The Faris/Farris Family
Pictures and Signatures
Introduction
Like so many of my other families, the Farris family had the tradition of using the same names over and over. Consequently it is very confusing trying to figure out who is who.
Apparently the Faris Family originates from County Down or Antrim area of Ireland and the family had at least four boys: William, David, Cornelius, and Arthur. It is unknown who the parents were.
The boys immigrated to this county in the early 1760's where they show up in the early records of the Berkeley County portion of Frederick County, Virginia. It is not known if they went directly to that area or lived somewhere else first.
Berkeley County was formed from Frederick County, Virginia in 1772 and remained a part of Virginia until the state of West Virginia was created in 1863. Because of its location in the lower Shenandoah Valley, Berkeley County was a natural magnet for migration and a focal point of westward expansion. Much of the early conflict of our country between the British and French due to migration pressures took place in the eastern panhandle of what is now West Virginia, and the first great migrations to the West cut right through Berkeley County, originating for the most part in Pennsylvania and Maryland.
Martinsburg is in about the center of the picture and as you can tell is not too far from Baltimore which was a major port and entry into the United States about this time, so it probable that they landed at Baltimore and worked their way west to what was then Berkeley County, Virginia and is now Berkeley County, West Virginia.
The next map shows where Berkeley County is today in relationship to the other Counties in West Virginia. Back when the Faris Family arrived in this are the entire "panhandle" or "great neck section" of Virginia was part of Berkeley County.
The spelling of the brother's last name is usually Faris or Farris.
Three of the brothers and their families lived in the Berkeley County area until the early 1800's. Apparently Cornelius moved away and nothing is known about him.
Arthur had two children: George and Mary and that he died in 1811 in Berkeley County. It is not know who he married.
William Faris and his wife Dorratha Johnson stayed in Berkeley County where they both died in Elm Grove, Virginia (West Virginia) in 1804 and 1818 respectively. Their children were: John, David, Adam, Mary and William Jr.
David Faris I
I descend through David Faris I. It is not known when he was born and he died in 1772 in Berkeley County according to County rent rolls in 1772. He was married Charity Silver (or her last name was similar to Silver) and they had at least four children: Charity, Nancy, Aaron, and David II. There were Silvers in Berkeley County at this time.
Aaron married Jane Parks and they moved to Mason County, Kentucky where he died.
Charity married John White and they moved to Delaware County, Ohio where they both are buried. They had 11 children of which one was Nancy who married Soloman Steward.
Nancy married William Harper. They moved to Fayette County, Ohio around 1805. It is unknown how many children they had, but at least one was named Mary and she married William Reed.
Davis Farris II
David Faris II married Elizabeth Hendricks on June 8, 1786 in Berkeley County, Virginia (West Virginia). They were married by Rev. Hugh Vance as was his sister Nancy. Somewhere along the way the spelling of his name got changed to Farris. He and Elizabeth moved to Warren County Ohio close to the eastern most part of the county adjacent to Clinton County Ohio in 1806 as was reported in the History of Warren County, Ohio. Records about the David Farris family are found in both Warren and Clinton Counties. Looking at the map below Clarksville is in the center on the right side of the map just across the County line. When David Farris first came to the county he settled near Fort Ancient due west of Clarksville.
"In 1806, David Farris removed from Virginia. with a large family, on pack horses, and settled first on the Little East Fork, near the fort in Tribbey's bottom, and, in 1808, purchased 400 acres, mostly in Warren County, and settled on the Bull Skin road. He was a chair-maker and furnished the settlers with chairs, some of which are still in use or kept as relics of early and honest workmanship."
Warren County is just north and east of Cincinnati.
Something must have happened to the David Faris (I) family in Berkeley County about this time because Nancy and her husband William Harper also moved to Fayette County around 1805. It is interesting that none of the children stayed in Berkeley County.
We know from
Gateway to the West, Volume II, Warren Co., Will Abstracts, 1806-1815
that David and Elizabeth had at least 12 children.
"FARRIS, David Dated 3111814; recorded 6161814. Wife, Elizabeth.
Sons: David, John, William and James.
Daughters: Polly, Charity, Elizabeth, Rebecca, Jane, Nancy, Dolly and Priscilla.
Executors: Eli Haney and Caleb Haney.
Signed: David Farris. Witnesses: Stephen McKinny and Danl Freestone."
Very little is known about the children other than James, David III, Charity, and Elizabeth my 3rd great grandmother.
From the History of Warren County we know that "About 1812, James Farris settled on the Clarksville road, the place now being owned by Dr. Z. T. Garland." (Clarksville is the County seat of Clinton County).
We know from Warren County marriage records that Charity was born in 1789 in Berkeley County and married Benjamin Johnson in 1809. Apparently she died in 1871 in Dallas County, Iowa..
David III was born March 2, 1799 probably in Berkeley County, Virginia so he was quite young when the family moved to Warren County. In 1818 he married Abigail Vandervort who was 13 years his senior. They had at least two children Jonathan born in 1824 and Nancy born in 1826. Jonathan married Mary J. Unknown and they had two children Grandville born in 1853 and Margaret born in 1845. David and Abigail died in 1882 and 1859 respectively and are buried at the Wilkerson Cemetery in Warren County. Go to the link for a list of who is buried in the Wilkerson Cemetery. As a note there is an Aaron Farris who died Aug 2, 1867 at the age of 52y 3m 1d. I don't know who Aaron is. He would have been born in 1815. David II didn't list him as an heir and David III was only 16.
Elizabeth Farris
Elizabeth Farris was my 3rd great grandmother. She was born October 18, 1792 in Virginia. So she would have been about 14 when her parents moved to Warren County. Since her parents were married in 1786 she must have been one of the older children. She married John Wilkerson one of her neighbors December 5, 1811 in Clinton County, Ohio - probably Clarksville only a few miles away and the area where John and Elizabeth lived after they were married.
John and Elizabeth had 13 children: Ann, David F., Sarah, John, Henry, William, Jane A., Elizabeth, Marion Lina, Francis Marion, Nancy, Mary Emeline, and James H.
For more information
about John and Elizabeth's family please go to their page at the
Wilkerson Family.