It sprang out from the middle of endless fields and rolling hills, at the cross section of three creeks. And it all started when Bolin Farr decided to stop here and settle – calling the town Three Forks after those three crossecting creeks. A real stretch on the name, huh?

And Farr you say?  As in the Farr cemetary where I ended up stumbling on to these interesting old graves this last weekend…

Well, amongst the graves I told you I found a Dr. Henry Jacob Webb and his young son Eddie, who died tragically young at 16.

The good doctor passed away before he was fifty. But from what I’ve pieced together, it was a full life indeed that was full of many triumphs and several tragedies. He grew up in Wisconsin, enlisted in the Navy and was awarded several awards for his valient service and medical skills that saved so many lives. After the Civil War was concluded, he married his wife Joanna Angeline Farr….

Farr you say again? Yes!

As it turns out – Joanna and Bolin are brother and sister! They grew up in Missouri where Joanna and the good Dr. Webb met and married. They decided to settle in Pullman a few years after Bolin founded the town making Dr. Webb the first doctor of the Three Forks (aka Pullman).  And not only that, but he was the president of Pullman’s first bank, and owner of the drugstore. Busy Busy Man!

The Webbs lived to have six kids, four of which died all very young (infancy, 16, and two others at 23).
Their surviving daughter and son lived until ripe old ages. Eddie – the youngest son who died only a few months after his dad, was stricken with typhoid and passed away.  All, except the surviving son and Joanna are buried at the Farr cemetery in Pullman, though most in unmarked graves.

A couple other Farr’s moved to the Palouse area after original Farr’s and Webb’s and are buried in Albion.

And as for Isaac C. Newton of Hull, Yorkshire England…

He lived in Pullman, becoming the first city clerk, and then the first city attorney. And to finish off his life, he was the commissioner of the board of education. Isaac lived a modest life, with no mention of his marrying. His days ended in the town he adopted as his own.

There is so much to learn about these people and I only continue to wonder about the full and exciting lives these pioneers led. I’ve realized that when you take the time to explore, you’ll learn more than you ever could if you just sat still.