Samuel F. Farrington Biography

This biography is from "Memorial and biographical record; an illustrated compendium of biography, containing a compendium of local biography, including biographical sketches of prominent old settlers and representative citizens of South Dakota..." Published by G. A. Ogle & Co., Chicago, 1898. Pages 356-357 Scan and OCR by Joy Fisher, 1997.

This file may be copied for non-profit purposes. All other rights reserved.

SAMUEL F. FARRINGTON. one of Day County's pioneers, and a well-to-do and prominent citizen of Bristol, is now living in partial retirement at that place, rounding out in peace and quiet a useful and well spent life. Mr. Farrington was born in Prince Edward county, Ontario, Canada, July 4, 1827. His parents were Joseph and Lucy Ann (Rorabach) Farrington, natives respectively of Canada and New York. Joseph Farrington was a farmer by occupation and spent his entire life in the land of his birth. Our subject's mother went to Canada when a child with her parents, and remained there until the time of her death.

Samuel was one of a family of nine children, five sons and four daughters, all of the others now being residents of Canada. Receiving his education in the Dominion, Samuel lived there, cultivating a farm for many years, and in 1881 came to this country, settling in Dakota. He made the trip overland from Appleton, Minnesota, to his present farm in Kidder township, Day county, with an ox team. He homesteaded land at once, and gradually added to it, until at one time he had six hundred and forty acres, and one of the finest and best-improved farms in the county. He has since disposed of much of his property, and now lives at Bristol, virtually in retirement. He deals in cattle and stock to a considerable extent, however, and is still an influential factor in political affairs about Bristol and vicinity. Mr. Farrington is a Republican in politics and has held a number of local offices, among them that of chairman of the board of township trustees of Bristol Township.

On the 30th of December 1861, Mr. Farrington married Miss Sophia Ferguson, a daughter of Israel and Rebecca Ferguson, of Canada. Mr. and Mrs. Farrington are the parents of one daughter, who is now the wife of Mr. William Rankin, a well-known businessman of Bristol, South Dakota.