Has anyone kept a list of all the varations of spelling that have been mentioned? If so, forward to me at wcr@netunlimited.net and I will put something on the web page about the variations in spelling. Wanda >Please include: Pharrus, Phayre and Phayres > >Jim Phares ><pharesj@datastar.net> > >At 08:25 PM 03/18/1999 +0000, you wrote: >>Gail writes: >> >>>I totally agree with Carole about the surname spelling! We have been >>>researching quite a bit and there are tons of different spellings used, >>>sometimes several different versions in the same document. I have ruled >>>possibilities out due to spelling difference, and regretted it down the >road. >>> >>>You need to consider the times, the backgrounds, the nationalities, the >>>literacy and such when you look at the spelling variations. >> >> Here are just a few variants: >> >> Faires, Fairess, Fairish, Farash, Fares, Faress, Faris, >> Farish, Fariss, Farras, Farriss, Farrise, Farrish, >> Feris, Ferise, Ferris, Ferriss, Ferrisse, Pharis >> >> If you are aware of others, please let me know. >> >> Cheers, >> >> Don Haynie >> >> >> >>_________________________________ >> >>Dr Donald T. Haynie >>Department of Biomolecular Sciences >>UMIST >>PO Box 88, Manchester M60 1QD >>England >> >>Tel: +44 (0) 161 200 8919 >>Fax: +44 (0) 161 236 0409 >>_________________________________ >> >> >>==== FARRIS Mailing List ==== >>Your Support Keeps RootsWeb Free! >>http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/how-to-subscribe.html >> >> > > >==== FARRIS Mailing List ==== >Your Support Keeps RootsWeb Free! >http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/how-to-subscribe.html

Hi Mary Ann....Who are your Phariss's...?..Mine is also spelled this way...both my parents and myself are from Texas, from there dad's people came from MO...some went to Ark...TN, and VA....jenell

What about Farris Pete

One thing we all need to remember - how many of these people were illiterate? If that was the case the person taking the information spelled it the way they had seen it spelled before? Just a thought. -- Debi Fort Myers, FL df620@gate.net - - - - - - - - - Funny, I don't remember being absent minded.

This is interesting stuff. I often wondered about my own family folklore which says that our spelling "FERIS" (with one 'r') was the original for our clan in this country, but that they changed it to two 'r's FERRIS for some unknown reason. It stayed that way for a couple of generations then they changed it back to 'our' original "FERIS" with one 'r'!! After reading your post, I see one possibility for them to have done this. But as we know, in researching this name there has been many different spellings used on documents for the same family. It is amusing to see that on one ancestor's marriage license, his name is spelled in four different ways on this one page document. I have learned to be careful to look for all spellings now, which I didn't do when I first started researching. Dee Feris Self Roosevelt4@aol.com wrote: > > carole > i had a lady write to me once about the spellings of farris.....she had found > that way back ago, the plantation owners had given their slaves their name but > changed the spelling maybe by just a letter or in our family, some farriss' > spelled it with one capital s at the end, then two capital s's at the > end......well i am caucasian and not very proud of that part our > history....nevertheless that is one story i have heard about the different > spellings of our last name......my father for some reason or another, changed > the spelling of farris ( his first 5 children were with one s), to farriss (my > brother and myself)..........we have the same father......now is just me and > my brother and we become more confused everyday..........thnx mary > > ==== FARRIS Mailing List ==== > Submit your "Most Wanted Farris" to me and I will place your query on the "FARRIS MOST WANTED" web site at http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Cottage/1882/FMW.html

it appears maybe all of us originated maybe from Ireland. although my grandfather and definately great-grandfather lived in missouri.....this was in early 1800's to late 1800's...........any help in locating if my branch of farris is from the east coast branch will be most appreciated..........thx mary

I am leaving the lists Today. I deeply regret I am having to change Internet providers. But we will make our new home with At and t in about 1 week. In the meantime e-mail me at hope_engelmann@hotmail.com I have had dhfarris@swbell.net for about 3 yrs. It is time I have to move on. They have changed there service and i can't afford to stay with them. Take care, Hope (Engelmann) Farris

