The O'Neal Genealogy Association Newsletter

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TOGA NEWS Volume III, Issue 12, December, 2003

Last month we took a look at Adele Cutts, daughter of Eleanor O'Neale and James Madison Cutts. Adele married second, General Robert Williams. Their last child, Mildred Williams will be our topic for this article. Like her O'Neale and Cutts ancestors, Mildred had a bit of "revolutionary blood" running in her veins. I find it fascinating that Mildred would place herself in harms way. She was born "with a silver spoon in her mouth", married into a wealthy family and could have lived a life of ease and comfort. But she chose to become a war correspondent and place her life in jeopardy. There are no books published about her life. What little we know was primarily pieced together through Washington Post articles. They tell a fascinating story about one of our lesser known ancestors  Below is a little piece of Mildred Williams Farwell's life story…..

Mildred was born about 1875. In 1902 she married Walter Farwell. Walter was best known as the Directing Manager of the Texas panhandle's famous XIT Ranch. The XIT Ranch property was given to Walter's father and uncle in exchange for their building the state capital in Dallas. It was the largest fenced area in the world at one time, consisting of over 3 million acres, 6,000 miles of fenced range, containing ten counties, and held over 150,000 head of cattle. The XIT ranch broke up in the early 1900's and the last cattle were sold off in 1912. Mildred had appendicitis in 1905, while on the XIT ranch

Mildred and Walter traveled frequently throughout America and abroad. They owned and maintained homes, in Texas, Chicago and  Washington, DC. In 1909 they were presented before the Royal Court and King Edward, in London , England. In 1910 they leased a home in London and within a year they purchased a home at #13 Grosvenor Square, London.  They were well accepted in British society and shone as an example of American prosperity.

Walter and Mildred seemed to be living an idyllic life, so I'm sure it must have been a shock to family and friends when Mildred announced that she was taking a job as a journalist and War Correspondent. In 1914 she also joined the American Red Cross' Ambulance Committee in Washington, DC.  Over the next few years Mildred would see action on the French, Belgian and Italian fronts. Her dispatches and letters were sent back from the front and kept her  readership informed of the progress of the war.