Hillview Acres Farm
Virginia F. McBride
The Raus Community of Bedford County is home to Hillview Acres. Founded by Samuel King Fariss in 1857, Hillview Acres originally consisted of 160 acres, which produced corn, wheat, oats, cattle, hogs, horses, and mules. In 1976, the farm contained well over 300 acres, which yielded a diversified array of crops, livestock, and timber.
Samuel King Fariss was a native of Franklin County. He and his wife Catherine Smith Fariss had ten children of whom Thomas Jefferson Farris inherited Hillview Acres in 1899. Thomas added 118 acres to the farm and besides raising crops and livestock, he taught school for 60 years. His wife Eliza Esther Roberts Fariss was a schoolteacher for over 30 years. Thomas and Eliza had no children, but they raised a niece, Virginia Fariss. In 1965, Virginia and her husband J. T. McBride obtained the farm.