Politicians today are accused of flip-flopping, but Dr. William H. Farner fit the bill. He jumped careers and political parties with ease.
He first practiced medicine and was active in the Liberty Party (later Free Soil Party) in Wisconsin in 1848. Farner moved his family to Lee County, Iowa, and practiced medicine.
In 1856, he left medicine to edit a Democratic paper, The Statesman. He also served on the Democratic State Central Committee.
The next year, Farner rejoined the Free Soil Party, moved to Polk County, and co-edited a “Free Soil” Republican paper, The Iowa Citizen. He gave speeches across Iowa for John Fremont, the presidential candidate of the brand-new Republican Party.
Appearance
Co-editor J.M. Dixon described Farner as short with a large mouth, sunken cheeks, and thin lips. Farner’s clothes, wrote Dixon, “were of the most slovenly and dirty character.”
Dixon continued:
[Farner] was a prodigious consumer of whisky. He drank early in the morning, and drank often [throughout the day] … [He drank] until every other man was under the table; and yet this little fellow … was never known to be unsteady in his gait …
He was a fine speaker … [with] a bold, dashing, impromptu style, always supported by a native impudence … He was the most remarkably sober drunkard.
Family life
Dixon continued:
When on the street, he was always seen with three or four hunting dogs at his heels, for which he provided more liberally than for his six children and his patient, broken-hearted wife, who were suffering in a dreary shanty.
The Iowa Citizen changed owners, so Farner jumped to the Democratic Iowa State Journal.
By 1860, Farner’s family was back to Wisconsin, and he worked as a doctor in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
New life in Denver
Three months later, he took a load of pharmaceutical drugs to Denver. He was elected to the Denver City Council in April 1861, just before Fort Sumter.
Farner had a large medical practice among the 1st Colorado Infantry. This unit was formed to defend the territory against Rebels in the wake of Bull Run. The doctor was “a successful practitioner” among the soldiers.
When the regiment left Colorado en route to New Mexico (to fight Confederate General Sibley), they impressed vehicles and livestock. Farner exposed their misdeeds in a letter to the editor of The Rocky Mountain News. The soldiers were furious.
Farner quickly packed his bags and headed – where else? – to Texas to join Sibley’s Confederate forces. One Colorado soldier hoped that Farner would be hanged “… to purify the atmosphere from the taint of secession …”
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Thanks for reading my blog! I plan to post Part 2 on Tuesday, April 12. Please leave any comments below.
Ray Wetherell
29 Mar 2016Great article.
David Connon
29 Mar 2016Hi, Ray. Thank you!
Sarah Kay Bierle
29 Mar 2016Hmm…Farner certainly seemed to enjoy career changes. I’m not sure if I’d trust his medical skills, even in the 19th Century. Looking forward to Part 2, and would love to hear more about the 1st CO Volunteers.
David Connon
29 Mar 2016Hi, Sarah.
Thanks for reading my blog! You may be right about Farner enjoying career changes. Unfortunately, I don’t know anything else about the 1st CO Volunteers. Regarding Part 2, there might be a surprise or two.
Charles K Connon
30 Mar 2016I am wondering about his poor wife and family! How did they survived all these career changes!
David Connon
30 Mar 2016Hi, Dad.
You asked a very good question. I can only guess how they survived. Farner’s wife eventually took their children and returned to Wisconsin where her father (also a physician) lived. Sometime later, she and Farner apparently divorced.
Kathleen Parsons
30 Mar 2016Thanks for your re-telling of Dr. Farner’s story. Like Sarah and Charles, I find the career changes (and the well-kept dogs versus his own family) exasperating. It is little wonder that Farner’s wife divorced him. I also look forward to Part 2 … as if Part 1 were not enough!
David Connon
30 Mar 2016Hi, Kathy.
I agree that Dr. Farner’s behavior toward his family was exasperating. Thanks for reading my blog!
Kathy Roso
30 Mar 2016Even though he’s one of my ancestors, I can’t say anything in defense of him, I’m afraid. What an opportunist! Thanks for writing this, by the way. Fascinating stuff, a lot of which I hadn’t heard before. Can’t wait to read the next part.
David Connon
30 Mar 2016Hi, Kathy. Thanks for joining the conversation. I also find Dr. Farner to be fascinating. In the next post, the plot will thicken a bit.
Vance
8 Apr 2016Thanks David. It is always good to read good Family History Blogs.
David Connon
8 Apr 2016Hi, Vance.
Thank you for your kind feedback. I’m fascinated by Dr. Farner.
Matthew Harris
19 Apr 2016Thanks David, very interesting. I am a member of the Son’s of the Confederacy. I enjoy reading all I can. My Father is a lifelong study and is finishing a book chronicling the history of Gloucester, Virginia. He is also a member and once Commissioner of the NSSA and my Mother is the President of her Chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy. It is great to see others with passion for the true history behind the war between the state’s. We must continue to do this and learn the facts and not let history slowly become fiction. Thank you.
David Connon
20 Apr 2016Hi, Matthew.
Thanks for reading my blog! I appreciate your statement that we must “not let history slowly become fiction.” Well said!
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David Connon
25 Jul 2016Hi, dancome. Thank you for your kind comment.