This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Farris Faris Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/GeV.2ACEB/2155.2 Message Board Post: These are my notes for Elisha Farris: ELISHA FARRIS was born in 1745 in Lunenburg County, Virginia. He married Mary (or Charlotte?) Vaughn on April 1, 1765 in Charlotte County, Virginia. Mary was daughter of Thomas Vaughn. John Vaughn signed as bondsman. Elisha and Mary had at least three daughters, one of which was named Nancy. There were most likely other children. Note the reference in the British Mercantile Claims below, that his family was living in Kentucky after he and his wife's death in 1791. It is quite possible Elisha and Mary had at least three sons: Elisha, Jr.; Thomas; and Edward. Elisha, Jr. and Edward could be the persons listed under the Tax list of their grandfather, James Esom Farris (1794 Tax list for Lincoln County, Kentucky). Elisha's HEIRS were named in an 1823 Scott County, Virginia lawsuit over his estate: Elisha (Jr?), Thomas, Sally and Nancy. These were either Elisha's children or grandchildren. In one passage of this lawsuit the heirs are also described as CHILDREN AND HEIRS. Some researchers also include these children: Champion, James, and Nathan. Further research is needed to identify correctly the children of Elisha and Mary. INDIAN ATTACK ON ELISHA'S TAVERN Elisha, Mary, a daughter (Mary), and grandchild were killed during an Indian attack on Elisha's Tavern, near Moccasin Gap (near Gate City, VA) 26 Aug 1791. Another daughter, Nineteen-year-old Nancy, was taken by the Indians, but later escaped. Gate City may have also been known as Estillville. CONFUSION ABOUT MRS. LIVINGSTON SURVIVING THE INDIAN ATTACK This account given 6 Apr 1794, from the calendar of VA State papers, Vol 7, page 375. follows: Mrs. Peter Livingston with her children were taken by Captain Bench, from their home on the Holstein (Holston) River. They took them many miles. She whispered to the children to get away, as the Indians did not watch them too closely. The children did get away. Captain Bench told her he was going to steal all of Isaac Shelby's slaves. The Militia under Vincent Hobbs attacked and killed Bench and most of the Indians. The one guarding Mrs. Livingston hit her on the head with his "tomhawke", but she recovered in about one hour. Hobbs scalped Bench and sent the scalp to the Governor of VA. Note: According to research by Robbie Sue Farris Glover the "Mrs. Livingston" mentioned above was the wife of Peter Livingston; she was not a Farris daughter. Peter's brother, Henry Livingston, was married to Mary Farris. Mary was the Livingston wife that was killed at Elisha's home (See notes on Mary Farris Livingston). BACKGROUND ON CAPTAIN BENGE, WHO LED RAID ON ELISHA'S TAVERN John Benge, an Indian trader who lived among the Cherokee, was married to Wurteh who was part of an influential Cherokee family. John was previously married to Elizabeth Lewis, daughter of William Terrell Lewis and Sarah Martin. Elizabeth's sister, Susannah, married John's brother, Thomas Benge. John and Elizabeth had several children at their home in western North Carolina. Apparently, John was living with Wurteh at his home with the Cherokee (probably Tuquo) and had several children born there. These were Robert, Utana "the Tail", Lucy, and Tashliske. After Elizabeth and the Lewis family found out about John's Cherokee family, their marriage was dissolved. Wurteh also had a child from a man whose last name was Gist or Guess and their child became known to history as Sequoyah. Robert and Sequoyah were half brothers. Circa 1788: John's son, Robert Benge, was married to a Cherokee woman and settled at a site still called Benge's Field just south of present day Trenton, GA. This was the Cherokee village called Lookout Town. Summer of 1791: At the Cherokee town called Running Water in present day southernmost Tennessee, Robert Benge announced that he was going