In 1685, Major Jasper Farmar’s son, Major Samuel Farmar, remained in Ireland while the family moved to Pennsylvania. Four years later, Samuel would also immigrate to America. This is the story of his son, Samuel Farmar, Merchant of Norfolk.
In the previous blogs, we mention how Burke’s Landed Gentry states that Major Samuel Farmar’s “valuable estates in Virginia” were “lost by his children, in consequence of their adherence to the royal cause in the American war.” The following has been excerpted and edited from the book Edward Farmar and the Sons of Whitemarsh.
Major Samuel’s son Samuel, and therefore a nephew of Edward Farmar, was a merchant of Norfolk, Virginia. He married Susanna ___ and together they had two sons:
Samuel Farmar, born in 1752. Died on 21 April 1791 at the age of thirty-nine and buried at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Norfolk, Virginia.
Robert Farmar, born in 1753. Died on 16 March 1842 at the age of eighty-nine in Norfolk and buried at Cedar Grove Cemetery in Norfolk, Virginia.
An early mention of Samuel Sr. appears in 1761 to which he is paid £50 for land purchased by the Borough of Norfolk to develop the “Fort Land,” between the southwest angle of Main and Fayette Streets and Elizabeth River.[1]
And another mention in the Virginia Gazette on 07 September 1769 where Samuel is selling a chariot and wishes to form a joint venture to put his negro slaves to work.[2]
After the start of the American Revolutionary War on 19 April 1775, tensions had escalated in Virginia. The Whigs/Patriots controlled most of the Virginia Assembly and with the recruitment of a militia as early as March 1775, controlling the available weapons, ammunition, and gunpowder became a challenge for both sides of the conflict. The Virginia Governor, John Murray, the 4th Earl of Dunmore (“Lord Dunmore”), ordered his troops to remove the gunpowder from storage in Williamsburg to a Royal Navy ship, which in turn, caused an uprising with the militia. Lord Dunmore abandoned his Williamsburg residence in June 1775 and soon four warships, the Dunmore, the Liverpool, the Otter, and the Kingfisher were positioned in a threatening line along the Norfolk waterfront. At first, this was an assuring sign for a city that had strong Loyalist support from the mercantile community of merchants, clerks, and shippers who considered a war with England a path to commercial and financial ruin.
By mid-October, General Thomas Gage, under orders from Lord Dunmore, was raiding the counties in Virginia to disrupt the Whig military supplies… counties such as Montgomery and Wythe/Grayson where disruption of the lead mines was occurring in Edward’s grandson William’s neighborhood.
By the end of October, the Whigs had captured a British ship that had run aground near Hampton, Virginia as well as several sailors. Lord Dunmore reacted by issuing a proclamation on 07 November 1775 to declare martial law and promised freedom for slaves who left their owners and joined the British. 80,000 to 100,000 negro men ran from their plantations and enlisted. By 30 November 1775, Lord Dunmore was confident that he had a sizable army to “reduce this colony to a proper sense of their duty.”[3]
Soon after the British defeat at the Battle of Great Bridge, and fearing for his own safety, Lord Dunmore along with other Loyalist merchants, sought refuge on board the Fleet. One merchant was William Farrar who had arrived from England to America in 1764. On 12 December 1775, Farrar hired the Peggy to move his goods out of Norfolk. Regrettably, the Peggy was captured by an American privateer about four leagues from Bermuda, but then was recaptured by the British and brought to New York. Farrar and his family were aboard the Fleet with the Governor as attested by a letter from Lord Dunmore.
George Washington knew Lord Dunmore well, and although Dunmore was on a ship, Washington wrote a letter to Charles Lee in late December:
“if that Man is not crushed before Spring, he will become the most formidable Enemy America has…” and that “nothing less than depriving him of life or liberty will secure peace to Virginia”
By autumn 1775, Norfolk was effectively blockaded by land with the American troops, and with the small British fleet in the harbor. On 14 December 1775, Colonel Robert Howe’s North Carolina Regulators and Colonel William Woodford of the 2nd Virginia Regiment moved their 1200 men into Norfolk. After surmising the strategic positioning of the British ships and their ability to navigate and deploy their forces, Howe and Woodford recommended to the Virginia Assembly that Norfolk be abandoned and burned.
On 24 December 1775, Henry Bellew, the captain of the Liverpool, sent an ultimatum into the town, stating that he preferred to purchase provisions instead of taking them by force. Howe rejected the ultimatum, knowing full well what had happened three months earlier to Falmouth, Maine, and prepared for a bombardment. On December 30, Bellew suggested that it would “not be imprudent” for women and children to leave the town, who by the prior week had made their exodus with the majority of the 6,000 inhabitants of the city. Howe refused to withdraw his men, telling Bellew…
“I am too much an Officer… to recede from any point which I conceive to be my duty.”[4]
Between 3pm and 4pm on 01 January 1776, the four warships with more than 100 guns opened fire on the town and into the evening. Landing parties were sent ashore to retrieve provisions and to set fire to buildings that Patriot snipers had been using as posts from which to shoot at the fleet.
