California Biographies

Transcribed by Peggy Hooper

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives 
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm

Source:
History of the state of California and biographical record of the San Joaquin 
Valley, California. An historical story of the state's marvelous growth from 
its earliest settlement to the present time.
Prof. James Miller Guinn , A. M.
The Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago 1905
Notes: Missing Page: 865-866,983-984,1175-1176


ROBERT WEST McFARLAND. Selfmade, in the best sense implied by the term, Robert 
West McFarland enjoys to an unusual degree the confidence and esteem of all who have 
come to know him. Both as a farmer and in his active participation in public affairs in 
Tulare county, Mr. McFarland has shown himself to be possessed of unusual ability, energy 
and foresight, and with a personality which wins him friends wherever he goes he has made 
a success in his life work. In 1900 he located on his present property, eight miles east of 
Portersville, the thousand acres of land in this tract belonging to his wife and daughter. 

Born in Macoupin county. Ill., June 3. 1837, Mr. McFarland is a son of James McFarland, 
who was born in Christian county, Ky., May 25, 1810. In 1835 the elder man removed to Macou- 
pin county, III, and there engaged as a merchant for a time, and later conducted a drovers' mar- 
ket. He was located in this work at St. Louis and finally he went to Henry county, Mo., and 
engaged in farming and stock-raising. In Jasper county, where he afterward removed, he fol- 
lowed the same occupation. Upon the breaking out of the Civil war he enlisted in a Kansas troop 
and after the close of hostilities resumed his peaceful life in Jasper county. He had become a 
prominent man in the county, however, and in 1865 was elected to the state legislature on the 
Republican ticket, having gone into the war a Democrat and come out a Republican. Until 
his death he remained active in this party, and was also active in the Grand Army of the Re- 
public. His death occurred in Jasper county at the age of eighty-seven years. Previous to his 
enlistment for service in the Civil war, Mr. McFarland had been attacked by bushwhackers and 
hung, but was cut down, after which he immediately entered the army under General Blunt. 
He was the descendant of an old southern family, his grandfather, James, of North Carolina, 
having served in the Revolutionary war, entering at the age of seventeen years, and serving 
until the close of hostilities, after which he removed to Kentucky and died in that state. His 
father, Robert, was a native of Halifax county, Va., in manhood becoming a resident of Ken- 
tucky, where he also died. James McFarland married in manhood Sarah E. Maze, a native of 
Tennessee, who died in Missouri. They were the parents of three children, of whom Robert 
West McFarland was the oldest. 

Mr. McFarland was educated in the primitive schools of Missouri, and began farming in Jas- 
per county in young manhood. He bought land and continued his operations there until 1860, 
when he located in Henry county. There he farmed until 1879, after which he engaged in a 
mercantile enterprise for ten years. He became active in public affairs, taking a prominent 
part in the township organization of the county and holding many offices of trust and respon- 
sibility. Deciding to locate in the more remote west he came to California in 1889, settling in 
Portersville, where he engaged as a merchant until 1899. He then closed out his business and 
the following year removed to his present location, where he is engaged in carrying on farming 
operations. 

In Missouri Mr. McFarland married Sarah E. Dunning, a native of Henry county, Mo., and 
a daughter of Shadrach and Adah (Morris) Dunning, the former a native of Kentucky, and 
the latter of North Carolina, but reared and married in Kentucky. They died in Henry coun- 
ty, Mo. Mr. and Mrs. McFarland have five living children, namely: J. A. S., located on the 
home ranch ; Ada B., at home ; Martha, the wife of O. L. Brough. of Portersville ; and Chester 
A. and Archie A., both at home. One son, John H., died at the age of twenty-nine years. He 
was associated with his father in the mercantile business at Portersville. Politically Mr. McFar- 
land was a stanch adherent of the principles advocated in the platform of the Democratic party, 
but was a member of the Populist party from 1892 to 1896. He has always taken an active in- 
terest in public affairs, and in 1900 was elected supervisor of District No. 1, by the Democratic 
party, and re-elected by a large majority in 1904. Fraternally he is a member of Portersville Lodge 
No. 303, F. & A. M., and also belongs to the Order of the Eastern Star.