to start a raiding campaign against white settlers in southwestern Virginia. Five men joined him and the proceeded northward. BENGE'S ATTACKS ON THE VIRGINIA SETTLEMENTS August 23, 1791: Robert Benge's group raided the William McDowell house near Moccasin Gap (Russell Co., VA). Two whites were killed and an 8 year old boy and woman were captured. August 26, 1791: A party of Indians, headed by Captain Benge of the Cherokee tribe, attacked the house of ELISHA FARRIS, two miles from Mockison (sic) Gap, murdered Mr. Farris at his house, and made prisoner Mrs. Farris and her daughter, Mrs. Livingston, and a young child together with Nancy Farris. All but the latter were cruelly murdered the first day of their captivity. (Bledsoe et al. in Summers, 1903, p 438) Note: According to research by Robbie Sue Farris Glover, there has been confusion about the fate of Mrs. Livingston. Was she killed, or did she survive the Indian attack? The answer is, there were two Mrs. Livingstons. The "Mrs. Livingston" mentioned above was Mary Farris Livingston, daughter of Elisha and Mary and the wife of Henry Livingston. Henry Livingston had a brother, Peter, whose wife was also involved in an Indian raid; This "Mrs. Livingston" was tomahawed, but survived the attack. (See notes on Mary Farris Livingston). CONFLICTS REGARDING ELISHA FARRIS'S PROPERTY AFTER HIS DEATH From the "Bristol Herald Courier," Sunday, November 15, 1964 BACKGROUND- WILDERNESS ROAD Some suggest that the origin of the Wilderness Road was at Fort Chiswell (Ft. Chissel) on the Great Valley Road where roads converged from Philadelphia and Richmond. Others claim the Wilderness Road actually began at Sapling Grove (now Bristol, Virginia) which lay at the extreme southern end of the Great Valley Road because it was at that point that the road narrowed, forcing travelers to abandon their wagons. It moved through the Cumberland Gap, the only real way to reach Blue Grass land in those days. These travelers, when they had some money in the complicated currency of that day when coin was weighed on scales to determine the value in different states, would buy flour to use on the way.. GEORGE ROBERTS' MILL George Roberts, for the first and only time in his life, was prospering. In spite of the activities of the area, the Revolutionary War was being fought. In general Southwest Virginia knew little, and cared less, about the Revolutionary War. The present day descendant who thinks great-great something or other grandpa decided the fate of the Revolutionary War from Southwest Virginia is merely displaying his own abysmal ignorance. Most of the time, there were only a handful who really knew there was a war being fought; others were too busy trying to wrest a precarious living from the savage land and the landed savages to the southeast (the Cherokees). There was, of course, one battle-only one-in which the bobtail over mountain men made a contribution to the Revolutionary cause and that was the Battle of King's Mountain. Many Scott county men fought in this battle, men such as Johnathon Wood, Peter Morrison, and a man already mentioned in this article, James Davidson. This was, of course, the second James Davidson. Almost exactly eight years after the Battle of King's Mountain, on Oct. 1, 1780, Silas and Sarah Enyart sold their tract of 200 acres of land to James Davidson, Jr., (the elder James Davidson did not die until 1794), the Enyarts having moved into a smaller tract on which they had survey rights later than the Gate City tract. By the following spring, early in the year, Silas Enyart was dead and his widow and son left the area. Their departure did not resolve the problem that had been raised over the mills of George Roberts and the land around it. CONFLICT ON PROPERTY THAT PASSED FROM SILAS ENYARD TO JAMES DAVIDSON, WHO SOLD TO ELISHA FARRIS Roberts had understood that he was to have had the ten acres as a gift for having established the mill and that the 40 acres