The next part of Farrow’s career requires a look at his family, his fears, and his character: Farrow was born into a big family; the 16th (and youngest) child in a “his, hers, and theirs” family living in Belfast, Maine. His father was a master mariner, a sea captain in the days of sail. Most of the family trades were associated with the sea. Sailors and masters, sailmakers, builders of wooden ships and even brokers of marine insurance were family occupations. Part of Belfast caught fire & the shipyards and business section burned down in 1865, when WMF was 17. The fire, the Civil War and the coming of steam engines, both afloat & ashore, changed all that. Family members were killed or came home crippled. All that destroyed the Farrow family finances. No money for college, so WMF became an apprentice watchmaker. His alternative was going to sea. Once a journeyman, WMF went to Boston for employment, living with an uncle. Unknown to WMF, he had just moved into ground zero of a tuberculosis epidemic. His aunt, then 2 cousins, and then his uncle died. Back in Belfast, WMF’s father died and his mother needed his support. Farrow gladly went back to Belfast, but had no job. In April, 1871, he found a job as a watchmaker in Newport, Rhode Island. Business in Newport was booming. WMF went from being a watchmaker to owning the jewelry store. That expanded into eyeglasses and sporting goods, everything from tennis rackets and fishing gear to shotguns and ammunition. The family had a long history of working together and supporting each other. The Farrow household in Newport soon housed his brother Tom (child #15), Tom’s wife and her daughter, his sister Abbie (child # 13) and her husband Tom Carter, and Farrow’s widowed mother Jerusha. In September, 1874, young WMF (age 24) and his girlfriend Abbie Greene (age 18) took the train from Newport, Rhode Island to Creedmoor, New York, to see what this Creedmoor target shooting was all about. They booked a room for the duration of the match at the brand new Creedmoor Hotel. WMF reckoned he could profit from the general interest by selling some rifles and ammunition. He also paid attention to Abbie. They were married the following January and Abbie moved into the Farrow household. Their first child was born nine months to the day from the first day of the first International match at Creedmoor.
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