Ed Mack Farrior
Meeting Mr. Ed Mack Farrior was one of my most fortunate human encounters.
I had been invited to report the Amateur Free-For-All at Union Springs. Knowing fellow Virginian Parke Brinkley and Mr. Ed Mack were close friends, I asked Parke to provide an introduction. Having recently read the memoir and seen the photo in it of Ed Mack’s home, “The House that Mack, Doc and Sam built,” I had no trouble finding it. I was greeted most warmly by Ed Mack and his charming wife Floyd and we enjoyed a delicious southern dinner prepared by her. Then Ed Mack drove me around town and the Maytag Plantation and told me story after story of events, people and dogs, each with an amusing twist. His recall from decades earlier was detailed and precise. What a treat!
On my next trip to Union Springs the Farriors invited me to stay in their home, and on Saturday, when there was no running, Mr. Ed Mack and I drove around South Alabama, visiting first Mr. Edward Farrior’s birthplace at Letohatchee, then west to Selma and on to Sedgefields (West) where he had worked before the War with Clyde Morton for AGC Sage, then east again to Marion Junction where three generations of my maternal kin are buried in the graveyard surrounded by churches.
Along the way Ed Mack recounted facts about dogs and people he had encountered in his long, fascinating life. His memory and sense of humor were remarkable. He had witnessed first hand much of the field trial history of the 20th Century and participated in the training and handling of many landmark dogs. As reading his memoir confirms, he was on the Canadian prairies for training and major circuit handling in the 1920s through the 1960s—he had seen and participated in it all. His memoir is a treasure—as was he.
On my next visit to Union Springs he scolded me good naturedly for agreeing to both judge and report the Amateur Free-For-All, which he said should never be done (he was right). After his death his daughter, Ms. Emily Watts, gave me, at his suggestion, the complete set of the Field Dog Stud Books that had been his and his father’s and which I treasure. It contains for each year from 1900 through 1948 the results of all FDSB sanctioned trials, a priceless historical resource.
Ed Mack Farrior home, Union Springs, Alabama
Wow what an experience