U.S. Ambassador Joseph Simpson Farland (August 11, 1914 - January 28, 2007) was born in Clarksburg.

Farland was an only child. His father, Richard, was a bank teller and his mother, Grace, was a housewife. His grandfathers on both sides were coal operators. When Farland was in fourth grade, his father was diagnosed with tuberculosis and moved to Asheville, North Carolina, for treatment; Farland and his mother moved in with his maternal grandfather in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Three years later, the family reunited and returned to Clarksburg.

Throughout his teen years, Farland’s family struggled financially. In high school, Farland trapped muskrats to help earn money for college. He graduated from Clarksburg’s Washington Irving High School in 1932. In January 1933 he entered West Virginia University, where he majored in political science and minored in economics. Among his professors was future Secretary of the Army Stephen Ailes; their paths would later cross when both men served in President John F. Kennedy’s administration. Farland received his undergraduate degree in 1936 and law degree in 1938, both from WVU.

Farland married Virginia Christopher, whom he had met in Morgantown, and became a special prosecuting attorney in Wheeling. In 1942 Farland joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation, where he was tasked with protecting secrets related to the atomic bomb. In 1944, with World War II still going, Farland joined the U.S. Navy, training at Princeton University and Stanford University. He was later stationed in Korea and served as the Navy’s liaison to the military forces of Korea, a role that prepared him for his future as a diplomat.

In 1946, Farland left the Navy and returned to West Virginia. He purchased and managed a mine in Shinnston, and then served as president of Farland Fuel Company, Farland Coal Corporation, and Christopher Fuel Corporation. He also was director of several banks, including First National Bank of Morgantown. Around this time, Farland served as chairperson of the building committee for Morgantown’s Trinity Episcopal Church. In this role, he worked closely with the church’s architect, Philip H. Frohman, who had served most notably as chief architect for Washington’s National Cathedral.

Farland, a Republican, grew active in state politics. Around 1955, he met U.S. Under Secretary of State Herbert Hoover Jr., which led to a job in the state department. In 1957, President Dwight Eisenhower named Farland ambassador to the Dominican Republic. He served in this position until 1960, when Eisenhower named him ambassador to Panama. Farland remained in this post even after the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy, a Democrat, in 1961. Farland resigned from the ambassadorship in September 1963.

From 1969 to 1972, Farland served under President Richard Nixon as ambassador to Pakistan. Farland helped National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger secretly travel to China, in July 1971, by way of Pakistan. This was a precursor to Nixon’s historic visit to China months later. From 1972 to 1973, Farland served as ambassador to Iran, after which he returned to private law practice.

Farland died from complications of a stroke at his home in Winchester, Virginia. He was buried, alongside his wife, in Morgantown’s East Oak Grove Cemetery.