Stephen Farmer of Harlan County, Kentucky. Who is he? Where did he come from? For many branching their family tree, most have hit a brick wall with these questions.
In 1782 and in 1795, we find Stephen Farmer purchasing large tracts of land in Lincoln County, Kentucky an area which will later become Knox County in 1799, and will later become Harlan County. The 1795 deed has Stephen purchasing 481.75 acres of land at forty shillings an acre, or £963,10.
But he doesn’t immediately move to Lincoln County. What we do find is that sometime prior to 1796, Stephen relocates to Hawkins County, Tennessee and resides there for about seven years. It is from Hawkins County that the Ledford’s joined the Farmer’s in their move to Kentucky, as supported by census records and the Ledford family history in John Egerton’s book, Generations: An American Family (1st ed. 1983, 2nd ed. 2003). It’s also further supported by Stephen’s grandson, Felix Gilbert Farmer, as he recounts his father William’s birth in Reverend John J. Dickey’s diary.
The evidence we have raises a lot of questions.
- The £963,10 paid by Stephen for his land in 1795 is the equivalent of $165,203 today, and that’s just for one of the tracts he buys. How does he afford this large sum of money?
- Why didn’t Stephen move to Kentucky in 1795? Why wait before moving?
- Where in Hawkins County did Stephen and his family reside?
- Where were they living prior to Tennessee?
In the 500-page book Edward Farmar and the Sons of Whitemarsh, we trace the Farmer’s arrival into Philadelphia from Ireland in 1685, to the “hornet’s nest of rebellion” in Rowan County, North Carolina, and into the New River Valley of southwestern Virginia. The book includes a biographical sketch of Stephen Farmer that provides answers to the questions above, as well as a special chapter as to why many family trees erroneously have John Farmer as his father. For those not related to Stephen Farmer, the book is not a “family tree” and the historical narrative provides insight into the westward immigration experienced by many early American families.
Philip Farmer is the 4th great grandson of Stephen Farmer and author of Edward Farmar and the Sons of Whitemarsh. He currently assists others with their genealogical brick walls.
