Frank Farnum At 86 Believes In Theory, 'Young As You Feel' And Refuses To Quit Working Is One Of The Best "Hands" In Summer On Farm; Lover Of Horses; Recalls Early Days Of City. BY TAIT CUMMINS At the time when most men are making plans for returement or have already retired, Frank E. Farnum, 86, living at 1311 Third treet northwest, decided seventeen years ago that he was still as "young as he felt" and since that time has been one of the "hands" on the farm of his son-in-law, Lon Rose, living near Cedar Falls. Mr. Farnum for many years had been an excavation contractor but at the age of 69 found himself about to retire. A lover of horses and an expert at training and breaking unruly animals, Farnum decided he wouldn't be sidetracked that easily. Today, he is still able-bodied and alert because, he says, he never quit working. Farnum's hobby - that of breaking horses - is almost an unveiling of the distant past in this motorized age of machinery. To him, it was more than a hobby, almost an avocation. He hunted unruly horses and trained them. One of his conquests was a horse that had never been shod because there was no one able to hold of tame the animal. Farnum took charge of the horse and soon returned him to a blacksmith shop where he as shod. Takes Pride In Horses. At 86, Mr. Barnum still takes pride in his work with horses and tells proudly of his team on the Rose farm. Last summer, while work was light, he drove for several days in counties surrounding Cedar Falls alone. "I never had a car." Mr. Farnum says, "because I never have needed one as long as I had a team." He is recognized as a master at handling horses and his services were sought when horses were more numerous than they are today. Among the old-timers, Frank Farnum's teams were considered the best-trained and he always took pride in their appearance and the manner in which they worked. All of his horses were trained by himself, Mr. Farnum says, "Since I was 16, I have never seen a tough horse that I couldn't break. Some of them were hard to bring around but after a few days the worst of them gradually gave in. I've hunted kicking and balky horses to see if I could break them." A resident of Cedar Rapids for more than forty-five years, Mr. Farnum first saw the city in 1861 when the family moved from North Liberty to Bremer County. They cross the Cedar river at Cedar Rapids on a ferry. He returned to Cedar Rapids in the eighties and worked on many of the pioneer projects in the city. Graded Judge Hubbard's Track. Among those, Farnum says, was the first race track built by Judge L.M. Hubbard, a private track on his farm, the grading around Coe college campus when the main buildings were built, grading for the first paving in Cedar Rapids in First avenue. The pavement was made of cedar blocks. Later, he helped grade for pavement in First avenue west when brick paving was laid. When the basements were excavated for the first Quaker Oats company mills, Farnum was one of the sub-contractors, working his teams almost day and night. During that time, he did considerable work for the city and county, in addition to private work. Telling of the old days, Mr. Farnum told proudly of his experiences with a threshing outfit, calling himself "an old thresherman." With a horsepower outfit in Chickasaw county, he threshed for one farmer nine consecutive seasons--until the outfit was worn out and discarded. During recent seasons, threshing time has been one of the highlights of his summers. He now works for "pleasure," Farnum says, although he takes his regular turn with the others on the farm. During the corn plowing season he worked every day, driving a team on a walking cultivator--something the average farmer would regard with scorn today. The days of walking cultivators are nearly gone, Farnum thinks, but he believes they do the best work. At the time of Mrs. Farnum's death six years ago, Mr. and Mrs. Farnum had been married fifty-seven years. He was born in Mike Henry county, Ill., near Marengo and lived there until he was fifteen years old. Before coming to Cedar Rapids, the family lived in Iowa City, North Liberty and Bremer county. Today, at 86 years of age, Mr. Farnum is alert abd able-bodied with a remarkable memory. His hearing is somewhat impaired but not his heart and his future plans are built around next year when he will be back on the farm with his horses and the work that has kept him from retiring "before his time." ..... Scrapbook #11, pg 14 from the Genealogical Society of Linn County, Iowa. -newspaper unknown, likely the Cedar Rapids Gazette since reporter Tait Cummins, born 1906, was a reporter before being a Sports Editor; Article probably written around 1932 since wife Laura Farnum died in 1926. Personal notes. This is a newspaper article I found on my great, great, great grandpa Francis Eli 'Frank' Farnum. The photo in the article blew my mind as I thought the man in the photo (an identical photo to one I have) was someone else until I saw the name Frank Farnum. Francis/Frank was Orphie Farnum Williams and Maud Farnum Buker Rose's father, and was married to Laura Ann Hellenbolt (Helmbolt). Lon Rose (aka Roosa) is referred to in the article which is the husband of Maud Sophia Farnum. - Lesley Jon Gunnells Ramos transcribed by Lesley Jon Gunnells Ramos, 2 July 2009