase said that the land was very productive in grain. Good instruction was given by Brigham Young and the other leaders in meetings they held.

President Young gave the right to James Brown to build a toll bridge over the Weber and collect fees to cross. He also laid out the sight of Ogden City .

In October at general conference it was voted to lay out the city of Ogden . Now, Brigham Young, needed a colonizer in his image to take charge of this new community and see that it got proper direction as many settlers would come to Ogden . He turned to 29 year old Lorin Farr, a tried and trusted leader with whom he was a close friend. Both Brown and Farr had passed through all the trials of Missouri and Illinois, and now represented President Young in Ogden. "While Farr and friends were building their fort, Captain Brown was building his fort and a real lively but friendly rivalry sprang up between the two camps." (Pardoe, Page 118)

When President Young needed a tough, trustworthy, generous, and faithful servant to help finance the first pioneers to cross the plains, lead the Mormon Battalion, lead the Battalion Sick Detachment, travel to Sacramento to pick up the Battalion pay, build roads, millls, and canals, and to negotiate with frontiersmen and Indians, Young knew the best man for the job was Captain James Brown. When Young needed a finesser, diplomat, political and ecclesiastical leader, Young knew Lorin Farr was reliable and capable. Ogden citizens were fortunate to have two fine leaders to build their city.

Upon Lorin Farr's arrival in Ogden in January of 1850 he commenced in taking 400 acres, widely scattered (twice an many as Brown had kept for his nine families), building homesites for each of his five wives. Later 63+

6Farr also took city lots with six homes for his families in the vicinity of 21st and Washington.

Farr organized the Weber Branch of the church. James Brown had been bishop of the LDS Brown Settlement ward in the region for a number of years.

Lorin Farr would became a very influential man in that region, as was Captain James Brown. Captain James Brown died on September 30, 1863 from a mill accident. "It was a sad day for Lorin Farr to preside at the funeral of Ogden's first Mormon settler, Captain James Brown. It is an honor to their descendants that two stone monuments, bearing the likeness of each of these two leaders in Weber County, face each other on City Hall Square in Ogden." (Pardoe Page 118)

This Lorin Farr monument is situated south of Captain James Brown's monument (below)

Located at 2549 Washington Blvd., Ogden, Weber, Utah in the Municipal Gardens, North of the courthouse

On July 26, 1851 at Ogden, Weber, Utah, Lorin Farr married a second wife, Sarah Giles (1831-1892), daughter of Thomas Giles and Mariah Davis Giles.

On February 28, 1852 at Salt Lake City, Lorin Farr married a third wife, Olive Ann Jones (1829-1914), daughter of Merlin Jones and Roxanna Ives Jones.

On December 2, 1854, at Ogden, Weber, Utah, Lorin Farr married a fourth wife, the widow, Mary Bingham Snow (1820-1893), daughter of Erastus Willard Bingham and Lucinda Gates.

On January 29, 1857, at Salt Lake City, Lorin Farr married a fifth wife, Nicholine Ericksen (1837-1915), daughter of Nils Ericksen and Oleane Marie Olsen.

On March 8, 1901, Lorin Farr married his sixth wife, Clara Jane Bates (c. 1822-?) of Waterford, Caledonia, Vermont.

Brigham Young felt that the location of Ogden City should be on the 160 acre farm of Brother Bingham [Bingham's Fort] and proposed to purchase the farm for use as a city. Brother Bingham agreed and Brigham Young paid out of his own pocket for this farm, then turned over the land to the city. Brother Daniel Wells remembered carrying a flag pole when a ten acre square within the donated land was laid out.

Lorin Farr, called as mayor, proposed to pay President Young 10% on his money and made some payments over the next twenty years. Then President Young asked Lorin Farr how he would feel if the city donated the land back to President Young comprising the ten acres of the square which had been laid out. Brigham proposed to make a Utah Central Railroad Passenger Depot also making it an ornamental square, suitable for a summer resort. There was discussion about it in the city council and Mayor Farr suggested sending a committee to wait on President Young and see about repaying him the full amount of his original purchase price plus ten per cent interest. But finding out all that he wished was the ten acre square, they deeded those acres to him.

Shortly thereafter, before President Young could act on his plans, he passed away. Rumors arose that the president had acquired the land unfairly so President John Taylor felt obliged to set the record straight by having Lorin Farr talk about the circumstances along with himself and other of the brethren familiar with what had happened. This they did on March 2, 1879. President Taylor asked how many of the brethren would be satisfied with only getting back ten acres of a one hundred and sixty acre purchase. Even an editor from the East could see no wrong in this transaction, seeing how much Brigham Young had done for his people. The church then purchased from the Young estate two and a half acres for a tithing office, which was also criticized and answered in this 1879 meeting. President Taylor felt that there should be full and free disclosure and discussion on this matter to put rumor and errant thinking to rest. Apparently the falsehoods about the transaction had got enough out of hand for President Taylor to call this caucus to present the facts.

