|
a.
|
Note: 1859 - 1934
The night I.J. was born, there was a hard freeze. His son Gus saidthat the family turkeys, roosting outside, froze and fell out of thetrees. Annie Stockton Fariss told Max Fariss that the hogs froze inthe hog pen.
Gus Fariss told his son Robert Elwyn Fariss that his father I.J. wasborn at Bullfrog on Raab's Creek in the Serbin Community, seven milessouth of Giddings. Annie Stockton Fariss has shown Max Fariss an oldhome near there made of sawed cypress logs. This must be the early homeof William Holmes Fariss and Amelia Scott Jones.
Annie Stockton told Max Fariss that the Fariss family worshipped atthe Serbin Church, which they had helped build.
Gus said that his father I.J. was always proud of his Dutch ancestry.The family in 1992, including Annie Fariss Ballard, has NEVER heardof any Dutch ancestry. The Fariss family is more English. I. J.may have been referring to his German Wendish friends at Serbin. I.J. learned to speak German there.
He was christened Ira Killough Fariss, in honor of his father'sfriend and army captain Ira Griffin Killough of LaGrange. There were nobirth records or birth certificates in those days. Young Ira admiredthe Jones family and especially his Uncle Andrew Jones so much, that hestarted signing himself Ira Jones Fariss, and the name stuck, eventhrough his banking days. There was no one who could tell him that hecouldn't change it. Ira G. Killough was the great-grandfather of FairyThompson, the genealogist who helped Charlie Wilson in Houston.
His uncle Andrew Jones made several cattle drives to Kansas on theChisholm Trail through what is now Leedey, Oklahoma. I. J.'s brotherMack Fariss did make some cattle drives at about age 14, probablyaccompanying his Uncle Andrew Jones. I. J. himself may have made acattle drive or two.
One of these cowboys apparently brought home an 8-day Seth Thomasmantle clock and a brass coal-oil lamp. Oil lamps had just come in toKansas City, and were not known in central Texas. The Fariss family hadone of the first. William Holmes and Amelia Fariss were apprehensive ofit, and kept it inside the fireplace for fear of explosion. The clockhad a place of honor in the I. J. Fariss home. A special shelf wasbuilt for it when they moved to a different room, on the occasion ofElvira Stockton moving out when she married in 1909.
Emily Fariss Joekel inherited the brass oil lamp and a familiarfamily spindle-design daybed, which are in Corpus Christi in 1992 withEmily Fariss Joekel Carnes. The locations of the Amelia Jones specialsmall chair and the Seth Thomas clock are not known, unless the clock iswith Raymond Elledge Jr. in Houston.
I. J. registered the FJ cattle brand, for Fariss-Jones, in Brenhamat age 14. Max Augustine Fariss is still using this brand in 1996.
Ira's grandmother Patsy Peery Jones moved in to Giddings from herRound Top farm, but we don't know the year. She had arthritis realbad. Emily Fariss Joekel told Annie Marie Joekel Walthall that I. J.helped his grandmother with fire wood and other chores around her housein Giddings. He was almost 19 when she died. His grandfather Jonesdied 13 years before he was born.
I. J. lived in his own house before he got married. Aunt DeliaJones made her home there with him, apparently while she was stillsingle. Aunt Dee was ill-tempered and very hard to get along with.
I. J.'s girls Emily and Annie, and even the adopted Minnie, were notgiven middle names: Poppa wanted girls to carry their full names AFTERmarriage.
Enumerated in the 1900 Lee County census in the I. J. Fariss home,in addition to their own children, were:
(1) his wife's infant niece Minnie Stockton born February 23, 1898;
(2) Annie Fariss Stockton born November 1892 and sister of Minnie;
(3) his wife's youngest sister Elvira Stockton, age 16, born June1883; and
(4) his wife's sister Mary Penn Stockton, age 20, born October 1879.
Minnie was adopted and reared in this household. Elvira made herhome with them starting in July 1887 when she was only 4, and continuinguntil her marriage in 1909 at age 26. Annie Fariss Stockton musthave been only visiting at the time of the census, since Annie FarissStockton is additionally enumerated in the same 1900 census in the homeof her grandmother Martha Arnold in Lexington. Mary Penn Stockton maypossibly have been attending the Normal School or teacher's college inGiddings.
We would not be surprised had there been several Baptist ministersenumerated in the census in the I. J. Fariss home. Their home wasalways open to visiting ministers. On the Fifth Sunday, which occursseveral times a year, the congregations of Giddings, Elgin, and McDadewould all meet together, alternately in each town. There would be anall-day service, with dinner on the ground, and activities for the youngpeople. It was a special fun event. When Giddings would be the hosttown, two visiting ministers would be put up in the I. J. Fariss home.
