On 25 July. 1866, congress created the grade of admiral, before unknown in the U. S. navy, and the rank was given to Farragut. The next year he was assigned to the European squadron, hoisted his flag on the “Franklin,” and made along cruise in European waters. By special permission of the president, Mrs. Farragut and her cousin, Mrs. Pennock, wife of his fleet captain, Alexander M. Pennock, accompanied them. They visited the principal European capitals, and were everywhere received with the highest honors. One of the most interesting incidents of the cruise was a visit to the island of Minorca, the home of Farragut's ancestors, where the whole population turned out to welcome him. In the summer of 1869 the admiral and Mrs. Farragut visited Vallejo, Cal. His last official duty was to take charge of the naval obsequies of George Peabody, when the remains arrived at Portland, Me., in January, 1870. The next summer he spent in Portsmouth, N. H., the guest of Rear-Admiral Pennock. An old sailor, who had charge of the dismantled sloop-of-war “Dale,” lying in the harbor, says that one day the admiral wandered on board, and on stepping ashore again remarked: “That is the last time I shall ever tread the deck of a man-of-war.” The foreboding proved true, and not long afterward he quietly passed away. The remains were conveyed to New York, and, after a public funeral, were finally deposited in Woodlawn cemetery.
Admiral Farragut had a strongly religious nature, believing in the constant guidance of Divine Providence. At the time of his death he was a communicant of the Protestant Episcopal church. He is one of the few great heroes of the world whose character has never been clouded by the slightest suspicion of a want of honesty or personal purity. Many entertaining anecdotes are told of him. When we consider the novel and complicated problems that confronted him in naval warfare, and the providential manner in which he seemed to have been schooled for them through a long life when we remember how other commanders merely fought line against line in simple though courageous fashion, while he contended with casemated forts, fire-rafts, fleets, and hidden torpedoes, all at once, and conquered them all, we can hardly refuse to pronounce him the greatest naval commander the world has ever seen.
There is a colossal bronze statue of the admiral in Farragut square, Washington, executed by Vinnie Ream, and paid for by a congressional appropriation. There is one of heroic size in Madison square, New York, executed by Augustus St. Gaudens, paid for by a subscription raised among the citizens. In the chancel of the Church of the Incarnation, New York, is a mural tablet containing a bas-relief likeness by Lannt Thompson. William Page's original picture of “Farragut's Entry into Mobile Bay” is now in the possession of the emperor of Russia; a replica is still owned by Mr. Page's family. (See illustration on page 417.) The admiral's son, Loyall Farragut, has written his life, which includes his journals and many of his letters (New York, 1879). See also James E. Montgomery's “Cruise of the Franklin” (1869) and “Admiral Farragut,” by Capt. Alfred T. Mahan, U. S. N., Great Commanders Series (1892).
FARRAR, John, educator, b. in Lincoln, Mass.,
1 July, 1779; d. in Cambridge, Mass., 8 May, 1853.
He was graduated at Harvard in 1803, studied
theology at Andover, and in 1805 was appointed Greek
tutor at Harvard. He was chosen Hollis professor
of mathematics and natural philosophy in the same
institution in 1807, and retained the chair till 1836,
when he resigned in consequence of a painful
illness that finally caused his death. He published
for the use of his pupils a translation of Lacroix's
“Elements of Algebra” (1818), which he followed
by selections from Legendre, Biot, Bezant, and
others. These works were at once adopted as
text-books by Harvard, the U. S. military academy, and
other institutions. He was a contributor to scientific
journals, to the “North American Review,”
and to the “Memoirs” of the American academy.
— His wife, Eliza Ware, author, b. in Flanders,
Europe, in 1791; d. in Springfield, Mass., 22 April,
1870, was the daughter of Benjamin Rotch, of New
Bedford, Mass. She was educated in England,
lived there until 1819, and in 1828 became the second
wife of Prof. Farrar. She wrote “Children's
Robinson Crusoe”; “The Story of Lafayette”;
“The Life of Howard”; “Youth's Love-Letters”;
“Young Lady's Friend” (1837); “Congo in Search
of his Master” (New York, 1854); and “Recollections
of Seventy Years” (Boston, 1865).
FARRAR, Samuel, lawyer, b. in Lincoln, Mass.,
in 1784; d. in Andover, Mass., 13 May, 1864. He
was graduated at Harvard in 1797, and was tutor
there in 1800. He then studied law, and soon
afterward began practice in Andover. He was one
of the chief founders of the Andover theological
seminary, and for thirty-eight years was treasurer
of that institution and of Phillips academy, devoting
a large share of his salary to their support.
He was the first president of the Andover bank,
and held the office thirty years.
FARRAR, Thomas Charles, artist, b. in London,
16 Dec., 1838; d. there, 16 June, 1891. He
learned drawing in a free school established in
London by Ruskin, and came to New York in 1858,
attained success as an instructor in his art, served
in the Union army during the civil war, and in
1869 returned to London. Among his works
exhibited at the National academy in New York
were “Field-Lily” and “Twilight on the Hudson” (1867); “Beach at Hastings” and “English Farm” (1871); “Caernarvon Castle, Wales” and “Interior of St. Mark's, Venice” (1872); “Sunset” (1875); “Yorkshire Trout Stream,” “Coming through the Lock,” and “Rochester Castle” (1878). He has also contributed paintings to the exhibitions of the Royal academy in London. — His brother, Henry, artist, b. in London, England, 23 March, 1843. In 1863 he came to New York, where he first gained
distinction for his water-colors, and afterward took
high rank as a landscape painter. He is a member
of the New York etching club and of the American
society of painters in water-colors. His principal
works are “On the East River”; “A Hot Day”;
“A Calm Afternoon”; “Sunset, Coast of Maine”; “The Silent Tongue”; “The Old Homestead at Twilight”; and a “November Day.” He contributed to the Centennial exhibition at Philadelphia