The British succeeded in setting most of the waterfront ablaze. The next morning Colonel Howe reported that “the whole town will I doubt not be consum’d in a day or two”[5] and in a letter to the Virginia Assembly, Howe wrote of the events on that day:
“Between three and four o’clock, a severe cannonade began from all the shipping, under cover of which they landed small parties, and set fire to the houses on the wharves. The wind favoured their design and we believe the flames will become general…. In the confusion which they supposed would ensue, they frequently attempted to land; but this, by the bravery of our officers and men, we have hitherto prevented, with only a few men wounded on our side, and we persuade ourselves, with a good deal of loss on theirs. Their efforts and our opposition, still continue… We have stationed ourselves in such a manner as will, we believe, render everything but burning the houses ineffectual. We wait with impatience your further orders…”[6]
Colonel Howe’s report to the Virginia Convention omitted that the Patriot militia had targeted, looted, and burned some Loyalist properties that continued for three days. A newspaper account published by Lord Rawdon prompted some questions about the Patriots’ involvement, but many assumed that British forces were responsible for most of the damage, and no inquiries were made in the immediate aftermath. It was not until 1777 that the full extent of Patriot participation in the burning was acknowledged. Damage to the town by the Patriot forces significantly exceeded that done by the British, destroying 863 buildings valued at £120,000. In comparison, the British bombardment destroyed only nineteen properties worth £3,000.
By the time order was restored, much of Norfolk had been destroyed, but Howe repeated the recommendation that the entire town be annihilated. The Assembly approved Howe’s plan, and by February 6 the remaining 416 structures were destroyed. The Patriot forces withdrew from Norfolk to other nearby posts. They were organized three months later in March 1776 under the command of General Charles Lee to evict Lord Dunmore from a camp he had established near Portsmouth. Lord Dunmore finally abandoned Virginia in August 1776.
William Farrar filed claims for losses that amounted to “the loss of land, negroes, household goods, and houses at Norfolk, valued at £4,572.” His claim was reviewed on 08 October 1777 by a commission of the Virginia House of Delegates, where he was eventually allowed £100. Farrar would submit another claim in 1778 requesting an increase in compensation.[7]
The day after Farrar’s 1777 review, Samuel had his claim reviewed.[8] The Schedule of Claims has Samuel’s losses at five houses valued at £768 destroyed by “State troops” before January 15 with P. Watlington and J. Bishop providing proof of loss.[9]
Another claim was sent on 15 May 1778 from “Samuel Farmar, merchant, late of Norfolk, Virginia, for the loss of 300 acres, a house, goods, furniture and debts, which were not valued.”[10] On 07 November 1778, “Agreeable to an Act of Assembly for Sequestering British property,” Thomas Newton, Esq. was appointed Commissioner for the Estates of Samuel Farmar and twenty-eight other persons, presumably those listed in the October 1777 review.[11]
In addition, after Samuel Sr.’s death on 13 May 1780 in Bermuda, his widowed wife Susanna submitted a claim for losses on 16 June 1781, producing several letters, including those from Lieutenant Governor George Bruere of Bermuda, of which are included in the book.
The petitions by Samuel Farmar Sr., Susanna Farmar, and their son Samuel Jr. appeared to have no effect. In a letter dated 04 March 1782 to Colonel William Davies from Thomas Newton, Jr…[12]
“Dear Sir
I shall be much obliged if you’d send me down half a doz’n Commissions for this Borough. We have now near fifty men & expect soon to have enough to have two Companies. Don’t forget to have the Escheated lands of this place inquired into, the Caveats enter’d against the Sales are frivolous & ought to be set aside. There is considerable property to be sold yet vizt: Boners’, Farmars’, & Doct Campbell’s & some others.
I amd Dr. Sir,
Yrs: respectfully.”
On 17 May 1786, there were additional hearings regarding Loyalist claims, including Samuel Jr.’s in which several letters describe the Farmar family’s escape from Norfolk aboard the Fleet with Lord Dunmore to Bermuda, the valued loss of property and slaves of both Samuel and Robert, and description of property which has not sold yet.
