J. K. Farris, M. D., a prominent physician of Coffee County, was born in Franklin County in 1836. His parents, William C., and Mahaley, (Kennerly) Farris, were natives of Franklin County, the latter, daughter of J. P. Kennerly, of Georgia. The father was a shoemaker, and came to Tennessee in 1811.
Our subject married Mary E. Austell in 1857, whose parents were natives of North Carolina. They have had eight children; Ellen K. (deceased), born in 1858; Samuel J., in 1860; John K., in 1865; Annas A. (deceased), in 1868; William R. in 1870; Sue J. in 1873; Mary E., in 1885, and Sophia C. (deceased), in 1878. His wife died in 1885.
Reared on the farm and with an academic training, he began the study of medicine under Dr. J. E. Hough, of Pleasant Hill. After practicing in Arkansas, he came to Coffee County in 1861, where he has built up his present extensive practice. A self-made man, he has given his children collegiate training.