surrounding the original ten would be sold him to allow him a decent tract on which his mill could operate. It must be confessed that George was a rather engaging, but worthless, scamp and he allowed the mill to fall into disrepair as soon as the Kentucky travelers began going through less frequently and, stopping as they did at the Block House of Colonel Anderson, they filled up on provisions there, not stopping at the Roberts mill for provisions. Regardless of the quality of Roberts' mill or his activity, he claimed to have been promised by Enyart a deed to the ten acres and a right to purchase forty more. He also claimed that when Enyart sold to Davidson and Davidson to ELISHA FARRIS on August 18, 1789, he was assured of this right. However, Farris was killed by the Indians, with several members of his family, on August 26, 1791, so it is impossible to say whether or not Farris had so promised. Anyhow, the land eventually sold back to James Davidson, JR., who made his "patriotic" gesture of offering the land for the courthouse to the county of Scott in 1815. The suit was filed just after the land got valuable enough to quarrel over! LAWSUIT AGAINST HEIRS OF ELISHA FARRIS AND GEORGE EWING An 1823 Scott Co. lawsuit (Elisha was killed in what is now Scott Co. in 1791) says Elisha's heirs who are being sued are: Thomas, Sally, Nancy, and Elisha. Also being sued was George Ewing. I thought at first he might be a son-in-law, but I think he got the disputed land so he was probably more the subject of the suit (probably bought Elisha!s land). Now we already know that a daughter Nancy survived the Indian attack in 1791. And we know that a daughter, Mary Livingston, was killed by those same Indians. So now we know for sure FIVE of Elisha!s kids: Thomas, Sally, Nancy, Elisha, Jr., and Mary Livingston (died 1791). There MAY have been other children: Champion, James, and Nathan. LEGAL DESCRIPTION OF LAND THAT WAS INVOLVED IN LAWSUIT from Robbie Sue Farris Glover research "This indenture made this 9th day of September in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty three between John S. Martin of Scott County and State of Virginia for and on behalf of Elisha Faris, Thomas Faris, Sally Faris and Nancy Faris, heirs of Elisha Faris, deceased, non residents of the said State of the one part and George Ewing of the said County of Scott and State of Virginia of the other part, witnesseth that whereas by a decree in chancery of the worshipful the court of said county made and prounced on the 16th day of August last in a suit between the heirs of James Osborne deceased, Complainant and the heirs of Elisha Faris deceased, defts. It was decreed that the said John S. Martin should convey the thirty acres of land in the bill mentioned with special warranty against himself and his heirs, to George Ewing, the present owner .. as his decree his title from the complts. through purchase made by John Wood and others, the said tract containing thirty acres ... by the same more or less and beginning at a iron wood sugar tree and dogwood on the south side of Moquison Creek and turning thence .... ..... poles to a stake ??? crossing the creek, thence 1015 E12 poles to a white oak thence north 46 poles to a stake on an ------- line thence with the same 1052 .... 20 poles to a white oak corner to William Howerton ... land thence S s E 97 poles to two white oaks sapplings on a gravely spruce S 23' .. 