This Celtic name is a modern version of MacParthalain, which is Old Irish for "son of the waves of the ocean." While we are not currently able to trace our family back to the Scottish clan of the name MacFarlane. It is believed that our ancestor, Purthe MacFarland, was among the Scots who were deported from northern Scotland to the colonies.
Purthe MacFarlin (Purde Macvarlo) was the first member of the Clan MacFarlane to set foot on American soil, arriving around 1660 and settling in the town of Hingham, Plymouth County, MA.
His name has been spelled numerous ways, all depending on how the town clerk recorded what he or she heard. There were no rules of spelling or pronounciation.
Seven years after arriving in Hingham, he married Patience Russell, a Hingham resident. There is mention in the book History of the Town of Hingham of his purchasing a parcel of land from the town of Hingham in 1669. It was located off East Street near Hull Street.
The "History" noted, "...near the vicinity of the Weir River on East Street, then a little traveled lane, lived Purthee McFarlin, the Scotchman, who found himself blessed with nine bonny lassies and three sturdy laddies." All were born in Hingham and lived their lives there.
On Feb. 15, 1715, Purthe's farmhouse was burned by the Indians. At the time his son, James was living on the farm with his parents, and subsequently built a new house on the same site.
Records found in the Old Ship Church show that Purthe gave some 30 Pounds Sterling towards the building fund.
Purthe and most of his family are buried in the old cemetery behind the church. However, many of the old markers and graves have been moved or destroyed by age. A monument dedicated to the early founders of Hingham has been placed on the hill in the cemetery.
Purthe's youngest son, Solomon, was born 8 Nov. 1691 in Hingham. We know little of Solomon save for the fact he married Susann Huet (Huit) sometime before 1722, and they moved to nearby Plympton, MA.
The only child we know of to come from this marriage is Elijah MacFarlin, who was born abt. 1722 in Plympton. At age 23, he married Laurana Bradford, great-granddaughter of the governor of the Pilgrim colony, William Bradford on 14 Oct. 1745.
A farmer, Elijah and Laurana raised a family of eight children. When the War of Independence broke out Elijah and two sons joined the volunteer army.
At age 55 Elijah MacFarlin, according to the muster roll dated 10 Feb. 1777, was engaged for the town of Plympton in Col. Bradford's Regiment for an enlistment of three years. He was killed in battle 29 Nov. 1777.
Eldest son, David, born abt. 1747, who also enlisted in the army, also died in battle in 1778. His brother, Elijah Jr., born abt 1749, and who had enlisted 2 May, 1775, was twice wounded.
Elijah MacFarlin Jr. had married Sarah Marshall, daughter of Josiah and Sarah Churchil Marshall on 12 May 1773. Two children were born before he left for the army, and three others following the end of the hostilities.
Along with his father and brother, Elijah MacFarlin Jr. also served in the army with his father-in-law, Josiah Marshall. Serving under Gen. George Washington, He saw action at the Battle of Trenton and Princeton.
He also saw action at the Battle at Haarlem Heights on Long Island and at White Plains, where he was wounded. Following his discharge at West Point, NY, in 1783, he returned to Plympton where he remained until after 1788, when he and his wife moved to Fairfield, ME.
In 1818 he applied for and was granted his military pension of $8 per month. He died 7 Nov. 1827 in Fairfield, ME.
A son, also Elijah McFarland, born of the marriage on 29 Dec. 1777, at the height of the Revolutionary War, is believed to have remained in Plympton, MA, when his parents moved to Fairfield, ME. At age 23, he married Anna Bardwin of Boston, where he may have moved in 1799 or 1800, to get a job. They were married 2 Feb. 1800 in Boston.
There are no records to indicate it, but it appears there was but one child of this marriage, a son, also named Elijah, born 5 Oct. 1800, probably in Boston.
A farmer and shoemaker, this Elijah married Achsah Woods of Hubbardston, MA in Upton, MA on 12 Oct. 22. Born 23 Jan. 1802, she was the daughter of Edward and Jemima Robertson Woods of Hubbardston.
Their youngest son, Daniel Woods McFarland, there were three other brothers -Elijah Walter, Joseph Edwin and John Leonard - was born 17 March 1834 in Hubbardston. He spend most of his youth in Hubbardston, working the farm with his father, but in 1850 he went to work on the farm of a neighbor, Moses Phelps.
