He served as a Union Army quartermaster officer during the American Civil War and was murdered by Confederate guerillas in the massacre at Baxter Springs.
In 1851, Farr was appointed district attorney of Middlesex County, Massachusetts by Governor George S. Boutwell.
[3] At the outbreak of the American Civil War, Farr volunteered for service in the Union Army and was enrolled as an assistant quartermaster in the 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry Regiment.
[4] The 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry was involved in anti-guerilla operations in the Trans-Mississippi theater of the war, especially around the Kansas–Missouri border area.
[5] In October 1863, Farr was attached to the escort of General James G. Blunt near Fort Baxter, in Cherokee County, Kansas, when they came under attack from several hundred Confederate guerillas, led by William Quantrill.