23 poles to a smal white oak in a hollow SC E 30 poles to a sugar tree walnut and white oak on the bank of the Creek William Howerton's Spring. then up the creek and crossing the same 13 poles to the Beginning. Now therefore I the said John S. Martin by virtue of the authority aforesaid do hereby convey to the said George Ewing the said above described of thirty acres of land be the same or more or less with its appurtenance to him the said George Ewing, his heirs and assigns forever to his and the.. only ..... us and behoof, and the said John S. Martin for himself and his heirs and by virtue of the said decree, doth hereby covenant and agree to //// with the said George Ewing ... his heirs that he the said John S. Martin and his heirs, the s... tract or parcel of land shall and will warrant and forever defend against himself and heirs. In witness whereof the said John S. Martin as commission under the decree aforesaid hath hereto subscribed his name and affixed his seal the day and year first above written. John S. Martin, Coms. SEAL Virginia At a Court held for Scott County the 9th day of September 1823, this indenture of bargain and sale .... John S. Martin coms'er on behalf of the heirs of Elisha Faris deceased to George Ewing was acknowledged in Court by the said Martin to be his act and deed and ordered to be recorded. Teste John S. Martin, D.C." Other historical notes of interest 1 Apr 1765 Charlotte Co. VA: Marriage Bond. Jno. Vaughn, bondsman. States that Mary was the daughter of Thomas Vaughn and she signs her own consent. ** 1767 Tithed as Elijah, Pittsylvania Co. VA. (Elijah born 1761 in Halifax Co. VA) 16 Feb 1771 Patented 400A, Pittsylvania Co. VA, on Fly Blow creek. 9 Nov 1771 Halifax Co. VA, DB 8, p. 330: Elisha Faris boundary in deed of William Broughill & Sarah, his wife, of Antrim Parish, Halifax to John East of Camden & County of Pittsylvania, 100 acres south branch Brush Cr. Rec. 19 Mar. 1772. 12 Jan 1775 Pittsylvania Co. VA, DB 4, p. 140: Elisha Farris, Alex'r Donelson, Thomas Vaughan & John Buckley wit deed of John Clever to James Buckley, about 400 acres in Halifax Co. on Buffalo Cr. bounded by Luke Smith, March Banks. Rec. 25 May 1775. 11 Mar 1775 Pittsylvania Co. VA, DB 4, p. 345: wit deed of John Clever to Wm. Lynch.. Rec. 26 Jun 1777. 6 Feb 1777 Pittsylvania Co. VA, DB 4, p. 290: Elisha Faris (Farris) of Pittsylvania Co. to Robert (Robertson) Farguson of Pittsylvania for 65 pounds, about 100 acres bounded by Hickeys Road, Clever, Flyblow Cr., William Todd, a corner near the house, Brewes, a corner pine near the Muster Ground. Signed: Elisha Farris. Wit: Ben Lankford, John Buckley, John George, Robert (+ his mark) Bruce. Rec. 27 Feb. 1777. 8 Dec 1777 Pittsylvania Co. VA, DB 4, p. 475: John Clever of Pittsylvania Co. to Thomas Tunstall of Halifax Co., for 400 pounds, all that tract of land whereon the said John Clever now lives, containing about 465 acres, being the land that the said John Clever purchased of Elisha Faris, and bounded as by deed from the said Elisha Faris to the said John Clever is expressed. Signed: John Clever. Wit: R. Farguson, Millicent Farguson, Milli Farguson. Rec. 26 Mar. 1778. 1782 Tax Roll, Lincoln Co. VA (KY) 21 Feb 1784 Washington Co. VA - Survey, Elisha Farris 116 acres Mockison Creek. (Another researcher says a Moses Farris did this survey) Also listed on 23 Jan. 1783 is a survey for Moses Pharis, 114 acres on Moccasin Creek). 1787 Tax List Lincoln Co. VA (KY) Listed with Johnson & Cager (Micajah). This MAY have been this Elisha, who then returned to Virginia where he was killed in 1791. 1791 Edward Farris qualifies as Administrator of the estate of Elisha Farris, killed by Indians near Gate City, Virginia (Bk. 1, p. 239- Russell County). 1791 Appraisers appointed for estate (Bk 1, p. 240) 27 Sep 1791 On motion of Edward Faris, Administration is granted him on the estate of Elisha Faris, deceased, whereupon he together with Champ Faris, his security, entered into bond in the penalty of 400 pounds, as the law directs. 27 Sep 1791 Estate of Elisha transferred: 116 acres on both sides of Moccasin Creek to James Osborn. 116 acres granted unto Elisha Faris by patent date of 14 June 1787. Mentions 3 white oak north side Crabtree branch N 56 degrees W 61 poles to a white oak. "Elisha was paid 150 pounds in his lifetime." Edward Faris signed. Filed same date (Osborn was one of the county commissioners) August 1792 Ordered that John Tate and James Gibson settle with Edward Faris, adm. of the estate of Elisha Faris, deceased, and return account therof (Bk 2, p. 23 Law Order Books, Russell County). 