Edward C. FARMER,
born in Fairfield, Iowa, August 20, 1889; son of Samuel Carter and Anna Cora (CAMPBELL) FARMER.
Samuel Carter FARMER,
born in Virginia in 1852; son of Samuel Carter FARMER, Sr., who was a native of Virginia. He later became a banker in Fairfield, Iowa,
where he died. Samuel Carter FARMER moved to Iowa with his parents,
when a child. He engaged in the banking
business there, and later was an accountant and a bookkeeper. In 1885, he moved to Chicago, Illinois,
where he remained until 1906, at which time he moved to Muskegon, Michigan,
where he died in 1923. His wife, Anna
Cora (CAMPBELL) FARMER, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1855, died in 1919.
Edward C. FARMER,
attended public school in Chicago, Illinois; graduated at Muskegon (Michigan)
High School; University of Michigan Law School, LL.B., 1911. He began the practice of law in Muskegon,
Michigan and in 1912 became United States Commander of the Western District of
Michigan which office he now holds.
Since 1920, he has served as city attorney of Muskegon, Michigan. In 1918, Mr. FARMER was commissioned a 1st Lieutenant in the U.S.
Army for service in the World War. He
was stationed at Camp Upton, Long Island, and served until 1918, in the Army
Service Corps, which was composed of 100 lawyers and was formed to protect the
rights of property owners. Mr. FARMER is a Democrat, and a member of
the following: Muskegon County Club; Century Club; American Legion; White Lake Yacht
Club; Citizens Historical Association (Indianapolis, Indiana); and St. Paul’s
Episcopal Church. His hobbies are
swimming and sailing.
On November 17, 1917, Edward C. FARMER married Beatrice CAMPBELL,
who was born in North Muskegon, Michigan, daughter of John and Florence (CURSANT) CAMPBELL. Edward C. and Beatrice (CAMPBELL) FARMER are the parents of 4 children:
(1)
Edward
C., Jr., born August 20, 1918. His is a
graduate of Muskegon High School.
(2)
Samuel
Carter (III), born January 3, 1921.
(3)
John
Campbell, born February 18, 1925
(4)
Judith,
born August 26, 1932.
John CAMPBELL*,
father of Beatrice (CAMPBELL) FARMER,
was born in Ontario, Canada, July 12, 1849.
His parents, Donald and Catherine (McDonald)
CAMPBELL, were natives of Glengarry, Ontario, Canada. John CAMPBELL
received his education in Canada, and in 1886, came to the United States, and
settled in Muskegon, Michigan. He
worked as a lumberman in that vicinity, until 1911, at which time he engaged in
the lumber business. He later became a
general contractor. He held all city
offices, including mayor of North Muskegon, and was twice mayor of
Muskegon. He died in 1915. His wife, Florence CURSANT, whom he married in 1879, was born near Whitehall,
Michigan. and now resides in Muskegon.
They were the parents of 4 children; Edna, Ethel, Martha, and Beatrice.
* For further data regarding John CAMPBELL, see Charles Moore “History of
Michigan” (Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois, 1915), vol. 2, p. 916.
Source Citizens Historical Association – Indianapolis 2 B471 D20 E61 F9 June 6, 1936
Submitted by Lisa Hoffius and Bill Moore
Edward C.
FARMER has
the vitality and technical ability that make for success and consecutive
advancement in the practice of law, and his record in his profession marks him
as one of the representative member s of the bar of Muskegon county, at whose
judicial center and metropolis, the city of Muskegon, he has been engaged in
practice since 1911, save for the period of his service in the department of
the Judge Advocate General of the United States Army at Camp Upton, New York,
in 1918, where he remained with the
rank of first lieutenant until the armistice brought the World War to a close
and he was in due course accorded his honorable discharge. Mr. FARMER
was born at Fairfield, Iowa, August 20, 1889, and is a son of Samuel C. FARMER, Jr., and Anna Cora (CAMPBELL) FARMER, who established
their residence in Muskegon, Michigan, in 1905, and who here passed the
remainder of their lives, the death of the father having occurred November 22,
1923, and that of the mother on the twenty-fifth of December, 1917, the other
surviving child being a daughter, Elizabeth.
Samuel C. FARMER, Jr., was
born in the state of Virginia and his wife was born in Pennsylvania. He became prominently concerned with civic
and business interests in Muskegon, where he was an executive with the
Browne-Morse Company at the time of his death.
In the Muskegon high school Edward C. FARMER was graduated as a member of the class of 1908 and in 1911
he was graduated in the law department of the University of Michigan. After this, receiving his degree of Bachelor
of Laws, with virtually coincident admission to the Michigan bar, he returned
to Muskegon and entered the law office of Judge Stephen H. CLINK, with whom he continued to be associated in practice until
1920, he having since been engaged in practice in an individual way and having
developed a substantial and representative general law business. He served as city attorney in 1918 and in
1920 he was again called to this office, after Muskegon had adopted the
commission system of municipal government.
He has served as United States commissioner for this district continuously
since 1912. Mr. FARMER is a director of the National Lumberman’s Bank of Muskegon,
of the Home Finance Company, of the Accuralite Company, of the Muskegon
Citizens Loan and Investment Company, of the Maring Wire Company, of the last
three of which he is likewise the secretary, and he is vice-president of Holton
& Company, engaged in the automobile finance business in the city of
Detroit. His political allegiance is
given to the Democratic Party, and in his home city he is a member of the
Century club. November 17, 1917, was
marked by the marriage of Mr. FARMER
to Miss Beatrice CAMPBELL, daughter
of John and Florence CAMPBELL, her
father having been one of the prominent representatives of the lumber industry
in this section of Michigan at the time when that industry was one of major
importance here. Mr. And Mrs. FARMER have three sons, Edward C., Jr.,
Samuel C., third, and John Campbell.
Source: “History of Michigan”,
George N. Moore/ James L. Smith (1925) Vol. III, pp. 158-159
Submitted by Lisa Hoffius
and Bill Moore