Early in his career, I. J. worked in the Mercantile Store of hiswife's uncle, William Knox.
The Grange Store was a farmer's co-op. It was a major store, havinga separate Hardware Department, Grocery Department, and Dry Goods,Clothing, Shoe Department. It was organized by William Holmes Fariss,Tom Williard, Shell Williard, Horace Milton, and Mrs. Henry Merchant,mother-in-law of Mary Adella Fariss, about 1875. The managers of theGrange store in succession were Tom Adkins; John W. Collier; I. J.Fariss; W. H. Uncle Bud Cherry, husband of Mootie Clemmons Cherry,author of The Bumpas Book and a first cousin of Annie Stockton Fariss;and LaFayette Fariss. Miss Annie Stockton sold yard goods. RobertErnest Fariss worked in the Grange Store for a while. The store was inoperation from about 1875 until 1938. Bud Cherry and I. J. Farisswere close friends.
On page 67 of "A History of Lee County Texas," 1974, we find thatthe first Directors of the Grange were Robert Robinson, J. P. Black Sr.,T. G. Willard, W. H. Fariss, and V. B. Shearn. "There were rituals ofinitiation and installation. There were Saturday evening barbecues andpicnics attended by people from all over the county and as far away asBrenham. Out of this union grew a stockholders corporation called theGrange Store where anything from a toothpick to a sack of coal could bebought." "The first business managers were Tom Adkins, J. W. Collier,and I. J. Fariss. W. H. Cherry and S. S. Willard sampled the cotton."The article on page 67 is ten inches of information, and is well worthreading.
A rumor was that Bud Cherry made some bad investments with Grangeshareholders money and was playing with cotton stocks, and consequentlythe Grange Store failed. But in the Depression, many businessesfailed.
Annie Fariss Ballard says in 1992 that I. J. Fariss was asked to helpfound the first bank in Giddings. He replied that he was committed tothe Grange Store until a certain date, which she thinks was January 1.For this reason, the bank opening was postponed until I. J. completedhis commitment to the Grange Store and was free to come help found thefirst bank. He went to work for the First National Bank of Giddings onMarch 1, 1891. It was formed in a merger of P. M. Cuney & Co., privatebankers, with First National Bank of Elgin.
The money behind this bank was from Dr. J. A. Fields, who was thefirst President. I.J. Fariss was a Director and the "the leader of thebank," according to his daughter Emily Fariss Joekel. But this firstbank in Giddings soon grew unpopular "because the citizens fell out withDr. Fields," according to Emily Fariss Joekel.
Annie's uncle William Alexander Knox, with backing from Mr.Durrenberger and Mr. Falke, therefore founded the Citizens State Bank in1906. Knox was President 1906-1926. Ira Jones Fariss was Cashier1906-1923; Vice President 1923-1926; and President 1926-1934. Mr.Durrenberger was a well-to-do German farmer, and has the only mausoleumin the Giddings Cemetery.
During a shortage of cash, or when a vault was accidentally lockedfor the whole day, the two banks cooperated with each other in afriendly manner.
The country experienced bank robberies during the Depression days,the Bonnie and Clyde era. Robbers would strike at the lunch hour, whenonly one or two employees were on duty. But the two Giddings bankslocked up tight for an hour for lunch. They were never robbed. No bankin Giddings ever failed.
I.J. could speak and write German real well. It was good for thebanking business. Robert and Minnie took German in High School, andwould speak German at home to make little Annie mad.
I.J. was a devout Baptist. The power voters who ran the church wereI.J. Fariss, his brother Fate, Dr. York, Mr. Kelly, and Lyda Fariss'husband William Wilson. Each family had a set pew to sit in eachSunday. There could be no variance as to where a family sat.
No one could play games on Sundays, not even at the picnics. In theI.J. Fariss home, the only thing you could READ on Sunday was the Bibleor the morning's Sunday School literature.
All the families in Giddings went to Two-Mile Rabb Creek for picnics.It had a deep spot called Blue Hole because of its color and depth.Then the spot got brushy. Everyone had to change to Seven-Mile Rabb.The ladies spread table cloths on the ground. Then, back at home onMonday, the table cloths had to be washed and ironed.
I.J. was scrupulously honest, fair, and kind. He was very trusting.His word was his bond. If he said he would do it, he would do it. Hetaught his children that your given word has to be as good as yourwritten word, and that a handshake is a contract.
It is said that if a bank customer left a horse tied up outside thebank too long in the sun, I.J.Fariss would stop business until thecustomer could go out to take better care of his horse.
Giddings had four saloons in 1910. The Germans liked their beer.They took home large covered pails of beer from these saloons.
