American merchant, born in New York state on the 1st of July 1823; removed to Illinois in 1838, and held the office of county clerk of Cook County, IL, in which county Chicago is situated, eight years (1853–61). He became the head of a very prosperous wholesale dry-goods house, in which business he accumulated great wealth. He was elected to Congress in 1870, as a Republican, over John Wentworth, and was re-elected in 1872 and 1874, after which he declined re-election, but was elected again in 1880. He was elected to the United States Senate in 1887, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of General John A. Logan. His term of service expired March 3, 1891.—His brother, John Villiers Farwell, born in Steuben County, NY, on the 29th of July 1825; became a merchant in Chicago, and was Indian Commissioner under President Grant. He was a prominent supporter of the Young Men’s Christian Association, for which he built a hall in Chicago, and he was an enthusiastic supporter of the evangelist, Dwight L. Moody.
