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OHIO GENEALOGY EXPRESS A Part of Genealogy Express   WELCOME to COLUMBIANA COUNTY, OHIO History & Genealogy   BIOGRAPHIES BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX Source: Mack, Horace - History of Columbiana County, Ohio  : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers. Philadelphia: D. W. Ensign & Co., 1879 (Transcribed by Sharon Wick) A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z < CLICK HERE to RETURN to 1879 BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX > < CLICK HERE to GO to LIST of BIOGRAPHICAL INDEXES > JAMES FARMER is a native of Georgia, having been born near Augusta, on the 19th of July, 1802.  During the early part of the seventeenth century his ancestors came from England, where they have honorable mention since the days of Henry VII., and especially so during the time of Charles II.  His grandfather took an active part in the stirring times of the Revolution, participating in the various battles that were fought in Georgia and the Carolinas.  His father, on account of slavery, decided to leave the South, and removed, in 1805, to the newly-admitted State of Ohio, settling upon a tract of land in Columbiana County, where he remained until the fall of 1818, when he removed to what is now known as Salineville, in the same county.  Here young Farmer grew to manhood, availing himself of such opportunities as then existed for acquiring an education while devoting a large share of his time to assisting on the farm and siding in the manufacture of salt, which his father had commenced in 1824.  At the age of twenty-two he leased his father's salt-works, and having so enlarged them as to make a more profitable business, devoted himself for years to this industry.  In 1828, however, he concluded to extend his business enterprises, and so crossed the mountains to Philadelphia, and purchased a stock of goods suitable to the demands of a new country, and this laid the foundation of a mercantile business which he continued for nearly thirty years.  In 1834, Mr. Farmer was married to Miss Meribah Butler, a young lady of English parentage how had, with her parents, previously removed to Ohio from Philadelphia.  In 1838 he built what was for those times a large flouring mill, thus increasing his business by purchasing wheat and manufacturing it into flour, which he shipped to the cities of New York, Philadelphia, Boston and New Orleans.  In pursuance of this business, therefore, Mr. Farmer had occasion to travel very considerably, which brought him into contact with the larger commercial interests of the country, and into business relations with a large circle of wealthy and influential business men.  Before the era of railways in Ohio, when the great commercial business was transacted entirely by water, Mr. Farmer, in 1844, built a fine steamer for the profitable traffic at that time carried on upon the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, and employed it for some years in the trade between Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and New Orleans.  In the year 1846 he, with his usual enterprise, was foremost in securing a charter for a railroad from the Ohio River to Lake Erie, and entered with determination upon the building of the same.  The Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad thus came into existence.  Mr. Farmer was made president of the company, devoting his time, energy, and money to the enterprise, and under his able management the road was completed from Cleveland to the Ohio River in about five years.  This road opened up a large tract of mineral wealth, and gave a great stimulus to Cleveland, especially to the coal trade of that lake city.  In 1856, Mr. Farmer removed with his family to the Forest City and engaged in the coal trade, having mines of his own which he has worked successfully for the past twenty years.  Since arriving in Cleveland he has identified himself with the manufacture of iron, and the banking interests in the city.  In 1858, Mr. Farmer was again called to the presidency of the Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad Company, and in order to facilitate its management the superintendency was also assigned him, and it was thus mainly through his wise and economical administration of the company's affairs that the road was kept from falling into the hands of its bondholders, - a fate that befell many corporations after the disastrous financial crash of 1857.  In 1859, Mr. Farmer, feeling that the company he had served was again upon a safe footing, retired to the management of his private business, yet still remained a member of the board of directors for some years longer, when he resigned entirely, having served the company in all nearly twenty years.  Although devoting himself to his own business interests, Mr. Farmer ever kept those of Cleveland in view, and, as he was convinced that the city's greatness was founded upon its manufacturing interests, determined upon a new railway line to the nearest coal-fields.  Thus in 1870 he began, through the press and otherwise, the agitation of the subject as one of vital importance to the future prosperity of the city.  In 1871 a company was organized, known as the Valley Railway Company, whose object was to build a road, by way of Akron and Canton, into the very heart of the great coal and iron fields of Ohio. Mr. Farmer was chosen president of the company, and the work of construction began in the spring of 1873, but, owing to the great financial crash in the fall of that year, work was suspended, the company's affairs being kept in such trim, however, that in 1878 the first rails were laid and machinery put on, so that at the present time the road is nearly completed to Canton, a distance of sixty miles, and its entire success fully assured.  Mr. Farmer has thus been the organized of the two railways that give to Cleveland her commercial importance so far as great mineral and manufacturing interests, founded upon an inexhaustible and cheap coal supply, contribute to that end.  Mr. Farmer is now seventy-seven years of age, but is still hale and hearty, has the companionship of his wife and five children, and, with his children's children around him, still looks forward to years of useful life.  He is an honored member of the Society of Friends; has never sought political honor, but gone quietly forth in the business walks of life, devoting his time and energy towards enterprises for the public good, believing that a man has higher duties in life than the simple acquisition of wealth; that he who lives to benefit mankind has ennobled his own soul, and may well rest when life's labor is done.  He possesses a well-balanced mind, maturing all his plans by careful consideration; has a calm judgment; is serene in disposition, and charitable to the failings of others.  He is genial as a friend, kind and indulgent as a husband and father, and is generally esteemed, respected, and beloved.  With a mechanical turn of mind, he is a close observer of both men and things in the world around, and may be said to be wholly the architect of his own fortunes.  He possesses a strong will, that has carried him over all obstacles.  In his business enterprises he has lived to see his efforts for the public good crowned with success, and is entitled to enjoy the honorable old age that is his. Source:  History of Columbiana County, Ohio  - Philadelphia: D. W. Ensign & Co., 1879 - Page  265   CLICK HERE to RETURN to COLUMBIANA COUNTY, OHIO INDEX PAGE CLICK HERE to RETURN to OHIO GENEALOGY EXPRESS INDEX PAGE FREE GENEALOGY RESEARCH is My MISSION GENEALOGY EXPRESS This Webpage has been created by Sharon Wick exclusively for Ohio Genealogy Express  ©2008 Submitters retain all copyrights