My Genealogy Hound

Rev. Edward D. Farris, a native of Jackson County, Ala., was born on the 27th of June, 1827. His parents, John and Jane (Gunther) Farris, were born in Giles County, Tenn., in 1810, and Jackson County, Ala., respectively. The father died in Henderson County, Tenn., in 1872, and the mother in her native county, in 1831. Rev. Edward Farris is the seventh of nine children. His early days were spent in assisting his father on the farm, and in rafting in Mississippi swamps. He was educated at Westbrook Academy and Bethel College, and joined the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in 1848. He was licensed to preach in 1853, and joined the Obion Presbytery in March, 1849, at Mayfield, Ky., and was ordained in March, 1855, at Troy, Tenn. He has spent thirty-three years in the ministry, and is what may be called an old style Cumberland Presbyterian preacher. He is a Democrat, and in March, 1860, was elected county court clerk of Obion County, and was re-elected in March, 1866, and again in 1870, and the last time in 1874, the term expiring in 1878. Rev. Farris is a Mason, and was Master of Western Sun Lodge, No. 88, at Troy, for about fifteen consecutive years. He was married June 10, 1852, to Martha C. Dickey, and by her became the father of three children: Emma, Mattie L. and Edward D. Mrs. Farris died in 1867, and in 1868 he married Mrs. Mary M. Denning, daughter of S. B. Crittendon. Mrs. Farris was born in Weakley County, Tenn., in 1843, and is the mother of two children: Lulu A. and Dora B.