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Mrs. Farrell

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Mrs. Farrell

This unidentified, undated newspaper article was found in a scrapbook owned by Town Historian Richard Schmal:

    FIRST WHITE WOMAN ARRIVES IN COUNTY AWAY BACK IN 1833

    The first white woman to set foot on Lake County soil was Mrs. Farrell, mother of Major C. Farrell, Lake County's first blacksmith.

    Mrs. Farrell, her husband and family were endeavoring to follow the old Sac trail in the summer of 1833 from LaPorte to Hickory Creek, Ill., where a settlement was forming.

    They got lost in the vicinity of what is now Crown Point and spent July 4, 1833, trying to find their way. They finally sent a messenger back to LaPorte to obtain a guide who could lead them out of the wilderness.

    The elder Farrell eventually settled in West Creek three years later, only a short distance from where he, his wife, and their children had beaten about in vain, seeking the vague Sac trail on that hot July day in 1833.

Last updated on October 27, 2005.

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