INDIAN TROUBLES (Excert from pgs 68-78 of the Lorin Farr History being written by David J. Farr)

"In 1850 a band of Shoshone were set to winter on the Bear River . Terikee, the chief, delayed by friendly farewells, camped near the farm of Urban Stewart on Four Mile Creek at what became Harrisville. Stewart hearing Chief Terikee in his corn ordered him out. Not responding quickly enough Stewart fired and missed. Losing his temper he fired again and killed the Chief. Fearing his rash act he rushed to Ogden for safety. Stewart came to the home of Lorin Farr about two o'clock in the morning. Lorin rebuked him and then told him to escape if he wished to save his scalp. While he did so, President Farr looked after his family. The next morning a band of Utes hearing of Terikee's death came and buried him. Lorin Farr wrote Brigham Young requesting that Dimick Huntington or [Elijah] Barney Ward, Indian interpreters come to Ogden to talk to the Indians. The Shoshone were sure to return for revenge. They came, burning Stewart's house and grain. The Shoshoni demanded that Stewart be turned over to them by nine o'clock on September 17th or they would destroy the settlers in Ogden . They killed and scalped a millwright named Campbell who worked for Lorin. Brigham Young sent 150 mounted militia to assist the settlers. Lorin Farr sent several men to warn others of the uprising. A group of Utes participated in the spirit of revenge by joining the Terikee Band and charged towards the Barker home. David Moore saw them ready to burn down their home. Then the Indians saw Mr. Moore and charged him. He went into the house for a gun and heard a voice telling him to put the gun back in the corner. He went out to face the Indians, who fired guns over his head. David Moore, an Indian peacemaker, talked them into arranging to meet with Lorin Farr. After their parlay the Indians took off for the North with 150 men of the militia following them as far as Cache Valley before they abandoned the chase. There was trouble on and off with the Indians for the next few years.

We learn more of the killing of Chief Terikee's death and other Indian problems in Weber County from Our Pioneer Heritage, Vol 8, pgs. 117-122. Due to Indian difficulties Lorin Farr under direction from Brigham Young organized the first company of militia. All male members of the settlement were enrolled. Cyrus C. Canfield was elected captain with Francillo Durfee as first lieutenant. Chief Terikee had been a good Indian, always being friendly with the whites. The day before his death the chief and his wife came over to President Farr where he was building his mills and bid him farewell. Then the chief returned to his camp near Stewart's ranch. It seems that the chief was driving his ponies out of Stewart's corn with no intention of stealing anything when the fateful shot was fired. Stewart immediately rushed to his neighbor David Moore to inform him of his rash act. Moore severely rebuked him and then Stewart went door to door telling the other settlers of his act. None would take him in, fearful that they would be attacked by the Indians. After he contacted President Farr as already reported, he was counseled by President Farr to escape if he desired to keep his scalp. Then President Farr dispatched ten or twelve men northward as far as Utah Hot Springs to gather the scattered cattle. President Farr and Major David Moore went to James Brown's Fort to tell the captain of the impending danger.

In the meantime, Chief Terikee's son jumped on a horse to deliver the sad news to the Indian warriors who were camped near the present site of Brigham City . The Indian's were fierce with rage and mounting their ponies, rode furiously back with the intent of destroying the settlement in Weber County . At this point Captain David Moore went over to the Ute Indian Camp on the Weber River to talk to their leader, Chief Little Soldier. Moore was unarmed and alone. At first Little Soldier was hostile and angry firing a gun over Moore 's head. The Indians demanded that Stewart be turned over to them, but Moore responded that they didn't know where Stewart had fled for safety and that the settlers were very upset and indignant over Stewart's terrible deed. Moore obtained a promise from Little Soldier that they would do no killing or burning until a messenger had been sent to the ‘Big Chief, Brigham Young.' Moore then hurried towards Salt Lake City . After Mr. Campbell was killed by the Indians, President Farr sent another messenger, Daniel Burch, to tell Governor Young of the death of Campbell . Both messengers arrived about sundown to deliver their messages.

