Edward Farnsworth


Edward Ellis Farnsworth 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 and is the only individual to have played in five Army–Navy Games. He was, additionally, an author and Theosophist.

Football player

A native of New Hampshire, Farnsworth 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, Farnsworth served in the United States Army until 1929, attaining the rank of lieutenant colonel. 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.

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 in 1937 at age 57 in his home in South Portland, Maine.