Don Haynie, I tried to send you e mail, and it said on my end that it kicked back and was not delivered. Would you be so kind as to get in touch with me direct at itapa@enter.net Thank you very much. Carole Faries Werner :}

Had to leave town suddenly, so temporarily unsubscribed - it's good to be back. As it's been awhile since I've posted my original request, I thought I'd better send it out again. Looking for information on Mary Frances FARRIS b. 21 April 1841 in TN, m. 5 Jan 1859 in Titus Co., TX to John Henry Norwood, d. 1926 in or near Hughes Springs, Cass Co., TX. Parents - unknown at this time. Would like information on parents, possible siblings, cousins, etc. She's my GGGrandmother and I'd like to find out as much about her as is possible. Thank you! Cathy L.

Hello back! I've never seen evidence that my family is connected in any way to the "early" Ferris families of New England (i.e. Jeffrey Ferris) -- but can't be positive because I haven't pinned them down before they lived in NY. As far as I know, Thomas FERRIS and Margaret Ann (surname unknown) were probably born in northern Ireland around the turn of the 19th century and most likely took a boat to somewhere in Canada ca. 1820's (where the first three children were born, based on census info) then moved to Franklin county, NY where three more children were born. Eventually, twin grandsons of this couple moved to western Massachusetts at the turn of the 20th century, one of whom is my grandfather. I've found a miniscule number of FERRIS cousins researching this particular family -- luckily all three of us are on line (little joke there). Gail Ferris -----Original Message----- From: Damaris8@aol.com <Damaris8@aol.com> To: FARRIS-L@rootsweb.com <FARRIS-L@rootsweb.com> Date: Thursday, March 18, 1999 8:59 PM Subject: Re: [FARRIS-L] names |Hi Gail! | |We are researching all the spelling variations of the name. We have a |"Ferris" group who migrated from Connecticut to Delaware and were a fairly |well know family in the Delaware area. | |My spelling is Faries, but as I've said before, it is spelled all different |ways. | |Gail Faries | | |==== FARRIS Mailing List ==== |Your Support Keeps RootsWeb Free! |http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/how-to-subscribe.html |

Most of those that recorded the names of immigrants, recorded the names the way they sounded. Gail

Here is an interesting site - I've posted it before but thought everyone might like a looka again. http://www.servicenett.no/ringnes/farris/faktarommet.html -- Debi Fort Myers, FL df620@gate.net - - - - - - - - - Funny, I don't remember being absent minded.

Hi! My branch spells it "FARISS," a varient which dates to at least the second quarter of the 19th century. Documents signed by my g-g-gf Samuel Fariss (1797-1862) spelled it that way; we do and my LaFayette, Walker Co., GA cousins (descended by another of Samuel's sons) do also. "Steve Fariss" (died ca. 1960), my grandfather's friend, of Talladega Co., AL, who was from the Amelia Co. VA branch also spelled it that way, and led the two of them to conclude they were distantly related. That presupposes the spelling dated to at least the eighteenth century, which I cannot document. By the way: that is not a capitol "S" at the end of the name in old documents, 19th century & before. I once thought it was an "interior s," as in some languages (i.e., Greek) the form of some consonants varies with its position in the word. More recently, however, I ran across a reference that it represents a "long s" sound, while our more familiar "s" represented a short "s" sound. I do not know the linguistic origin of these differences, but it sounds vaguely Gaelic to me. John Fariss

