Samuel Phariss was born April 30, 1771, in Virginia. His parents were Samuel Phariss and Elizabeth (Leith) Phariss. (Documentation for Elizabeth's last name has not been found.)

His father, also named Samuel Phariss, born in 1742, is a Revolutionary Patriot, and descendants have joined Daughters of the American Revolution through him.

Samuel and Catherine married about 1796, in Tennessee, having both moved there from Virginia with their parents.

The known children of this union, all born in Tennessee, are:

WILLIAM PHARISS
Married: Margaret Dugan
Born: About 1797, Tennessee
Died: About January 1890, Texas
Buried: Unknown

MARGARET (PHARISS) MANNING
Married: Joseph Manning
Born: About 1800, Tennessee
Died: Unknown
Buried: Unknown

JOHN P. PHARISS, Sr.
Married: Sophia Moon
Born: 18 June 1802
Died: 18 August 1857
Buried: John Phariss Family Cemetery, Lawrence County
(Cemetery on family farm – not listed on Find-a-Grave)

ELIZABETH (PHARISS) ATCHLEY
Married: Noah Atchley
Born: About 1805, Tennessee
Died: Unknown
Buried: Unknown, probably in Tennessee

SAMUEL M. PHARISS
Married: 1. Mary Lewis Love; 2. Martha Eleanor Duncan; 3. Arabella "Belle" Means
Born: 23 October 1808, Cocke Co., Tennessee
Died: 13 May 1890, Lawrence County, Missouri
Buried: IOOF Cemetery, Marionville, Missouri

ROBERT PHARISS
Married: Nancy Clark Hill
Born: About 1811
Died: 1859
Buried: Dunlap Cemetery, Tennessee
Cemetery located "on the Spring Place Road, the last house on the
right before the two bridges over Connasuago River. A house incloses
a concrete tomb for Robert and Nancy."
(No memorial found for Robert)

CATHERINE (PHARISS) McKINLEY
Married: Peter McKinley
Born: 3 January 1813
Died 19 June 1892
Buried: Old Aurora City Cemetery, Aurora, Missouri

PLEASANT M. PHARISS
Married: Lucinda Hill
Born: About 1815, Tennessee
Died: About 1866, Pulaski County, Missouri
Buried: Pulaski County, Missouri - gravesite unknown

LAVINA (PHARISS) BLACK
Married: William A. Black
Born: About 1822, Tennessee
Died: Unknown
Buried: Unknown

Any corrections, updates or additional information would be welcomed.

Samuel and Catherine, along with several of their adult children and their families, left Tennessee and migrated to Southwest Missouri in 1838. At the time, Samuel & Catherine were in their 60's.

In the 1840 Census Samuel Phariss is listed as living at Spring River in Barry County Missouri, along with 9 other family members and one slave. The family members weren't listed by name in 1840, but we believe that their daughter, Catherine (Phariss) McKinley, along with her husband and children were living in the household. Another young female under the age of 5 is probably Malvina Phariss, the daughter of Samuel M. Phariss, whose wife, Mary Love Phariss died in 1837.

Samuel died in March of 1858, two months after Catherine died, and was buried next to her in the cemetery just north of their residence, "upon her right side."

This cemetery was abandoned, and eventually lost by the early 2000's. It has been found again, and is being rescued and has been named the Samuel and Catherine Phariss Memorial Cemetery.

Headstones have been replaced for Samuel and Catherine, using some of the information obtained from descendant Bessie Hillhouse Young, who visited the cemetery many times over the years, in the early 1900's