GARLAND R. FARMER

 The following bio was taken from page 196 of the book entitled “Rusk County History” compiled and edited and used with permission of the Rusk County Historical Commission.

Transcribed by Shirley Koym

Submitted by Gloria Briley Mayfield, Rusk County TX Coordinator

 Garland R. farmer, Sr., son of Mr. And Mrs. Thomas C. Farmer, was born August 8, 1897 on a Falls County farm.  He was a graduate of Durango High School and attended Bedicheck Academy in Eddy and Business College in Waco.  He entered postal service in Marlin, Texas; volunteered for the 36^th Division in World War I; and after being discharged, reentered postal service in Houston, transferring to Henderson as Assistant Postmaster in January 1920.  In 1927 he bought the “Henderson Times” and published it until his death in 1956. 

 Garland Farmer was active in church, civic and political affairs.  He was an elder in the First Presbyterian Church; helped organize the Chamber of Commerce and was its first manager; was instrumental in establishing rural electrification (REA) in Rusk County; was an active officeholder in Lions Club, Masonic Order, Knights of Pythias, and American Legion; and served with the War Labor Board in Dallas during World War II.  He was elected Chairman of the Rusk County Democratic Party, but was an unsuccessful candidate for the U. S .House of Representatives in the late 1930’s.

 Much of Garland Farmer’s “spare time” was spent as a free-lance writer and as Chairman of the Southern Council of Research, attempting to establish a branch of the Library of Congress in Henderson to microfilm weekly newspapers throughout the nation.  His major literary achievement was the authorship and publication of “The Realm of Rusk County.”

 On May 15, 1921, Garland Farmer married Sarah Agnes Langhorne, and they had four sons, all graduates of Kilgore Junior College and The University of Texas.

 Garland R., Jr., (born March 3, 1922) married Helen (Ann) Colvin.  They have two children, Kathleen Hargrave Farmer and Garland Langhorne (Lang) Farmer. 

 Tom Langhorne Farmer (May 22, 1925 – February 19, 1974) married Jacqueline Sheeler, and they have four children; David Charles, Paul Langhorne, Mary Louise, and Susan Eleanor.

 Twins, Jack and Gene Farmer, were born December 31, 1928.  Jack married Inge Brigitte Buchwald of Sorau/Lausitz, Germany.  Gene married Betty Kuchenbacker, and they have one daughter, Debra Lynn (Mrs. Joe Pope), and one granddaughter, Carmen Elise Pope.

 Submitted by Mrs. Garland R. Farmer