Joseph Farnsworth

Joseph Farnsworth's great-great-great-great-grandfather, Matthias Farnsworth (1612-1688), immigrated to America from Eccles, Lancashire, England, prior to 1650, settling in Lynn, Massachusetts. Joseph’s family lived in Massachusetts and Vermont until his father resettled in Utah in 1851.

Joseph was a farmer and rancher in Bonneville County, Idaho. He served as state bee inspector, state horticultural inspector, president of the Idaho Grazing Association, and president of the Idaho Sheep Shearing Association, and, in 1901, co-founded the Idaho Honey Producers Association.

He was arguably the largest honey producer in the United States.

In the Oct. 1, 1903 edition of Gleanings in Bee Culture magazine, he reported harvesting 48,000 pounds of honey during the 1902 season.

On Dec. 31, 1903, The Teton Peak newspaper of St. Anthony, Fremont County, Idaho, reported that he had the best yield of sugar beets on 10 acres of land — 216 tons 312 pounds per acre — and was awarded a prize of $175 ($4,860 in 2015 dollars) from the Idaho Sugar Co.

On May 8, 1915, the Country Gentleman magazine reported, "Joseph Farnsworth, the founder of the association and one of the deputy state bee inspectors, has made a record that has possibly never been equaled in the United States. In 1907, from 100 colonies near Idaho Falls and at an altitude of 4,600 feet, he sold 748 sixty-pound cans of extracted honey — an average of 448 pounds a colony ... [T]he average throughout the association is less than 100 pounds a colony."

According to USDA records, the average honey yield per colony in the United States was 38.6 pounds in 1947, 44.8 pounds in 1957, 46.3 pounds in 1967, and 71.1 pounds in 1987.

In 1918, Joseph Farnsworth and his family moved to Long Beach, California, where he invested in real estate and built the Dundee Apartments, Farnsworth Apartments, and Majestic Apartments, downtown. He and his family lived at 317 Pacific Ave., near the downtown Civic Center.

In 1927, he was elected to the Long Beach City Council, 6th District, as part of the reform group, the Straight Eight, aka The People's Ticket. He served from 1927-28. He tried to return to the council two years later, but was unsuccessful in the May 13, 1930 primary election.

Joseph and Agnes Farnsworth had nine children:

Meribah Cordelia Farnsworth Shurtliff 1892-1969 Joseph Arthur Farnsworth 1894-1967 Elwin J. Farnsworth 1896-1953 Guy Farnsworth 1898-1965 Blanche Farnsworth Nelson 1899-1974 Amelia Farnsworth 1901-1933 Dora Thelma Farnsworth Walker Hartman 1903-1971 Mary Elizabeth Farnsworth Browning 1905-1972 Jack Dramond Farnsworth 1906-1992

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Feb 27 2017, 6:28:51 UTC

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• Residence: Utah, United States - 1870
• Residence: Joseph, Sevier, Utah, United States - 1880
• Residence: ED 16 Willow Creek, Ammon, Iona Precincts, Bingham, Idaho, United States - 1900
• Residence: Ammon, , Idaho - 1910
• Residence: Long Beach, Los Angeles, California, United States - 1920
• Residence: Los Angeles, California - 1930
• Residence: Long Beach Judicial Township, Long Beach, Councilmanic District 7, Los Angeles, California - 1940