Good Morning Gang, I have copies of wills here, the name starts out Faries, then through the document it changes to Ferris, or Faris and the signer puts his name with Faries.....other folks wrote the wills as dictated back then. They were called "Burgesses" or "Town Solicitors", some were lawyers. I also see that one of the s's is formed like an f....which is how they wrote the double ss in those days. They had very flambouant handwriting and it is interesting to see just how they handled things. (difficult to read, until you get the hang of it) so it is anyones guess until verified. I was told, when I first started out with the research, that names were spelled all different ways, and shortened for naturalization. Also that you looked before, as well as after the date found....if you were researching as they could be anywhere in there. In my family bible, whoever entered the information, entered it wrong. The birthdate and place were wrong. (If parents did not read and write, when children went to school they entered information) so the possibilities are endless. We are finding information incorrect on tomb stones! Who would have ever thought that would happen!!!! Having that 1890 census would be the answer for all of us! Shame it burned. Tax records, deeds, church records, and the like are all we can hope for to fill in the blanks. Please don't forget to check and see if the newspaper of the time is on microfilm anywhere, you can research your dates from the paper and see what information is listed in the articles. Wills are great, if they made one.... Gail and I found a connection to the Ferris group in early 1600's in Conn. (I had ruled out the Mayflower research!) They came in from England, but started in Scotland then Ireland. Some of them moved down to Delaware, and from there some of them moved to South Carolina and everywhere else. I found some who came into Maryland, to pay for crimes they commited in the mother land. (Like stealing a sheep!) I am tracking the shipping trade of the times, and there was a major port in New Castle on the Delaware. (that sounds so cool!) Ever hear of "Black Beard" the Pirate? Yep, New Castle DE. Some of the Ferris boys were captains, found one that....the Pirates took his ship and he went after them and got his ship back and took their ship! It is all unfolding in a very interesting way. Also consider the work! Follow the ore mines, silver and gold mines, mills (wool, steel, etc.) railroads, and highways. (The Irish built most of our highways!) Stonemasions, blacksmiths, carriage makers, furniture makers (We have Faries Windsor Chairs!). We have the Ferris Wheel and popcorn made for the Queen (Conn group) as with so many others, our Faries families were very adept at what they did! Yes, the slaves did take the master's names or parts of them. It is really something, we had slaves down south and up north there were Faries boys who were involved in the underground railroad to help the slaves get to Canada....and freedom. We have war heros, and pioneers, writers and printers. History will give you many new clues and rewards......:] The more you research, the more amazed you will become..... Our family, like all the other families to the New Land, were really something else......:] Carole I am still looking for that Delaware Triangle spot. I thought that it was in my bookmarks, but alas.....tis now where to be found.

John, Did you ever find out the parents of Samuel Fariss, your grandfather's friend? Kathy Brown Huddcooley@aol.com

Thanks to all who have provided alternative spellings of 'Farris'. Regards, Don Haynie _________________________________ Dr Donald T. Haynie Department of Biomolecular Sciences UMIST PO Box 88, Manchester M60 1QD England Tel: +44 (0) 161 200 8919 Fax: +44 (0) 161 236 0409 _________________________________

Gail, The spelling p-h-a-r-i-s is no longer in use in (Northern) Ireland. It seems unlikely that this spelling ever was very popular there. Don At 00:10 19/03/99 EST, you wrote: >gail > >my father did tell me once that when our ancester farris' came from ireland, >the first spelling was pharis........today is the first time i have actually >seen it in your listing..........and yes, those old days just seem to those of >us who are searching, just really sad times.........you should be proud of >your name and what it stands for.....yet there are so many stories about why >it has changed thru the years......what will our future children think....hope >all of us can get this straightened out for them........thx mary > > >==== FARRIS Mailing List ==== >Submit your "Most Wanted Farris" to me and I will place your query on the "FARRIS MOST WANTED" web site at http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Cottage/1882/FMW.html > > _________________________________ Dr Donald T. Haynie Department of Biomolecular Sciences UMIST PO Box 88, Manchester M60 1QD England Tel: +44 (0) 161 200 8919 Fax: +44 (0) 161 236 0409 _________________________________

Interested in interesting spellings? How about "Phares"? My family spells it that way pretty consistently back as far as I can trace. By the way, they are in Burlington County, NJ (Mt. Holly area). I would be very interested in anyone who is also researching this branch. Thanks, -- Cliff Anderson

What were their names, in my line way back there were two cousins that married each other, they Sarah Ann and Edgar Theordore. Let me know Pete

My great- grandfather is marked on the same headstone as his wife. His last name is spelled Farris and her last name is spelled Faris. And this same family is listed in the 1850 census records as Pharis. I learned not to rule any of them out when looking. You never know when it may be the one you're looking for.