Daniel DT Farnsworth

Daniel Duane Tompkins Farnsworth (born December 23, 1819 on Staten Island , New York , †  December 5, 1892 in Buckhannon , West Virginia ) was an American politician and in 1869 the 2nd governor of the state of West Virginia.

Early years and political beginnings

Farnsworth came to Buckhannon at a young age, which was then still part of Virginia and would later become part of West Virginia. There he attended the local schools. He later worked in many professions, including as a tailor and trader as well as in the railway and banking industries. In 1861 he was elected to the Virginia House of Representatives. He did not take up this mandate and instead joined the independence movement of the western areas of Virginia, which later became the state of West Virginia.

Political career in West Virginia

At the Wheeling Conference , at which the secession of West Virginia was decided, he was a member of the committee that worked out the statutes of the new state. He then became a member of the first-ever House of Representatives in West Virginia and then a member of the State Senate for seven years . In 1869 he was even president of this body. In this capacity, he became governor on February 26, because incumbent Arthur I. Boreman had resigned to take a seat in the US Senate . As governor, he only had to end his predecessor's term of office until March 4, 1869. He thus served exactly seven days until the newly elected Governor William E. Stevenson was introduced to his office.

In 1872 Farnsworth was a delegate to a meeting to revise the West Virginia Constitution. He later retired from politics. He died in his hometown of Buckhannon in 1892. Daniel Farnsworth was married twice and had a total of 13 children.

Web links

• Daniel DT Farnsworth in the database of the National Governors Association (English)
• The governors of West Virginia (English)
• Daniel DT Farnsworth in the database of Find a Grave (English)