I. J. and Annie owned the whole city block originally. The gardenwas to the south. The children's playground was to the east. Theplayground was sold first to the Hodges, who sold it later to thePieratt's. Or was it vice versa. Mister Pieratt and his wife LauraLee Wilson Pieratt owned Pieratt's Drug Store.
Each morning I.J. started the wood fire in the kitchen cookstove;mixed the biscuit dough; ground the coffee beans; then went out to milkthe cow. He would bring two full pails of milk to the back porch.Annie met him at the top of the back steps. She poured the milk intopans that were on shelves that stuck out from the railings of theplatform outside the back door. The milk was left there for the creamto rise. This is Annie Marie Joekel Walthall's story.
Annie Fariss Ballard remembers it differently. "We always had an icebox in the house. The milk was put in the ice box for the cream torise." What she remembers hanging up outside on tree limbs was thecurds, in cheese cloth bags, to make cottage cheese. Grandma Fariss ateher cottage cheese with salt and pepper. Annie Fariss, and most of theothers, used sugar on theirs.
Annie got the children up and dressed. Breakfast was a big meal.All children had to be dressed properly. Bathrobes were not permittedat breakfast.
I. J. had his children do arithmetic problems and calculatepercentages, in their heads, at the dinner table. No grammatical errorsin speech were allowed at the dinner table.
Augusta Fariss says in 1992 that I.J. could look at a column ofnumbers, add them up, and never make a mistake.
If he forgot to kiss Annie good-bye in the morning, he would walkback into the house from the front gate to do it properly.
He and his children tended a big garden. Grandsons William FelixFariss and Robert Fariss Jr. helped him with the garden.
Annie's brothers Willie, Gus and Robert paid her to milk the cow sothey could go play.
The children and the grandchildren played in his barn. He keptcottonseed hulls there for cow feed. It was to be mixed later with cornmeal for the cows. Edgar Ballard and James Ballard spent many summersin Giddings. These two, with William Felix Fariss, played in thecottonseed hulls and scattered them around the barn floor. I.J. Farisswas not happy about this.
The home always had a Negro housekeeper, in sequence Aunt Mellie,Ara, and Jennie. Martha, a German girl, was the last housekeeper.
When the house was wired for electricity, I.J. made them install thewires INSIDE the rooms on the ceiling, and not in the attic. If thewires caught fire, he could SEE it. Clifford Sparks did the wiring.This was about 1909. The light bulbs hung down from the ceiling on longelectric wires. Annie was playing on the stairs while Clifford worked.Once when he stepped back to admire his work, he stepped right into hertoy piano, and smashed it.
I.J. never did drive a car. Annie did all the driving for them.When they went across pasture land, I.J. would get out to scout the mudholes, and would tell Annie where she could get through.
He was always ready TO GO, and would put his foot on the runningboard and tell Annie that he was ready TO GO.
Augustine Partnership Stockton died in 1894. I.J. then managedthat farm for his sisters-in-law. He bought out William Murry's share,and the share of his wife's half-sister Fannie Stockton.
His son Willie, who was killed at age 28, had a small farm 4 milesout on the LaGrange road, off the Warda road. I.J. took over therunning of this place after Willie's death.
His sister-in-law from Oklahoma, Laura Ann Medlin Fariss, visited inGiddings on occasions. Her children Ira Milton 1895, Cata 1897, andElmer Jack 1902 visited all together once. Alice Fariss Herell and herdaughter Sue Herell Drennan also visited Aunt Lide on several occasions,where they became friends, and Eck's Oklahoma group on these tripspicked up complete information from the Amelia-Lide-Charlie documentaryfiles. Laura Ann was one of the many relatives who came to Ira's 70thBirthday and Family Reunion in December 1929.
Ira was the executor for the estate when his mother died in 1920.He sent copies of the will and the appraisal to his brothers inOklahoma. His one-page cover letter is on the bank letterhead. Onlyone sentence is devoted to the estate: "Please find herewith enclosed acopy of Ma's will. Annie is not strong and suffers nearly all thetime." The balance of the letter is concerned with boll weevils, thepoor corn crop, grass in the pastures, and the low price being paid forcattle.
When William A. Knox lost his wife and had to move to Brownwoodbecause of bad health, he nevertheless retained the Presidency until hewas assured that the Board of Directors would select I. J. Fariss as thenext President.
On his death certificate, Dr. W. E. York reported that his death wasdue to Stristococeic Infection of Blood Strain, and a contributingcondition was Rheumatism. The informant was L. Fariss. Deaths, Book4, page 291B.
His funeral service was preached by Dr. Sam L. Joekel, brother ofHerman Joekel and President of Presbyterian Theological Seminary inAustin. Dr. Sam also conducted the services for Edgar Ballard in Elginin 1942.
|
