Page 39 - Coffee County

“Every potential client who comes into the offce is a worthy person and should never be scorned for any of his shortcomings. Every case that comes into the offce is my livelihood and whether it is small or large, I should give it my best.” Those words are an excerpt from the philosophy written by Arthur C. Farrar and it has become a part of the family ideals. What began as one man starting his career in the feld of law has turned into generations of attorneys in a family.

The story begins in 1913 when Arthur Farrar was born as one of thirteen children on a farm in Jefferson County, Georgia. Times were diffcult in those days. His father, Walter Farrar, worked hard to provide for his family. His mother, Etura Barrier Farrar, who came from a broken home, always wanted better for her children. She stressed the importance of education and the respectability of the legal profession to them. Etura instilled this belief in Arthur and he went on to earn degrees from Middle College of Georgia and Georgia State Teachers College in Statesboro. He began teaching and later worked in Savannah as part of the Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In the summer of 1941, Arthur met Mamie Lindsey from Willacoochee while she was at summer school in Statesboro and he was there working with an adult literacy group. Shortly after, Arthur was drafted into the

army. In 1942, Mamie was able to meet him in Lawton, Oklahoma and they were married. He was discharged from the army in 1946, achieving the rank of major. Arthur and his bride moved back to Georgia and his thoughts turned to going back to school.

With the GI Bill, it became possible for him to pursue his dream of becoming a lawyer. He enrolled in Mercer University Law School and graduated with a law degree in 1949 at the age of 36 and returned to Douglas to practice law. He opened his law offce and joined the frm of Dave