Dr. John O’Fallon Farrar, 1823–1877

Dr. John O’Fallon Farrar, the eldest son of Dr. Bernard Gaines Farrar and Ann Clark Thruston, was born on 2 June 1823 in St. Louis. He attended Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia about 1846. After receiving his doctor’s degree, John did postgraduate study in Paris. He returned to St. Louis and practiced medicine for just two years before retiring from that profession. He was later a vice president of the North Missouri Railroad and spent much of his time managing his extensive business interests.

John and Caroline Matilda Garland were married on 3 October 1850 in St. Louis. Caroline was born in 1831 in Boydton, Mecklenburg County, Virginia. She died on 10 March 1851 at the age of twenty in St. Louis while giving birth to their son John who died the following year.

John and Sarah Morgan “Sallie” Christy were married in 1855 in St. Louis. Sallie, daughter of William Tandy Christy and Ellen Patience Morgan, was born in May 1834 in Murphysboro, Rutherford County, Tennessee. She died on 9 September 1915 at the age of eighty-one in Bay View, Kewaunee County, Wisconsin.

John died of pneumonia on 12 December 1877 at the age of fifty-four at his home at 2733 Chestnut Street in St. Louis. At his death, it was noted that “Although educated as a physician, his attention in later years was wholly occupied in the care and management of his property interests.” Dr. Farrar left a will in which he gave his entire estate, valued at $100,000, to his widow, Sallie, “knowing full well that she will provide with equal justice for all my children.” His brother, Benjamin, was appointed executor.

John O’Fallon Farrar and Sarah Morgan Christy had the following children: William Christy, Charles Thruston, Ellen Morgan, Benjamin O’Fallon, Calvin Christy, Dr. John O’Fallon, Eliza Christy, Arthur Barret, and Frank Blair Farrar.

Written by Ted Steele
February 2021

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Last Modified: 28-Oct-2021 16:34