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Daniel McFarlan

"Among the well known and highly esteemed citizens of Fayette county who have finished their labors and gone to their reward, the subject of this sketch is deserving of special notice. Daniel McFarlan was a native of Perthshire, Scotland, born and reared in the city of Stirling, at which place his wife, Anna, also spent her childhood and youth, the two having been children together and pupils of the same school. After his marriage, Mr. McFarlan set up his domestic establishment in the country and began life for himself as a tiller of the soil, which useful vocation be pursued in his native land until 1844, when he bade farewell to the scenes of his childhood and, with his wife, boarded a vessel and set sail for America. After being several weeks on the ocean, and experiencing not a few inconveniences and discomforts, the vessel finally arrived at the city of Quebec, its destination, from which place Mr. and Mrs. McFarlan proceeded about fifty miles north of Montreal where he procured land and engaged in farming. After residing in that part of Canada until 1857, he disposed of his holdings and moved to Fayette county, Iowa, settling in Scott township where he entered one hundred and sixty acres of land, which he cleared and improved and in due time converted into a good farm and one of the most desirable homes in the locality.

Mr. McFarlan possessed the practical intelligence and keen insight characteristic of his nationality, and was much esteemed for his integrity, high sense of honor and a desire to apply the principle of the Golden Rule in all his relations with his fellowman. He was an uncompromising Republican in politics, a stanch Presbyterian in religion and in his daily life exemplified the beauty and worth of a live Christian faith. Both he and his good wife died at their home in Scott township and their taking off was felt as a personal loss by the neighbors and friends among whom so many of their years were spent.

Mr. and Mrs. McFarlan were the parents of ten children, namely: Daniel, a retired lake captain who lives in the city of Detroit; Alexander (deceased), formerly a well-to-do farmer of Scott township; Archie, also deceased, was for many years was mate on vessels plying the Great Lakes; Mary, who is noticed at some length in the closing paragraph of this sketch; Elizabeth, who first married Det Fleming, after whose death she became the wife of Jacob Crawford, she dying some years ago. Parley, the sixth in order of birth, married Mary Deming and lived in Buffalo, New York, where his death also occurred. He too was captain of a vessel and spent many years in the lake service. Peter, the next in succession, was also in the above service and after serving as mate of a lake vessel for a number of years, resigned the position and is now connected with the Pavlin works, Buffalo, New York. John, the next, is a farmer, living on a farm near Strawberry Point. George and James, the youngest of the family, are twins, the former, like his older brothers, being in the lake service as mate and living in the above city. James, formerly a sailor, is now a painter and varnisher for the Pullman Car Company in Chicago.

Mary McFarlan, the fourth of the subject's children, was born in the month of September, 1839, near Thorn Hill, Scotland, and in growing womanhood married Johnes Derflinger, of Virginia. Mr. Derflinger came to Fayette county, Iowa, in 1856 and engaged in farming, which he carried on for some years in the townships of Arlington and Putnam. He departed this life in 1877, leaving a widow and the following children to mourn his loss: Mary, who married Charlie Parker and is the mother of two sons, Clarence and Glenn; Agnes Kate; Mattie, wife of Charles Carnal, of Fairfield township, and mother of one child who answers to the name of James; Archie, a farmer of Scott township, whose wife was formerly Anna Seedorf. Of the above children, Agnes and Kate are deceased.

In 1883 Mrs. Derflinger was united in marriage with Gust Sillig, a native of Germany, who came to America with his parents when young and spent his early life in Iowa, South Dakota, and at different places in other states, finally locating in Scott township, Fayette county, where he lives now. He is a successful farmer and excellent citizen and among the residents of the community is held in high esteem. Mrs. Sillig owns a fine farm of two hundred acres which is well improved and which her son cultivates, the land being productive and quite valuable and one of the most desirable places in the township. Mr. Sillig is a Lutheran in his religious affiliation, his wife being a worthy member of the Christian church and a lady of beautiful character whose popularity is limited only by the extent of her acquaintance.

~transcribed for the Fayette Co IAGenWeb Project by Evie Lamb