Henry Farny: Pioneer Family

"Days of Long Ago" by Henry Farny

"François Henri Farny was born in Ribeauville, France, on July 15, 1847. The third child of Charles and Jeannette Farny. His father was a carpenter and builder who, as a Protestant, was oppressed by the political and religious atmosphere in France after the revolution in 1848. Accordingly, on September 4, 1853, when Henry was six, Charles Farny left France for America with his wife, his sister-in-law, and his children. After a crossing of about forty-one days, the Farny family arrived in New York.

In January 1854, the Farnys settled in western Pennsylvania, where they bought one hundred sixty-five acres of woodland. Charles Farny established a sawmill on this property with his brother-in-law who owned an adjoining parcel of land. They remained in this area for five years, living in a log cabin. A 1930 'Cincinnati Enquirer article recounts his early years there and his love of art as a child: 'His mother would tell how she could keep him amused for hours by keeping him supplied with paper and a pencil. And in the backwoods when paper was scarce, there was a smooth pine board wall in the kitchen of the log house that he would cover with drawings, which he then would beg someone to scrub off so he could start over again.'

The children were given the rudiments of an education by their parents and a teacher who came to live with them for three months each year. It was here that Henry had his first contact with Indians. Farny described sketching a picture of a Seneca Indian who came to his house in the woods. Then, but five years old and alone in the house, he opened the door to see a huge Indian garbed in festive array. With the words, 'The tribe wishes you all a happy Christmas' the Indian disappeared. The impression became so fixed in his mind that he was able to make a little colored crayon drawing of him that same day. 

When Henry was 11 his father realized it was a mistake to continue a pioneer's life, sold most of his timber lands, built a large raft with living quarters at one end and a shed at the other for the horses and cows, and came down the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers to Cincinnati. The trip took six weeks.

After his arrival in Cincinnati, Henry attended Woodward High School. In April of 1861, his older brother, Eugene, died and his father followed several years later in 1863. During the last year of his father's illness, Henry had been forced to leave school to help support his family. He is supposed to have worked as a bookkeeper, a decorator of watercoolers, and a lithographer of Civil War battle scenes for Gibson & Co."

To be continued

(Excerpts from "Henry Farny" by Denny Carter, "The Artist's Materials and Techniques," an essay by Cecile D. Mear in "Henry Farny Paints the Far West, and "Cincinnati Studios Lafcadio Hearn Knew" by Robert Allen in the "Cincinnati Enquirer.")