Faris (Ferris) Station

K-12

About two miles east of Moccasin Gap, Elisha Faris (Ferris) in 1787 obtained 116 acres on both sides of the Moccasin Creek. He and his family settled in the area about 1782 and their home became a stop on the Wilderness Road. On 26 Aug. 1791, Bob Benge, also known as "Chief Benge" and "Capt. Bench," and other Native Americans raided the Faris property and killed, Elisha Faris, his wife, and a couple other family members. Benge conducted raids in the region and other neighboring states during an extended period of conflict in response to attacks on Cherokee communities in the South.

Department of Historic Resources, 2004 Department of Historic Resources, 2004

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References/Bibliographic Citation:

Luther F. Addington and Emory L. Hamilton, Indian Raids and Massacres of Southwest Virginia (Kingsport, Tn.: Cecil L. Durham, n.d.), 123-134; Ted Franklin Belue, ed., The Life of Daniel Boone by Layman C. Draper, LL.D. (Mechanicsburg, Pa.: Stackpole Books, 1998), 291-292, 297; Lars Dorton and Bill Porter, “Dorton’s Fort Correction,” The Appalachian Quarterly, March 1993: 33-34; Don Chesnut, “ ‘If you don’t watch out, Captain Benge will get you’: Chronology of Robert Benge, aka Chief Bench,” http://www/users.mis.net/~chesnut/pages/bobbenge.htm; E.R. Evans, "Notable Persons in Cherokee History: Bob Benge," Journal of Cherokee Studies 1(1976): 98-106; Elisha Ferriss Land Grant, 14 June 1787, Library of Virginia; William P. Palmer, ed., Calendar of Virginia State Papers and Other Manuscripts ... Preserved in the Capitol at Richmond, 11 vols. (1875-1893; reprint, New York: Kraus Reprint Corp., 1968), 5:500-501, 6:636-637, 654, 7:111-119, 123-124, 210; William Pusey, The Wilderness Road to Kentucky, Its Location and Features (New York, George H. Doran Company, 1921), 26-27, 85, 95-96; Thomas Speed, The Wilderness Road (Louisville, Ky.: Printers to the Filson Club, 1886), 4.