From the Lorin Farr papers in the Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University, we have the following written report from Lorin Farr to Brigham Young: “Ogden Precinct Sep this 16 th 1850. President Brigham Young, Sir. I write a few lines to you to inform of what has transpired here which is something that is grievous to me, which is this, one of our citizens have killed one of the Shoshone Chiefs by the name of Terikee the circumstances are these the chief's band of Indians have been camped neare here some time back. Yesterday his band left here for bearirees To winter there, the Chief and his family did not leave til just at night he wanted to stop and bid us good by' he left here just before sundown , went up three miles on to a creek close to where Br Stewart lives and farms. Just before bedtime Br Stewart went into his garden and corn and herd an Indian in his corn he said he was picking corn he told him to leave he walked off slowly he went into his house and himself and another young man came out with their guns the Indian had not got out of his corn yet he told him to go he did not as fast as he wanted to have him and he busted a cap at him but his gun did not go the young man fired and missed him Br Stewart swift again, his gun went off and killed the Indian he Stewart moves his family immediately into the settlement. Indian band was camped not far from them three or four mile if they good word of the death went this morning and helped the family bury him. What the result will be when his band here of it I don't know I expect that nothing but the man that shot him will satisfy them I am at los to know what course to pursue I would like to have some counsill from you I would like to have Br D. Huntington or Dasney Ward come up as soon as they can and talk with them I would like an answer as quick as posble Yours with respect Lorin Farr. This Statement is as near as I can recollect as Br. Stewart told me.”

Within a few hours Brigham Young sent 150 men under the command of General Horace Eldredge north to rescue the settlement at Weber. The company reached Brown's Fort early the next morning. There they had breakfast and then headed northward to overtake the Indians with the hope of reaching a peaceful settlement. Terikee's people, having heard of the approach of the relief company from Salt Lake , took the body of their chief and headed north. Captain Eldredge pursued the Indians about 40 miles up the Bear River before abandoning the quest. They returned to Brown's Fort confident that their pursuit under Governor Young's direction had saved the settlers.

During the latter part of the winter of 1850-51 Terikee's band under the direction of his nephew, Kattatto, located themselves about ten miles west of Farr's Fort on the Weber River. They began to make trouble by stealing and killing cattle. Captain David Moore with a company of about sixty five cavalrymen, surrounded the camp one morning at daybreak and took the Indians prisoners. After a slight show of resistence the fifty warriors and their families agreed to go to Farr's Fort to make terms of peace. Under the formality of a peace treaty the Indians agreed to restore fourfold their thefts and killings of animals. The settlers agreed to the same for any losses the Indians might suffer and the peace treaty in the form of a document was signed by both parties. In 1854 Brigham Young with James Brown as interpreter visited the Shoshone camp. After presents were distributed, President Young advised them it would be good for them to settle down like the white man, cultivate the land, so that when the game was gone they could feed their families. The Indians felt this was ‘heap good talk', and their hearts felt good. President Young advised them to learn Christianity and not to be beggars or parasites. After President Young went back to Salt Lake the Indians refused to listen to the whites.

Within a few months there was more trouble with the Indians who were killing cattle, burning fences and terrorizing isolated settlers. On November 20, 1854 William Hickman, L.B. Ryan and Dimick Huntington came from Salt Lake with an order for Major Moore to disarm Little Soldier and his band of Indians. They were then to take them captive and distribute them among the settlers to feed and clothe them for the winter. At first the Indians refused this idea so the militia allowed them to cross the Ogden River keeping their weapons. When the whites visited the camp the next day they found the Indians hostile and resistive. Finally a squad of armed men persuaded them to come back to Ogden . The plan was for Major Moore to command that each Indian was to give his weapon to a white man who was to take it by force if necessary. James Brown repeated this command in the Indian dialect. At the command no white man moved and so Brown ended up gathering all the weapons himself. An Indian boy leaped on a horse and headed at top speed towards Brigham's Fort. Brown leapt on his horse and followed him right away. They both arrived at the fort at the same time with Brown shouting to the settlers to disarm the Indians right away. This was done and Brown tried to explain the situation to the Indians. His explanation was greeted with stubborn and sullen feelings. The Indian braves felt powerless without their weapons saying they could not provide for their families without their guns.

The final result was that the Indians camped out in the back yards of the whites to receive the help they would need that winter. On December 3 rd a letter came from Brigham Young and for the first time the Indians seemed reconciled to the new order of things. Chief Little Soldier became filled with the spirit of approval of the course that had been taken and he preached this to his people long and hard. After that the Indians and the settlers got along better. The chief became the peacemaker and visited the homes of the settlers as along as he lived. His daughter Mary continued to visit the home of David Moore for many years after her parents had died. The settlers used Little Soldier's knowledge of herbs and natural remedies to battle measles and other illness's."

Lorin Farr's son Valasco Farr married Orson Pratt Brown's half-sister Diana Fife on Feb. 24, 1881.
Diana Fife is Colonel William Nicol Fife's daughter. William is Phebe Abbott Brown Fife's second husband.
Phebe Abbott Brown Fife is Captain James Brown's widow and Orson Pratt Brown's mother.

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Sources:

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