#24 A FAMILY--ALL ACTORS..Part 1--THE PARENTS

                                         THE THEATRICAL FARNUMS--THE PARENTS

A family of actors! I cannot imagine dinnertime around the Methuen, Massachusetts table when the Farnums were all vying for the spotlight. Greenleaf Farnum, father, was an actor, director and agent; Mother Clara was a singer. All three sons--Dustin, William and Marshall-- became theatre and film actors and two of them have stars on Hollywood's Walk of Fame. 

CLARA  ATWELL FARNUM--MATRIARCH

Clara performed under the stage name of Adele LaGros and for many years was an operatic prima donna, especially well-known with the New Orleans Stock American Comic Opera Company. She lost her voice from diphtheria and retired for seven years but returned to the stage in dramatic work.

GREENLEAF  DUSTIN  FARNUM--PATRIARCH

Greenleaf was born June 1848  in New Hampshire to Greenleaf Boles Farnum and Martha Ann Webster.  The family moved to Boston where his father died in 1856 and his mother soon remarried.

The US Civil war began in April 1861 when Confederate Troops fired on Fort Sumpter, South Carolina. In 1863, the US Congress approved conscription; northern states also approved paying bounties, cash awards paid to men who volunteered to serve in some new regiments. In 1863, eight companies of heavy artillery were recruited for use guarding the forts along the Massachusetts coast. In January 1864, Greenleaf enlisted in the 3rd Regiment, Massachusetts Heavy Artillery.

                                               3rd Regiment Massachusetts Heavy Artillery

In the spring of 1864, Farnum and his company were transferred to Washington where they were assigned to guard the capital, thus releasing more experienced soldiers to go to the front. When Farnum volunteered it was on the understanding that he would only be assigned to garrison duty in Massachusetts; hence there was a lot of dissatisfaction when the regiment was transferred to the defense of Washington. Private Farnum was assigned to Company “I”, recruited from mechanics and was assigned as an engineer corps; this company was placed in charge of the army’s pontoons over the James River. They built pontoon bridges across the Appomattox River, built the pontoon bridge used in the pursuit of General Lee’s fleeing army, built the bridge at Richmond used by the Union Army on their way back to Washington at the end of the war. In addition, Company “I” captured saw mills, built wharves and roads and performed general engineer duty.

The hardest part of moving an army across a river was transporting its cannons. If there was time, the guns were disassembled and the pieces floated across on small boats. When the army was in retreat or in pursuit of the enemy, fully assembled cannons were floated on pontoon boats.

                                                    1865 Pontoon bridge over Appomattox

                                                                Broadway Landing

Civil war soldiers spent almost all their time outdoors, When travelling on campaigns, men slept in bivouac, meaning they simply lay down on the ground and covered themselves with blankets. Troops assigned duty in and around the cities sometimes lived in simple wood barracks. When assigned to large camps, troops slept in tents of four to eight men. They ate meals prepared by army cooks who worked out of a large tent kitchen with portable ovens. Soldiers spent their days practising drills, doing chores and repairing worn equipment. In their limited free time, soldiers read, gambled, enjoyed concerts by their units' marching bands, had their likenesses made by photographers and wrote letters home.  (Telegrams were expensive and during the war controlled by the military.)

Farnum and Company “I” were mustered out on September 26^th, 1865.                                                         

Farnum’s US Pension records indicate he lost his right leg and had an injury to his left one during the war. If a civil war soldier was hurt in battle, he was in serious trouble since there were no medicines to fight infection. The bullets fired by the heavy and powerful Civil War rifles often smashed, shattered or splintered the arm or leg; doctors could not repair these bone injuries, so they cut off the damaged limb to save the patient. Speed was essential in all amputations to lessen blood loss and prevent shock; an amputation at the knee was expected to take three minutes. Amputations were also preferred as it was easier and less painful to transport an amputee than a soldier whose broken bones and inflamed tissue made the slightest jostle sheer torture. No wonder that early in the war, surgeons earned the nickname “sawbones”. The only painkillers were chloroform, ether, or whiskey; these would put the patient into a semi-conscious state where they would likely react to the knife and saw, but wouldn’t remember it afterwards.  If a wound became infected hospital workers encouraged flies to lay their eggs in the wound , hoping that the maggots would eat the diseased flesh; surprisingly, this cure sometimes worked.  Despite the dangers, it is estimated that three out of four soldiers survived amputation; more soldiers were killed by camp illnesses than battle wounds. Polluted drinking water gave troops diphtheria or cholera; tens of thousands died of these diseases, also measles, mumps, malaria, or yellow fever.

A bullet forceps, used to extract bullets, a crimper for snipping off bits of shattered bone, and a bone saw were the tools most often used by a surgeon after battles. Amputation knives came in a variety of sizes; this enabled the surgeon to remove anything he needed from the tip of a finger to an entire leg.

Greenleaf was mustered out Sept 26, 1865. He returned to Boston, worked as machinist, and in May 1867 married Lorinda Edwards, aged 18. Five years later (Dec 10 1871), both Lorinda and their baby son Fenton, died in childbirth. On Mar 27, 1873, Greenleaf married singer-actress Clara Adele Atwood, aged 15. In the next 5 years, they had four children—Dustin, William, Beatrice and Marshall. Beatrice died, aged 7, of croup.

Tradition says that Greenleaf was born in a dressing room and that never during his long life was he more than a mile away from some theatre. For many years, he was a well-known singing comedian in comic opera and later appeared on the dramatic stage. The latter part of the 19^th century was the golden age of touring in American theatre—melodramas, minstrel shows, comedies, farces, circuses, vaudeville, operas, operetta, musicals. Greenleaf  was a theatrical manager for 40 years and his most important clients were Robert Downey, (travelling theatre company), and J.H.Haverly (promoter of blackface minstrel shows)

Likely sometime in the 1890s, Greenleaf was  “divorced” from Clara (no record found). He married another actress, Nettie L. Baker, in New Orleans in January 1896. She was 26, he was 47. She was performing in Downing’s production of “Helena”; Greenleaf was manager of this theatre company.

Greenleaf retired and was in failing health for some time before his death in Manhattan on February 19, 1912. He was buried in the Milton Cemetery in the Blazo plot alongside his sister, Mary Elizabeth Farnum Blazo (1840-1903).

                                                    Milton Cemetery, Milton, Mass

His second wife, Clara, died in New York City on February 25 1903 from surgical complications and is buried alongside her two sons in Silver Lake Cemetery in Bucksport, Maine.

His third wife, Nettie, married Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Walton (1872-1955) on June 30, 1913 in Chicago. For many years, Nettie was genealogist of her Baker family; she was eligible for membership in the Mayflower Society and as Daughter of the American Revolution. Nettie died March 9, 1948 in New York City and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery alongside her second husband.

Greenleaf Dustin Farnum

    b. Jun 1848 in Boston, Mass

    m. 1. Lorinda Annie Edwards (1849-1871) on May 15, 1867 in Montgomery, Mass

          2. Clara Adele Atwood (1857-1903) on Mar 27, 1873 in Franklin, Mass

          3. Nettie Louisa Baker (1869-1948) on Jan 21, 1896 in Orleans, Louisiana

    d. Feb 19, 1912 in Manhattan, New York

my 3rd cousin 5x removed (Netterfield-Pierson-Farnum line)