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Note: 1856 - 1926 Son of William Holmes Fariss and Amelia Scott Jones; froma family of seven boys and two girls; husband of Laura Ann Medlin;father of Medlin Holmes Fariss Sr., Ira Milton Fariss Sr., Cata AmeliaFariss, and Elmer Allen Jack Fariss.
His deathdate is shown as July 26, 1926 (instead of my July 25) inthe typed notes of Robert Elwyn Fariss.
He is shown on Aunt Lide's small sheets of note paper as TheodoreHODGE Fariss, but that's a mistake.
Probably he named his son Elmer Allen Fariss for J. Allen Mulkey.
Thee was converted in 1876.
Thee lived at Giddings; at Burnet; near Goree or Munday, Knox Countyon the Brazos River near Seymour, Texas; and then at Trail Flat in westOklahoma.
Around Burnet there must have been Tom, Thee, Eck, and Oscar PeeryFariss, all at one time. There was R. H. Cooper, J. Allen Mulkey, DaysMulkey, George B. McGhee, Jim Medlin, Laura Ann Medlin, and AndrewJones, according to a letter from McGhee. Maybe also Isaac, Louis, andRebecca Medlin. J. Allen Mulkey was married to Josephine Medlin.Andrew Jones was the brother of Amelia Scott Jones Fariss. He madeseveral cattle drives on the Chisholm Trail, crossing a particular goodpart of Oklahoma.
The Sooner Land Rush was in 1889. We think Thee went to Oklahoma in1889 to scout out the land which Uncle Andrew Jones had admired earlieron cattle drives on the Chisholm Trail. Another possible scout for thegood land during Chisholm Trail days may have been Louis Medlin.
Theodore Holmes Fariss and Laura Ann Medlin were married in March1890, and we believe it was in Goree (Robetha's picture number 6).Amelia Scott Jones Fariss made a comment about how pretty she was.
Leaving Tom Fariss and Eck Fariss back in Burnet County, the groupconsisting of Thee Fariss, Oscar Peery Fariss, R. H. Cooper, Jim Medlin,Isaac Medlin, J. A. Mulkey, Days Mulkey, George McGhee, Pete Hollar, andAndrew Jones moved north to Knox County, Texas.
Only Thee Fariss and Cooper had cattle. George McGhee, Jim Medlin,Isaac Medlin, J. Allen Mulkey, Days Mulkey, Pete Hollar, Peery Fariss,and Andrew Jones were helpers. McGhee writes, in a letter published bythe Dewey County Historical Society: "May 1, 1890. I left Burnet forKnox County, Texas. The seventh of June we made camp in a mesquitegrove near the town of Munday. Laura, Isaac, Jim Medlin of Burnet, PeteHollar, J. A. Mulkey and Days Mulkey of Fiskville, Travis County."Cooper stopped off in Coleman County, and later went to Ruff Creek,Brown County.
Their first child, Medlin Holmes Fariss, was born in Knox County inNovember 1890.
The 17-year-old brother Oscar Peery Fariss died there of typhus feveron September 7, 1891, and was buried in Seymour. On October 1, 1891,the first child of Eck Fariss and Eldora Luvenia McGuire was born, andhe was named Peery Jones Fariss.
In his letter, McGhee continues: "In 1893 the gates of the Garden ofEden being open for the stockman in Oklahoma, Jim Medlin, Isaac Medlin,J. Allen Mulkey, and Thee Fariss moved to Dewey County, Oklahoma. Isaacmoved back to Texas later." Isaac is buried in Spearman, HansfordCounty, in the Texas Panhandle. McGhee sold out and left.
Those making this trip from Knox County to Trail Flats, Oklahoma in1893 included Thee and Laura and their little boy; J. Allen Mulkey andhis Medlin wife; Jim Medlin; Isaac Medlin; Louis Medlin; SpinstressRebecca Medlin; and Andrew Jones. They brought 100 head of brood maresand a herd of cattle from Texas. Thee drove the cattle, Allen drove thehorses, and Jim was wagon man.
Verna Fariss Todd believes that Eck Fariss made this move with themin 1893, but it must instead be that Eck moved to Trail Flats about 1895(Eck's first three children were born in Burnet 1891, 1893, and 1895,and the next two in Trail Flat in 1898 and 1900). Gus Fariss told hisson Bob Fariss that Uncle Eck moved to the Indian Territory after amisunderstanding with his brother Tom Fariss over some cattle.
Thee Fariss leased some land in this area in 1889, and later settledtwo or three miles down the South Canadian River from that location in1893. Thee bought out a man for $15. His house was at the south endof the Trail Flat, about seven miles northeast of Leedey.
He established his home in Sec. 25-17-20 at Trail Flat. In 1987this land is still farmed by his grandson Ira Milton Fariss Jr.
Like other ranchmen of the period, he did not believe this landwould ever be taken up by homesteaders. But soon after the land wasopened for homestead in 1892, the settlers began to come in and file onthe choice quarter sections of land. In 1893 Thee Fariss filed on thequarter section on which his house was located. He chose a locationwhere there was wood, water, grass and good farming land.
We believe that Rebecca Medlin and Jim Medlin filed on adjoiningland, and both built their dugouts close to the property line, so thatJim could keep close check on his spinster sister. Isaac Medlin and J.Allen Mulkey also filed in this area.
Thee Fariss, like all settlers of the area, was a conservativeperson who would not waste anything for which there might be future use.He first built a dugout in the ground in 1893. He later built a loghouse atop the dugout, using the dugout as a basement. Still later hebuilt a frame structure in the form of a T on the end of the logstructure, opposite the fireplace.
The log house is constructed of cedar logs, which had been hauledfrom across the South Canadian River by oxen. The brick and the lumberfor the window and door facings and for the roof were hauled in fromWeatherford.
When this log house was under construction, a man rode in on ahorse. He said he was on his way to California, but that his horse wasexhausted. He asked to stay awhile and rest his mount. This man provedto be an experienced workman, and he hewed and notched the logs for thehouse. A certain Mr. Cree built the brick chimney.
For the still later frame portion of the house, the lumber andhardware were hauled in from Elk City.
Verna Fariss Todd reports that Eck had an accident by falling offhis horse; broke some ribs; a rib punctured his lung; and he had troublethe rest of his life because of this injury. Eck homesteaded and provedup his land in Oklahoma; had to move south for his health; and sold outfor $75 to one of the family members.
Apparently Thee Fariss operated a butcher shop in Taloga.
The closest doctor and railroad were in Woodward. They drove theircattle to the railroad in Woodward.
The first farming was millet, which was cut by hand with a scythe,and tied with millet stalks.
Annie Fariss Ballard says that Theodore's wife Aunt Laura MedlinFariss visited in Giddings when Annie was a little girl. Laura had"kind of reddish hair." Robetha says it was auburn.
On another occasion, Ira Milton 1895, Cata 1897, and Elmer Jack1902 visited in Giddings at the same time. Ira Milton Fariss and hisfirst cousin Robert Ernest Fariss were about the same age, and the twoboys hit it off real well as friends.
Theodore died at the Clinton Hospital, Clinton, Oklahoma. He isburied in Evergreen Cemetery, Leedey, Oklahoma.
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