Dr. McFarland was born in 1838 in Platte County, Missouri. He served as a surgeon in the U. S. Army in the Civil War.
He married Frances Matilda "Fannie" Peniston in 1868 in Daviess County.
Their oldest daughter, Frances Susan "Frankie" McFarland, married Alfred Anton Schute.
In 1870, Dr. McFarland was a practicing physician in Jackson Township, Daviess County. Dr. McFarland died in 1901.