Hiram Warner Farnsworth

Hiram Warner Farnsworth (October 13, 1816, in Brattleboro, Vermont – July 26, 1899, in Topeka, Kansas ) was an abolitionist, Kansas pioneer, educator, Indian agent and community leader.

Early life

Hiram Warner Farnsworth (H. W.) was educated at Brattleboro, Vermont. H.W. attended Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, in 1836 and graduated in 1840. He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He taught school in Tuskegee, Alabama, from June 1840 to December 1841. a position he held until March 1855. for the Northern Railroad. On December 3, 1855, H.W. married his second wife, Harriet Ann Stoddard (born May 28, 1822).

In the 1850s H.W. participated in the public discussions of the era concerning slavery. H.W. was a Congregationalist and abolitionist. As the political turmoil increased he decided on a course of action inspired by the New England Emigrant Aid Company of Boston. This company was formed to facilitate overland treks to Kansas of Free-Stater families to help throw pre-statehood Kansas into the abolitionists camp. The New England Emigrant Aid Company was formed to help fund resettlement of abolitionist sympathizers in Kansas prior to referendums to determine if Kansas would be a slave state. Three groups sponsored by the Society set out for Kansas – the first in March 1855. H.W. didn't leave New England until March 4, 1856 H.W. was then elected on December 6, 1859, to the first Territorial Senate of Kansas prior to statehood. Joseph James (Joe Jim), a mixed-blood Kaw Indian, was an interpreter for H.W. H.W. became an Indian Commissioner June 24, 1864, by order of Abraham Lincoln who appointed "Hiram W. Farnsworth, Indian Agent a commissioner on the part of the United States and the chiefs and headmen of the Kansas Tribe of Indians." H.W. was still living with his family at the Council Grove Indian Agency June 3, 1868. On that date a skirmish of the Cheyenne with the Kaw Indians occurred. This battle was full of sound and fury but had no casualties and this was the last Indian battle in the state of Kansas. It was conducted at the Council Grove Indian Agency and other locations with some arrows even landing in the grounds of the agency — the Farnsworth family members were spectators. During his tenure there, H.W. was appointed on March 13, 1862, for six months to be Commissioner on the part of the United States to negotiate treaties with the Kansas Indian tribes. Treaties concluded at the Kansas Agency with about one hundred tribes were signed by H.W. with his signature and seal.

Due to his prominence in the Topeka area, H.W. became one of the first directors for the Atchison & Topeka Railroad on March 3, 1863. Similarly, due to his background in education, H.W. was a founder of Washburn College, incorporated February 6, 1865, from Lincoln College. H.W. served on the board of trustees

H.W.'s interpreter, Joe Jim, is credited for giving the name of Topeka to that town.

Later years in Topeka

In May 1867 H.W. moved his family back to Topeka to live in the home he had built at 401 Topeka Ave. By now his family included seven children. On May 21, 1867, citizens of Topeka voted to form the Topeka Board of Education and elected H.W. to that first board. In March 1869 H.W. was appointed postmaster of Topeka H.W. was appointed police judge of Topeka in 1874. In 1876 he was elected Secretary (clerk) of the Board of Education of Topeka which office he held until his death. In 1876 he was elected secretary of the Topeka Masonic Lodge, a position he filled for the rest of his life. The Free Public Library of Topeka was founded November 12, 1878, with H.W. as one of the founders. H.W. was a member of the Association of Old Settlers of Topeka because of his early arrival in 1856.

On January 6, 1894, Harriet died. On July 26, 1899, H.W. died at his home in Topeka.

Family

H.W. married Deborah (Della) Torrey Lerow in Boston, Massachusetts, March 17, 1842 They had 3 children: Kate Leland (1843-1930) Mary Emma "Minnie" (1845-1927) Oliver Dimon (1847-1848) Della died on June 5, 1850. H.W. married Harriet Ann Stoddard in New London, Connecticut, December 3, 1855 They had 5 children: William Seymour Epaphroditus (1856-1930) Adeline Lurena "Addie" (1858-1938) James Watson Brown (1860-1940) Coit Learned (1863-1936) Fred Colfax (1866-1945)