William John McGee, LL.D. was an American inventor, geologist, anthropologist, and ethnologist, born in Farley, Iowa. He always referred to himself as J W McGee, without period.

Farley is a city in Dubuque County, Iowa, United States. It is part of the Dubuque, Iowa Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,766 at the time of the 2020 census, up from 1,334 in 2000. Farley is the seventh-largest town in Dubuque County, recently passed by Peosta, Iowa.