Dr. G. W. Farrar
Dr. G. W. Farrar, a successful practitioner of Iron County, was born in Perry County, Mo., December 29,1830, and is the son of Miles and Agnes W. (Barnett) Farrar, native of North Carolina and Virginia, respectively. They were married in South Carolina, and immigrated to Perry County, Mo., about 1823, locating about ten miles from Perryville. There were five brothers who settled here, and the settlement was known as "Farrar and Abernathy Settlement." They were among the pioneers of that county. Mr. Farrar followed farming chiefly, but also followed boating for some time. He died in 1854, and the mother in 1850. They were the parents of thirteen children, two now living: Miles and George W. The last named was reared in Perry County, and there remained until seventeen years of age, when he came to Arcadia, Iron County, and was a member of the first class of Arcadian graduates. He was then appointed professor of the dead languages, which position he occupied for four years. In 1857 he graduated from the St. Louis Medical College, and immediately afterward began the practice of his profession at Ironton, where he still remains. In 1852 he married Miss Harriet P. Russell, a native of Connecticut. To them were born thirteen children, seven now living: William H. (of DeSoto), George W., Jr. (of Pilot Knob), Miles C. (railroad and hospital surgeon), and Francis M. (all of whom together with the two sons yet to name are graduates of the St. Louis Medical College). The other children are: Edward (now in Arkansas, in the lumber business), Theodore P. and Eudora. Dr. G. W. Farrar is classed an excellent physician, and was examining surgeon for several years after the war, but his health failing, caused him to resign and go to California, where he spent one summer. He has been a member of the Democratic executive committee for a number of years, and stands at the head as a man of ability and energy. Dr. and Mrs. Farrar are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and he has been steward of the same for twenty years. He is a member of the Southeast Missouri Medical Society, and also a member of the Masonic fraternity. He helped organize the first Sons of Temperance that was organized in Southeast Missouri. He has always been temperate, and an abhorrer of whisky and tobacco. He is one of the principal men to support the building of the large college at Arcadia, which is at present occupied by the Sisters. He was school commissioner for one term, and assisted in organizing the county public schools.