Deacon Samuel Farrar was a senior and respected member of the Lincoln community, and I suppose you could say, he was one of the local organizers of the first stages of the colonial resistance. He also fought in its first battle, at the tender age of 66.
There isn’t a huge amount written about him, and some of what I have found is copyrighted, but I can pass along this.
[A quick note to say that he also had a son, whose name was Samuel, who fought in the Revolution, and who eventually became a Deacon creating ample room for confusion about who did what. Consequently, I’ve used the term ‘The Father’ in the title of this post, and I’ll use “The Son” in the one to follow. Elsewhere, I’ve gone with the suffixes Sr. and Jr. though the men themselves did not. Lastly, the writers from the mid-1800s typically refer to the older man as Deacon Samuel Farrar, and the younger man as Captain Samuel Farrar. FWIW. –LSL]
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from Memoir of the Farrar Family, by Farrar, Timothy, 1788-1874. Publ. 1853 [Lightly edited for clarity.–LSL]
FARRAR FAMILY
Samuel Farrar, 4 the fourth and youngest son of George, 3 born Sept. 28, 1708, settled on the central or homestead portion of his father’s farm, married Jan. 13, 1731-2, Lydia Barrett, daughter of Capt. Benjamin Barrett, born Aug. 2, 1712. He was deacon of the church ae. 75, she died June 1802, ae. 89. Children: 1. Lydia, born Sept. 2, 1735, married William Bond, March 6, 1755; 2. Samuel, 5 born Feb. 14, 1737, married Mercy Hoar ; 3. Stephen, 5 born Sept. 8, 1738,______, graduated Harvard 1755 ; 4. James, born July 24, 1741, died at New Ipswich, July 11, 1767; 5. Rebecca, born Aug. 13, 1743, married Dr. John Preston, Nov. 29, 1764 — [see Hist. New Ipswich, and post, pp. 18, 19 :] — 6. Lucy,5 born April 27, 1745, married Humphrey Farrar, 5 ; 7. Timothy,5 born June 28, 1747, graduated Harvard 1767; 8. Mary, born July 5, 1754, died Sept. 2, 1756. For some particulars of the life and character of Dea. Samuel,* see Shattuck’s Hist. of Concord, and Hist, of New Ipswich, p. 358; also post, pp. 15. 16…
…Conspicuous among the early, though not among the first settlers of New Ipswich, were four members of this family.
…Dea. Samuel Farrar 4…was born Sept. 28, 1708, the youngest son of George 3 , who first settled in that place in 1692, and great-grand-son of Jacob 1 , who was one of the original proprietors of Lancaster, Mass., in 1653.
…he lived and died on his father’s farm in Lincoln, where his descendants still live…
…He married, Jan. 13, 1731-2, Lydia. daughter of Capt. Benjamin Barrett, and grand-daughter of James Minot, Esq., ” who was one of the most distinguished men of his day in Concord.” She was born Aug. 2, 1712, and died in June, 1802, in her 90th year. He was much interested in public affairs, frequently serving his town as Selectman, Town Clerk, Representative, &c., and was a patriot of great zeal, steadiness and perseverance. He was Selectman of Concord in 1754, when Lincoln was set off, and afterwards for many years Town Clerk and Representative of the new town.
In Nov. 1773, he was Chairman of the first Committee of Correspondence, and afterwards a member of the great Middlesex Convention of Aug. 30, 1774, which led off in the Revolution, by Resolving, among other things of similar import,
“That it is our opinion these late acts [of the British Parliament.] if quietly submitted to, will annihilate the last vestige of liberty in this Province, and therefore we must be justified, by God and the world, in never submitting to them.
He was also a member of the first Provincial Congress, which met Oct. 11, 1774, and at the age of 66 years, took part in the first battle of the Revolution, at Concord, Apr. 19, 1775.
He died soon after the conclusion of the war, Apr. 17, 1783, in the 75th year of his age, having witnessed the establishment of the independence of his country, and endured the hardships of its acquisition, but leaving to his posterity the enjoyment of the rich inheritance of its blessings.
Kinsmen and Kinswomen 