Charles Benjamin Farwell (July 1, 1823–September 23, 1903) was a U.S. Representative

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 and Senator

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 from Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

.

Farwell was born in Painted Post

Painted Post, New York

Painted Post is a village in Steuben County, New York, United States. The village is in the town of Erwin, west of the city of Corning. The population was 1,842 at the 2000 census. The name comes from a painted and carved post found by explorers at the junction of three local rivers...

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 and attended Elmira Academy before moving to Illinois in 1838. He first tried his hand at surveying and farming before moving to Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

 in 1844, when he went into banking. From 1853-1861, he served as the Clerk of Cook County

Cook County, Illinois

Cook County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois, with its county seat in Chicago. It is the second most populous county in the United States after Los Angeles County. The county has 5,194,675 residents, which is 40.5 percent of all Illinois residents. Cook County's population is larger than...

. He served in the House of Representatives from 1871 to 1876. In that year the Democrat controlled congress accepted John V. Le Moyne

John V. Le Moyne

John Valcoulon Le Moyne was a U.S. Representative from Illinois.Born in Washington, Pennsylvania, Le Moyne attended the common schools. He was graduated from Washington & Jefferson College, Washington, Pennsylvania, in 1847. He studied law. He was admitted to the bar in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,...

's challenge to Farwell's election and removed Farwell from office. Farwell declined to run again at the time of the general election latter on in 1876. In 1880, he was elected to another term in congress. Upon the death of John A. Logan

John A. Logan

John Alexander Logan was an American soldier and political leader. He served in the Mexican-American War and was a general in the Union Army in the American Civil War. He served the state of Illinois as a state senator, congressman and senator and was an unsuccessful candidate for Vice President...

 in 1887, Farwell was elected to serve out Logan's term in the U.S. Senate, but refused to run for re-election to a full term.

In 1876, at his wife's urging, Farwell underwrote the construction of College Hall, North Hall and a gymnasium at Lake Forest College

Lake Forest College

Lake Forest College, founded in 1857, is a private liberal arts college in Lake Forest, Illinois. The college has 1,500 students representing 47 states and 78 countries....

. The couple also donated additional land to the college which had been struggling since the end of the Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. Part of their philanthropy was to ensure a co-ed liberal arts college near home for their daughter, Anna

Anna de Koven

Anna Farwell de Koven was an American novelist, historian and socialite. The wife of famed composer Reginald de Koven and the daughter of senator Charles B. Farwell, she published her works as Mrs...

, who graduated from Lake Forest College in 1880. Anna later married the composer Reginald de Koven

Reginald de Koven

Henry Louis Reginald De Koven was an American music critic and prolific composer, particularly of comic operas.-Biography:...

, and became a successful socialite, novelist and amateur historian. His daughter Rose was married to Hobart Chatfield-Taylor.

External links