1792 & 1793 "Eliche" has 200 taxable acres; 1794 No record 5 Aug 1796 Lee Co. VA, DB 1, p. 63: Edward Farris of Lincoln Co. KY, sells 200 acres in Moccasin Gap to Champion Farris of Russell Co. VA. (copy of original deed. Could this have been Elisha's land?) "Virginia Genealogist" Vol. 25, No. 1, 1980 - BRITISH MERCANTILE CLAIMS 1775 - 1803 The books show indebtedness in the entries as follows, for Elisha Farris, with the remarks that he had removed from Pittsylvania and Halifax Counties, VA, to "somewhere on the Clinch River, where he was killed by Indians." Further remarks said his family was now in KY and "are probably able to pay". Halifax Store - 29 Jun 1773 - 2 pounds, 8 shillings, 8 pence Halifax Store - Dec 1773 - bond at 12 pounds, 9 shillings, 6 pence. Pittsylvania Store - 25 Dec 1773 - 12 pounds, 2 shillings Pittsylvania Store - 1774 - 5 pounds, 3 shillings, 6 pence 17 Apr 1818 Washington Co. VA Nancy Farris married Harry Garnett References: Tax Lists Lincoln Co. KY ANNALS OF SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA - Summers Published Deed Abstracts from Halifax Co. VA VIRGINIA TAX PAYERS - Fothergill & Naugle Photocopy of original marriage bond and consent from Charlotte Co. VA (6/28/96-skm) SOURCE(S): Randall Farris (original sheet) Updated by Sandra McIntire 6/28/96. Updated by Sharlene McDaniel 3/22/02 Updated by Don Chesnut Updated by Edward A. Pollard Updated by Robbie Sue Farris Glover FARRIS BLOCK-HOUSE NEAR ESTILLVILLE, LOCATION OF ELISHA'S TAVERN? Excerpt from THE VIRGINIA TOURIST, "Sketches of the Springs and Mountains of Virginia", by Edward A. Pollard, Published by J.B. Lippincott & Co. 1870, in Philadelphia "Five miles from Estillville, and on the road by which we approached it from Bristol, are the ruins of a block-house which protected the early settlers; and a fearful story yet clings to a spring within the limits of the village, where a family of the name of FARRIS perished under the tomahawks of the savages, their blood dying the waters of the brook." The passage goes on to describe a point west of this location ran the "thoroughfare through which the tribes inhabiting the Rockcastle hills, in the wilderness of Kentucky, passed to the old settlements of Virgina. Not far from here, too, was the range of the celebrated Cherokee chief, 'Dragon Canoe,' worthy to be ranked with Tecumseh or Osceola in courage or skill, and who suffered a defeat fatal to his tribe in 1776, at the battle of the Great Island in the Holston River." Note: Robbie Sue Farris Glover has located Elisha Farris's homeplace. It is located in Gate City, Virginia. A very large sign stands at the spot where Elisha Sr. was killed. It is located at the corner of a Pizza Inn. UPDATE (May 2002): Based on the above Elisha Farris's death, along with some of his family, occurred in Gate City, Virginia, adjacent to the present day Pizza Inn. There were two different "Mrs. Livingstons", one of which was a Farris daughter of Elisha who was killed, along with her parents. The other Mrs. Livingston survived her attack. The heirs of Elisha, mentioned in 1823 Scott Co. lawsuit were listed in one passage as "children & heirs." In addition to those children mentioned in the lawsuit there is evidence that Edward Farris may have been a son of Elisha. After the death of the parents Edward administered Elisha's estate. He took the younger children to Lincoln County, Kentucky where his grandfather, James Esom, lived and consented (later) for Nancy to marry Nimrod Farris. The relationship as "father" to Nancy comes from a typed list that is inaccurate. The original record does not show Edward as father to Nancy Farris. There is a close relationship between Edward, Elisha (Jr.) and Champion Farris. Robbie Sue Farris Glover maintains that Champion is a possible brother to Edward and Elisha Jr.