Edward Farnsworth

Edward Farnsworth
Edward Ellis Farnsworth (July 30, 1880 – December 19, 1937) was an American football player, an officer in the United States Army and a member of the Maine State Highway Commission. He was thrice selected as an All-American (1900, 1902, 1903) and is the only individual to have played in five Army–Navy Games. He was, additionally, an author and Theosophist.
Football player
Edward Farnsworth was born in Charlestown, New Hampshire on July 30, 1880. He graduated from Classical High School in Lynn, Massachusetts. He subsequently attended the United States Military Academy where he played at the halfback, tackle and guard positions for the Army Black Knights football team from 1899 to 1903. He was selected by Walter Camp as a third-team tackle on his 1900 College Football All-America Team. He was also selected by Caspar Whitney as a second-team All-American at the guard position in 1902 and at the halfback position in 1903. He is also the only individual to have played in five Army–Navy Games, having played in each game from 1899 to 1903.
Military and civil service
After graduating from the Military Academy in 1904, Farnsworth served in the United States Army until 1929, attaining the rank of lieutenant colonel. He received a temporary promotion to colonel during World War I and was advanced to colonel on the retired list in 1930. Farnsworth graduated from the Command and General Staff School in 1923 and the Army War College in 1926. He was assigned to the Eighth Coast Artillery at Portland, Maine from 1923 to 1929. After retiring from the Army, he was appointed by Maine Governor William Tudor Gardiner as a member of the Maine State Highway Commission, a position he held for eight years.
Dates of rank
Cadet, USMA – June 13, 1899
2nd Lieutenant, Regular Army – June 15, 1904
1st Lieutenant, Regular Army – January 25, 1907
Captain, Regular Army – July 25, 1914
Major, Regular Army (temporary) – August 5, 1917
Lieutenant Colonel, National Army – June 21, 1918
Colonel, National Army – October 3, 1918
Major, Regular Army – July 1, 1920
Lieutenant Colonel, Regular Army – August 7, 1928
Lieutenant Colonel, Retired List – October 1, 1929
Colonel, Retired List – June 21, 1930
Author
Farnsworth wrote a number of books through the 1910s and 20s, on subjects ranging from poetry and history to the occult, creating a three part series of Theosophical and new age lore involving subjects from Swedenborg to Atlantis.
Family
Farnsworth was married in 1907 to Mary Pullman. Their two sons, Edward Ellis Farnsworth, Jr., and John Pullman Farnsworth, both attended and graduated from the United States Military Academy. Farnsworth died from a heart attack on December 19, 1937, at age 57 in his home in South Portland, Maine.
References
1880 births
1937 deaths
People from Charlestown, New Hampshire
Players of American football from New Hampshire
Sportspeople from Lynn, Massachusetts
Players of American football from Essex County, Massachusetts
Army Black Knights football players
American football guards
American football tackles
American football halfbacks
United States Army colonels
Military personnel from New Hampshire
United States Army personnel of World War I
United States Army Command and General Staff College alumni
United States Army War College alumni
Sportspeople from South Portland, Maine
Burials at West Point Cemetery