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Biography
John Farmer (June 12, 1789 – August 13, 1838) was an American historian and genealogist, born in Chelmsford, Massachusetts. He was the son of John Farmer and Lydia Richardson.
He is buried at Concord, New Hampshire.
Farmer is considered the founder of systematic genealogy in America. Before Farmer's efforts, tracing one's genealogy was seen as an attempt by colonists to secure a measure of social standing within the British Empire, an aim that was counter to the new republic's egalitarian, future-oriented ethos. As Fourth of July celebrations commemorating the Founding Fathers and the heroes of the Revolutionary War became increasingly popular, however, the pursuit of "antiquarianism", which focused on local history, became increasingly acceptable as a way to honor the achievements of early Americans.
He was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1819.
Farmer capitalized on the increasing acceptability of antiquarianism to frame genealogy within the early republic's ideological framework of pride in one's American ancestors. He corresponded with other antiquarians in New England, where antiquarianism and genealogy were well established, and became a coordinator, booster, and contributor to the burgeoning movement. In the 1820s, he and fellow antiquarians began to produce genealogical and antiquarian tracts in earnest, slowly gaining a devoted audience among the American people. Though Farmer died in 1839, his efforts led to the creation of the New England Historical and Genealogical Society, which publishes the New England Historical and Genealogical Register. The society is one of New England's oldest and most prominent organizations dedicated to the acquisition, preservation, and dissemination of public records and private monuments that would otherwise have decayed and been forgotten.
In addition to editing the first volume of Belknap's History of New Hampshire (1831), Farmer published a valuable Genealogical Register of the First Settlers of New England (1829); histories of Billerica, Massachusetts, (1816), and Amherst, New Hampshire, (1820), and, in collaboration with J. B. Moore, A Gazetteer of New Hampshire, (1823). His Genealogical Register was revised and significantly extended by James Savage in 1860 to create A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England which is still a popular reference work.