Camden Sports - Mrs. William MacFarland & Far Land Thundergust

FAR LAND THUNDERGUST, a black chow dog bred by Mrs. William MAcFarland of Camden NJ, won the 1936 Westminster Dog Show award for Best of Breed in 1936. He topped that achievement by carrying the Best of the Non-Sporting group the following year.

WILLIAM MacFARLAND was born in NJ around 1864, and was living in Camden as early as 1910. In that year he and wife Emma lived at 612 Benson Street. He worked as a livestock dealer and managed a livestock business, trading mostly in horses. At the time of the 1920 Census he was living in an apartment at 232 Cooper Street with his wife Emma. William MacFarland had remarried by April of 1930. He and his second wife Gladys, over 30 years his junior, and their son William, aged 7, were living somewhere near the city limits, in Camden's 13th Ward, which encompassed Parkside and much of Whitman Park, in a home valued at $50,000... a huge amount at the time. He was by this time self-employed, operating in the livestock business. The MacFarlands started breeding and showing dogs, and specialized in the Chows breed. Their Son Too-Far Land Black Onyx won many shows, his son, Far Land Thundergust, as written above, won Best of Breed at the 1936 Westminster Dog Show and Best of Non-Sporting Group the following year. By this time William MacFarland may have passed away, as Mrs. William MacFarland is the recorded owner of Far Land Thundergust.

Camden Courier-Post - February 11, 1936

MacFARLAND ENTRY WINS IN DOG SHOW
Far Land Thundergust Victor in Chow Event at Westminster Event

New York, Feb. 11.-A Camden entrant was one of the winners in yesterday's Westminster show at the Madison Square Garden, greatest of all events in dogdom.

Showing his best against the sternest kind of competition, Champion Far Land Thundergust, a beautiful, well conformed dog owned by Mrs. William MacFarland, Camden, carried off the best of breed award for chows.

"Gust" as he has come to be known amongst the exhibitors at this "world series" of American dog shows, was, in the words of rival handlers, "at his best."

While a large first-day crowd applauded his selection, the brawny, heavily-coated black son of Son Too-Far Land Black Onyx, now in his sixth year and cutting a wide swath among the chows, seemed to sense that it was his day. He went through his routine without flaw, his coat in such excellent condition that even laymen marked him out.

Only champions compete in this group, and one of them, Shanghai Chief, owned by Mrs. Barney J. Houston, Cincinnati, pushed Thundergust for the award.

But the Camden winner, bidding for his third Westminster ribbon, and fresh from his latest triumph as best of breed at Baltimore, was not to be denied.

The Westminster is, as customary, a three-day fixture. On Wednesday night six dogs who have gone triumphantly through the various breed and group competitions will be judged for the supreme honor, best in the show.

The dog which attained this peak last year is back in the running. It is Nunsoe Duc de la Terrace of Blakeen, a white poodle. In the last 30 years of the Westminster, only three dogs have been able to win the best of breeds prize two years in a row..