I'm putting these questions here instead of in the General section because only fanatical Farrow enthusiasts are likely to pour over it in detail.   

Just received my new Journal and I'm delighted to read the article by Joe Dobrzynski about the Farrow letter to Mr. J. N. Boyd of Andover, New York.  The letter is dated Oct. 21, 1886 and postmarked in Brattleboro, Vermont on the afternoon of the same day.  That gives us at least one firm date and location in the saga of Farrow's travels.  I have some questions.  Hopefully, Joe or maybe Joe Ruth or Bob Carow or Terry Buffum or any of the other Farrow fanatics can answer them.   

What were the dates of the Holyoke match in October of 1886?  The Rifle of November 1886 just printed the scores and reported that the match took place in October.  O.B. Hull won the Stevens rifle.

Who actually wrote the letter?  The few photos that I have seen of Farrow's writing makes this suspect, at least to me.  I don't think his penmanship was nearly as good as his marksmanship.  My guess is that the actual writer of this letter was his wife, Abby.   

Is Farrow writing about two different rifles, Boyd's rifle and the one Farrow took to Holyoke?  Or is he writing about the rifle that he promised to Mr. Boyd, that Boyd may well have paid for, and that Farrow had yet to deliver?   

Does anyone have any idea of the Serial Number or Numbers of these rifles?  If these have survived, my guess is that these are very low numbers, maybe single digit numbers. 

My other impression is that Farrow's finances were shaky.  He had cash reserves, but they were intended to support his family and to pay for his home, shop and machinery.  He was trying to get the rifles to pay their own way and that wasn't happening.

Just my ideas and questions,
Dick LaVen

This newspaper clip comes from the Vermont Phoenix, Friday, Oct 22 1886. It makes reference to "last Saturday" which mean the match was shot on Saturday, Oct 16th, 1886.

Still no detailed match results.

OK, match was October 16, 1886.  Complete list of competitors & scores was given in November 1886 issue of The Rifle.

Farrow first advertised in The Rifle for June 1887 that The Farrow Arms Company was now at a Holyoke, Massachusetts, address.  He must have left Brattleboro, Vermont at that time.  That makes his total time in Brattleboro just short of two years.  When did he move to Tennessee?  1891?

From the Wheeling Daily Intelligencer Jun 23 1893 -- it looks like he move the company to Morgantown, W Virginia

At the Schuetzenfest in Glendale Park, New York from the New York Times Jul 7 1895

Regarding his finances. Farrow was smart and separated his personal finances from his business.  He sold shares of Farrow Arms Company each time he was setting up. 

In the first newspaper clipping, he put in his patent and $1,000 personal cash into the Brattlesboro-based company and subsequently paid out the shareholders when he folded in 1887 (2nd clip).

In the third newspaper clipping he was raising money (selling subscriptions) for the Tennessee-based business in 1890.  The investment for the company never came from his own pocket.

Farrow's name appears in the 1897 Washington D.C. city directory.  When and how did his business in Morgantown, W. VA., end.  Do the Morgantown newspaper articles tell us?

Farrow (&/or his teachers/helpers) made the brass-framed prototype and maybe a couple of others at the Bullard factory in Springfield, Mass. in the spring & summer of 1885. Worked on rifle development from Jan. 1885 until Aug. 1885.  8 months.

Then moved to Brattleboro, VT, in Sept. 1885.  Stayed until June (?) 1887.  22 months.

Then to Holyoke, Mass., June 1887 to Oct. 1890.:  40 months.

Then to Mason, Tennessee:  Oct. 1890 to June 1892.  21 months. Modified based on date on cover of Farrow Arms Co. catalog.

Then to Morgantown, W. VA.  June, 1893 to August. (?) 1896:  50 months +/-. Modified per Joe D's following post

Not sure when he moved to Washington DC. Listed in 1897 city directory (IIRC as Farrow Arms Co.) but advertised about making inventor's models and about bicycle brakes.  

1917:  Selling stock in reorganized company.  Offered a Farrow rifle as an incentive for those buying 10 shares.  He had a military contract to manufacture some sort of bore cleaning solvent.

Total recorded SNs range from the prototype to about 130.  How many recorded without SNs?  Maybe 30?  Total # made looks to be about 160, in the 4 major variants Joe Ruth has described, plus at least one "miniature".  

How many were made where & when?   How about a different variant with each move?  My guess is that all of the last type were made in Morgantown.

Anybody have comments?

That may shorten the Farrow family's stay in Morgantown by a few months.   

Son, Willard Milton Farrow, Jr., was born on 13 October 1882 in Newport, Rhode Island.  He would have been 14 in 1896, perhaps just entering high school.  Youngest child, Louise, was only 9.  The education of the children was very high on the list of the Farrow family's priorities.  The move may have been timed to allow the children to be enrolled at the start of the school year.

I suspect that wife Abby and perhaps the kids were not pleased with Mason, Tenn.    In July, 1892, Farrow had a new cover printed for his Farrow Arms Company catalog.  Listed the location as Morgantown, W. Va.