On 24 Feb. 1856, he married Harriet Kendall, daughter of Hubbard Kendall and Rhoda Brooks Sawin. Following the marriage, Daniel McFarland and his wife, Harriett, moved to Gardner, MA.
When the Civil War ignited, Daniel enlisted in the volunteer cavalry in 1861. His wife had died 29 May 1860, and their two children, Alvah Fremont McFarland, born 29 Nov. 1856, and Minnie McFarland, born 7 Oct. 1858, were probably cared for by his late wife's parents.
According to Army records, Daniel McFarland received an injury to his leg in the line of duty while at Beaufort, SC. The injury failed to heal properly and he was treated at the Mt. Pleasant General Hospital in Washington, DC, but he never fully recovered from the injury, gradually contracting pleurisy.
Following his discharge from the Army, Daniel married Susan Rawson on 16 May 1863. Following the marriage, Daniel worked for his father-in-law on his farm. Later, he went to live with his son Alvah, who had moved to Bridgewater, MA.
Daniel McFarland died at his son's home 8 Feb. 1901 from the complications resulting from the illness he contracted during his Army service during the Civil War. His second wife, Susan Rawson, died 16 Dec. 1894 in Norfolk, MA.
Son, Alvah Fremont McFarland married a young school teacher from Somerset, MA, Lavinia Vanderhoof, who, he was often said, "was the prettiest girl in town."
Alvah and Lavinia moved to Bridgewater, Mass., where they lived most of their lives. He was a railroad man, working for the Old Colony Railroad first as a locomotive fireman, and eventually as a locomotive engineer.
Lavinia would hitch up the horse and buggy and take Alvah's lunch down to to depot as his train would come through town.
When Alvah retired, he and his wife purchased a home in Clearwater, FL, where they spent the winter months, away from the cold chill of New England.
Alvah died on 6 June 1926 in their Bridgewater home, apparently from a heart attack. His wife sold the family home and went to live with one of their two sons, Archer McFarland, born 21 Dec. 1884, who had married Bertha Kirmayer, and was living in nearby Dover, MA.
Alvah and Lavinia's eldest son, William Alvah McFarland, born 22 Dec. 1880, along with his brother and mother, worked the family farm. He attended Bridgewater Academy where he met Anna Phillips Beals, a decendant of another early Hingham, MA family.
After completing Bridgewater Academy, William went on to Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He traveled to England working on a cattle boat. Upon his return to the United States, he went to work on the railroad as a locomotive fireman in hopes of oneday becoming a locomotive fireman like his father. However, he soon found that the work of a fireman was too rigorous for him.
Childhood sweethearts, William and Anna Beals were married 20 Feb. 1907 in Bridgewater, MA. They lived on the farm with their family of seven children until 1918, when they moved to Portsmouth, NH, after he secured a position as an engineer at a chemical plant. He subsequently became a civil engineer for the construction company which built the original bridge spanning the Piscataqua River separating Portsmouth from Kittery, ME.
Following completion of the bridge project, William and Anna returned to Bridgewater and a new home across the street from the old farm.
Off to Guatamala to build roads for the United Fruit Co., William returned to Bridgewater to recuperate after becoming ill in the jungles of Central America.
Regaining his health, he went to work for the Boston and Albany Railroad in Boston as a draftsman. Later he was to work as a chemical engineer for a Boston chemical manufacturer, bringing home new products for his wife, Anna, to try.
Anna died 21 April 1949 in Bridgewater. William retired and left for the left coast and visits with his sons, William Jr., born 29 May 1912; Winston Beals, born 29 Jan. 1914; and Kendall Holmes, born 6 Feb. 1917.
After 16 years he returned to Massachusetts to live with his daughter, Evelyn Mildred Clark, who was living in Petersham.
Another of his daughters, Beatrice Anna, born 22 Feb. 1909, attended the Massachusetts School of Art, where she met Ralph Stone of Beverly, MA.
You can find some of the earliest New England history on our MacFarland (Macvarlo, Macfarlin) family history on the Hingham USGenWeb page.
The decendency from Purthe MacFarland (macvarlo), our first known Scottish ancestor, can be found here.
Additional background on the Scottish clan from which the name MacFarland evolved can be found on the Clan MacFarlane home page.
More information about Hingham can be obtained at the Hingham MA GenWeb site, and the Plymouth County, MA GenWeb site.
Thanks to Molly MacFarland Gardner who did the original research for this page nearly two decades ago.
Web site questions or comments to dondillaby@attbi.com