Daniel Duane Tompkins Farnsworth (1819-1892)

Politician. Daniel D. T. Farnsworth was West Virginia's second Governor, he served in that post for only six days. He was a native of Staten Island, New York, but lived in Buckhannon West Virginia after he was two and a half years old. His grandfather was a large landowner in Pocahontas County and what is now Upshur County, having traded his property in New York for his extensive acreage in this state. Governor Farnsworth was reared on the family farm, but later he became a tailor, merchant, banker and railroad director. During the Cival War he was known for his fierce patriotism. It was said that, although threatened with death by Rebel soldiers while he was speaking in Philippi, he refused to stop his speech-making. On another occasion, he reportedly threatened to kill any Rebel who touched the Union flag flying from the courthouse in Buckhannon. At the Wheeling Convention in 1861 he offered the first resolution leading to the formation of the new state of West Virginia. He was a member of the first House of Delegates of the new state and later was elected to the Senate, where he served seven years. When Governor Boreman resigned in the last days of his term to serve in the U.S. Senate, Farnsworth served the remainder of Boreman's term.