Mildred Williams

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: political and foreign correspondent
• Residence: Syosset, New York
• Residence: 21 Apr 1916, Syosset, Nausau County, NY; "Mallow"
• Departure: Apr 1925, Boulogne Sur Mer, France
• Arrival: 2 May 1925, New York, New York
• Residence: 1 Jun 1925, Oyster Bay, Nassau, New York, USA
• Residence: 1 Apr 1940, Oyster Bay Cove, Nassau, New York, USA

Notes:

The Washington Post. 02 August, 1910
Mr. & Mrs. Walter Farwell, of Chicago, who spend much time in England, expect, according to reports from London, to be settled in a permanent residence there before winter. Mrs. Farwell, who is the youngest daughter of the late Gen. and Mrs. Robert Williams, was presented at the British court last year. She is both a wit and a beauty, and as Miss Mildred Williams was a belle in Washington, as was her mother, the famous Adele Cutts. It has been hoped for some years that Mr. and Mrs. Farwell would join the winter colony in Washington.
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CHANNING, TEXAS. Channing, the seat of Hartley County, is located on the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway in the southeastern part of the county. Among the prominent citizens were the brothers James and William Powell of England, who were the first to breed Hereford cattle in the Panhandle. With A. G. Boyce, the Powells established the Channing Methodist Church. Walter Farwell, one of the family of XIT financiers, built his spacious summer home just outside Channing. His tree-lined driveway and his wife Mildred's southern hospitality became legendary. In addition, Farwell had on his estate a dam and artificial lake and a polo field on which he trained cow horses for the game.
From The Handbook of Texas Online

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The Washington Post: Sunday, November 21, 1915
Mrs. Walter Farwell, Society Woman of Washington, Sought in War Zone by 4 Governments.

Special to The Washington post.
Chicago, Nov. 20—Four governments have taken up the search for Mrs. Walter Farwell, of Chicago, New York and Washington society, great-grand-niece of Dolly Madison, and a newspaper correspondent whose letters and dispatches from the war zone have appeared under the name of Mildred Farwell. The Unites States, Germany, Greece, and Bulgaria have undertaken to find and protect Mrs. Farwell, whose presence at Monastir, Servia, was reported a few days ago by John T. McCutcheon, the cartoonist-correspondent.

Fears for Her Safety.
Nothing has been heard from Mrs. Farwell for several days, and considerable anxiety concerning her safety is entertained. Monastir is the scene of one of the most thrilling acts in the great war drama. Its capture by the Bulgarian army has been reported, but the intelligence has not been confirmed. Whether Mrs. Farwell is now within the lines of the Austro-German-Bulgarian forces or has retreated with the Serbiane or the Anglo-French army is not known.

Mrs. Farwell has been in the various theaters of war for the last six months. She has seen the struggle from the French, the Belgian and the Italian fronts. When Serbia became the objective of the central powers’ drive she hurried thither. She insisted always on taking care of herself, and frequently traveled alone on her war assignments.

She Startles Her Friends.
At the outbreak of the war Mrs. Farwell startled her friends in Chicago and Washington by announcing that she intended to go to the front. In order to procure greater freedom of movement through Europe she asked for an assignment as a war correspondent. Mrs. Farwell is a daughter of Gen. Robert Williams, of Washington, D.C. Her mother’s first husband was Stephan A. Douglas. She was married in 1902 to Walter Farwell. The wedding was one of the big social events of the year. Her husband is a brother of Mrs. Hobart Chatfield Taylor and Mrs. Robert G. McGann of Chicago, and Mrs. Reginald De Koven, of Washington. The Farwells maintain homes in Texas, Long Island, Chicago and Washington.
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Fort Wayne News (Fort Wayne, Indiana) December 15, 1915:
Turned Back And Told Wife Is Safe.
Walter Farwell, of Chicago, Goes in Search of His Wife.
Salonika, Dec. 15—Walter Farwell, of Chicago, who came here in search of his wife, a newspaper correspondent, who was in Monastir when the city was captured by the Bulgars, returned here today after penetrating to the Bulgarian lines ten miles from Monastir. The Bulgarian officers turned Farwell back after assuring him that his wife was safe.

