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.

GENERATION I – DAVID FARIS I

DAVID FARIS I

 

GENERATION 2 – DAVID FARIS II

DAVID FARIS>FARRIS II

 

GENERATION 3 – ELIZABETH FARRIS WILKERSON

10.18.1792 – Bet. 21–27 Jul 1870

ELIZABETH FARRIS WILKERSON