This 1952 article on Farmerville and Union Parish appeared in the Shreveport Times. The article contains
an error in the caption for the photograph of the courthouse and in the last paragraph. The paper states that the
Town of Farmerville was named for Louisiana Lt. Governor William Wood Farmer (27 Apr 1813 –
29 Oct 1854). This is incorrect, for when Farmerville was named by the Union Parish Police Jury in May
1839, Farmer was only twenty-six years old, too young and inexperienced to have a parish seat named
after him. Although he was at that time a justice of the peace for Ouachita Parish, he was not elected to
statewide office until 1851, long after Farmerville was named. Many in the mid-1900s mistakenly stated
that he was the Lieutenant Governor when Farmerville was named, but this is simply incorrect.
The police jury named the parish seat after Lt. Gov. Farmer's father, Mills Farmer (c1780 – 21 Oct 1834). Mills was the second earliest known white person to permanently settle in what is now Union Parish, arriving about 1812 near what is now Downsville. He served in the Louisiana Militia during the War of 1812, helping to secure the state from British control. He was a man of some education, and his sons went on to become justices of the peace and other public servants. He was a well-known figure in the region, and his 1834 death made him the appropriate figure to justify naming the parish seat for him.
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