Fort Wayne News December 24, 1915:
Salonika, Dec. 24—Mrs. Walter Farwell, of Chicago, and Dr. C. B. Forbes, of Boston reported roughly handled by Bulgarian officers, who raided American Red Cross headquarters at Monastir, will be permitted to leave the Serbian city.

Fort Wayne News, February 14, 1916:
Mrs. Farwell is unprotected in Monastir. Chicago Woman Faces Grave Danger Now In Serbia. (By William G. Shepherd, United Press Staff Correspondent)

ATHENS, Feb. 14—Mrs. Walter Farwell, prominent Chicago woman, who is virtually held prisoner by the Bulgarians at Monastir, Serbia, is left unprotected by the expulsion of all neutral consuls from the city. Mrs. Farwell, who was acting as correspondent for a Chicago newspaper was caught in Monastir when the Bulgars occupied the city. Seven weeks ago, according to reports brought to Salonika, she was roughly handled by Bulgarian soldiers who raided the American Red Cross headquarters and confiscated supplies of flour. While permitted to move about freely, she has not been allowed to leave the city despite efforts in her behalf made by her husband.

Americans here believe that Washington has been misled by Bulgarian authorities into believing that Mrs. Farwell wishes to remain in Monastir. According to the Greek counsul, who protested vigorously against his own expulsion, she is anxious to leave.

Fort Wayne News, February 16, 1916.
Americans Released.
Athens, Feb. 16.—Mrs. Walter Farwell, of Chicago, and Dr. Forbes, Boston physician, engaged in Red Cross work in Serbia, have been released by Bulgarian authorities at Monastir, after three months’ detention. United States Consul Kehl, at Salonika, was notified by Bulgarian authorities today that the two Americans are now en route to Sofla. Whether they will be allowed to continue their journey home from the Bulgarian capital is not known. Some concern had been felt here for the safety of both Americans since the expulsion from Monastir of neutral consuls under whose protection they were. In a raid by Bulgarian soldiers on Red Cross headquarters, at Monastir, both were roughly treated.

The Washington Post, March 5, 1916.
3 Americans Urge U.S. To Free Them
Former Greek Consul Confirms Report of Mistreatment by Bulgar Troops. Athens, Feb. 29, via Paris, March 4 (delayed). John Yussuf, the former Greek consul at Monastir, confirmed reports of the mistreatment of Dr. Henry Forbes, Mrs. Walter Farwell and Miss Mitchell by Bulgarian soldiers, when he arrived here this morning carring a message to Garrett Droppers, United States Minister to Greece, from the three interned Americans, in which they begged that the State Department make efforts to obtain their release.

According to Yussuf, the three were ordered to go to Sofla from Monastir on February 9. he reported that Dr. Forbes was ill and that all three had undergone so many hardships that they were most anxious to leave Bulgaria.

Dr. Henry Forbes is a resident of Boston, and is attached to the American Red Cross. Mrs. Farwell is a war correspondent of Chicago. They were reported to have been attacked by Bulgarian soldiers, who forcibly entered the American Red Cross hospital at Monastir last December. They were refused permission to leave for Greece shortly after the attack, and on February 16 it was reported they had been released by the Bulgarians and had gone to Sofla. On January 15 it was reported that Miss Mitchell was being detained at Monastir by the Bulgarians.

Mildred married Walter C. Farwell on 11 Jun 1912 in Washington City, District of Columbia, USA. Walter (son of Charles Benjamin Farwell and Mary Eveline Smith) was born on 23 Jun 1863 in Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA; died on 30 Jul 1943 in Syosset, NY. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]