In a letter dated 26 June 1788, Susanna’s sister-in-law, Elizabeth (Halroyd) Farmar, wrote to her husband Dr. Richard Farmar’s cousin, Hugh Hovell Farmer, Esq. of Dunsinane, County Wexford, Ireland,[13] that…
“There is in Virginia a nephew of Mr. Farmer’s, his eldest brother’s son. His father died in Bermuda, and there is a farm in County Cork (Ireland) upon lease for three lives. Mr. Farmar is the last, but his nephew is heir as eldest son of the eldest son. The troublesome time in America has been the reason it has not been looked after before, and as they were of the Tory party, he could not come here for some time. If you can be of service to him in certifying the identity of Mr. Farmar being one of the three brothers, it may be of service. The Americans, on his joining Lord Dunmore, seized and destroyed all they had in Virginia.”[14]
Remarkably, even with the loss of land, estate, and income, Susanna and her sons Robert and Samuel not only continue to return and reside in Norfolk, but help it rebuild. By the end of 1783, not more than twelve houses had been rebuilt. By the end of 1796, 700 to 800 houses had been built. In February 1788, the first organized fire department was established by an act of the Assembly, in which the charter members included both Robert and Samuel, as well as three other original subscribers to the Fort Land Project of 1761.[15]
Samuel Jr. died on 21 April 1791. His mother Susanna died 20 September 1807 and was buried at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Norfolk, Virginia forty-one yards from her son.[16] The church, having survived the city’s destruction during the American Revolutionary War and the American Civil War, still has a British cannonball lodged in its wall.
Robert Farmar is listed in the 1801 City Directory as a “commission merchant” with his store at 24 Main Street.[17] The directory also has his residence at No. 22 Bank Street, a road that Robert laid out in 1796 and originally called “Farmer’s Lane” from 1797 to 1800. In 1805, Robert deeded the road to the borough described as “an 18-foot strip of land running from Main Street near the Market House to a bridge across the Back Street to Catharine Street.”[18] In 1821, Robert is renting a new three-story brick storefront on Bank Street.
Robert lived to be eighty-nine when he died on 16 March 1842. His will, dated 24 March 1838, bequeaths most of his estate to his friends George and Mary Wilson of Nansemond County, Virginia, late of the Isle of Wight. The full last will and testament has been included in the book.
Robert Farmar was buried at Cedar Grove Cemetery in Norfolk, Virginia. In 2018, The Norfolk Society for Cemetery Conservation restored the table top to his tomb with a new marker that reads:
“Sacred To The Memory of Robert Farmar, Son of Samuel & Susanna Farmar, A native of the Borough of Norfolk, Virginia, Born 1753, Died here in the Borough of Norfolk, Virginia, March 16, 1842, A man upright in his conducts, Greatly esteemed by all who know him, And died much lamented.“[19]
Philip Farmer is the author and publisher of “Edward Farmar and the Sons of Whitemarsh,” a 500-page, 155-year biographical history of the Farmer family’s immigration from Ireland into Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, and Harlan County, Kentucky. Complete with bibliography and footnotes that supports the research.
“Very well written and researched…” Ms. L. King
“I love your work… Very interesting!” Ms. B. H. Baker
“Amazing research!“ Ms. J. Shipley
“Wonderfully researched, well written… recommend it even if you’re not related to the Farmar’s…” Mr. D. Roark
[1] Whichard, The History of Lower Tidewater Virginia, p.397.
[2] Virginia Gazette, 07 September 1769, p.4.
[3] Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation, 07 November 1775.
[4] Letter from Robert Howe to Henry Bellew, 30 December 1775.
[5] Letter from Robert Howe to the President of the Convention in Williamsburg, 02 January 1776.
[6] Letter from Robert Howe and William Woodford to the Virginia Convention, dated 10 o’clock pm, 01 January 1776.
[7] “Loyalist Claims, Series II – Virginia, Claims,” p.3.
[8] Journal and Reports of the Commissioners Appointed by the Act of 1777, p.7
[9] The schedule states “before January 15, 1775.” As the Burning of Norfolk occurred in January 1776, the dates within the schedule are in error.
[10] “Loyalist Claims, Series II – Virginia, Claims,” p.3.
[11] Cook, “Farmar of Ardevalaine,” p.108.
[12] Thomas Newton (21 November 1768 – 05 August 1847), a prominent politician who at the time of the letter was commissioned by the Governor of Virginia as judge of the court of Oyer and Terminer (“hear and determine”). His role was to inquire into all treasons, felonies, and misdemeanors and determine the outcome according to law.
[13] Hugh Hovell Farmar, son of Dr. Hovell Farmar (1701-1758) of Mount Hovell, County Cork and Katherine Dorothea, eldest daughter of Christopher Russell, Esq. Dr. Hovell Farmar was the son of Robert Farmar, Esq. (1677-1743) of Fergus, County Cork and Grace Hovell, daughter of William Hovell, Esq. of Mount Hovell. Robert Farmar was the son of Richard Farmar. Hugh Hovell Farmer was therefore first cousins-twice removed with Dr. Richard Farmar (Burke, A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland (1858), p.368-369).
[14] Cook, “The Farmars of Ardevalaine,” p.108. Original citation Eliza Farmar Letter Book, 1774-1719, MS, Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
[15] Whichard, History of Lower Tidewater Virginia, p.430.
[16] McPhillips, “St. Paul’s Churchyard.”
[17] Jordan, “Norfolk Directory 1801,” p.15.
[18] Whichard, The History of Lower Tidewater Virginia, p.428.
[19] “Norfolk Society for Cemetery Conservation,” Facebook.