Captain Robert Lee Faris, one of two sons of James White Faris and his first wife, Willie Ann Stovall, was born in Missouri in 1868. After his widowed father's remarriage, he would eventually add another five half-siblings. He received his higher education at the University of Missouri, where he earned a degree in Civil Engineering and later at Columbian University in Washington, DC, now George Washington University, where he studied higher mathematics. He married Carrie Elizabeth "Lillie" Hellen in Baltimore, MD on 8 June 1897.
From his official biography published in 1932:
"Entering the service of the Coast and Geodetic Survey on May 12, 1891, he held the position of assistant director for the 18 years prior to his death. His early assignments covered various field operations, including transcontinental triangulation and the survey of the Yukon Delta and the northern coast of Bering Sea. He commanded various survey ships in Puerto Rico and along the United States east coast. It was during this period that he did important pioneer work in the development of making magnetic observations at sea. In September 1906, he was designated inspector of magnetic work and chief of the division of terrestrial magnetism, which position he held until November 1914, when he became assistant inspector of hydrography and topography. He was appointed assistant director in March 1915, and during the World War, in the absence of the director in Europe, acted as head of the survey."
"Captain Faris was appointed a member of the Mississippi River Commission in 1919, and served in that capacity until his death. He was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; member of the committee on navigation and nautical instruments of the National Research Council; Federal Board of Surveys and Maps; Washington Academy of Sciences; Philosophical Society of Washington (President, 1921); Washington Society of Engineers (President, 1921); American Society of Civil Engineers; American Astronomical Society; American Geophysical Union; Society of American Military Engineers; Geological Society of Washington; International Association of Navigation Congresses; and the Cosmos Club".
Robert and Lillie had five children, Robert Lee Jr, 1898, Hellen Mills, 1899, Carolyn, 1902, Elizabeth Rawlings, 1904, and Charles William, 1910. After their marriage, they also cared for Lillie's widower mother, Sarah Rawlings Mills Hellen until her death in 1924. One period letter has survived written by Robert on behalf of his mother-in-law to her son George Ireland Hellen in Texas. It notes Sarah as then "beyond the age of writing letters".
Robert died "suddenly" in his Harvard Street, Washington DC home on Oct 5, 1932 of a heart attack. Various sources note many of his publications of such quality and authority as to still be standard reference material now over eighty years later.
Lillie would survive him by sixteen years, passing on January 8, 1948 in Bethesda, Maryland. They are buried together in Rock Creek Cemetery. Many of their descendants appear to still be in the Washington area today.
Allan Garner - Rev: 31 Jan 2022..
From his official biography published in 1932:
"Entering the service of the Coast and Geodetic Survey on May 12, 1891, he held the position of assistant director for the 18 years prior to his death. His early assignments covered various field operations, including transcontinental triangulation and the survey of the Yukon Delta and the northern coast of Bering Sea. He commanded various survey ships in Puerto Rico and along the United States east coast. It was during this period that he did important pioneer work in the development of making magnetic observations at sea. In September 1906, he was designated inspector of magnetic work and chief of the division of terrestrial magnetism, which position he held until November 1914, when he became assistant inspector of hydrography and topography. He was appointed assistant director in March 1915, and during the World War, in the absence of the director in Europe, acted as head of the survey."
"Captain Faris was appointed a member of the Mississippi River Commission in 1919, and served in that capacity until his death. He was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; member of the committee on navigation and nautical instruments of the National Research Council; Federal Board of Surveys and Maps; Washington Academy of Sciences; Philosophical Society of Washington (President, 1921); Washington Society of Engineers (President, 1921); American Society of Civil Engineers; American Astronomical Society; American Geophysical Union; Society of American Military Engineers; Geological Society of Washington; International Association of Navigation Congresses; and the Cosmos Club".
Robert and Lillie had five children, Robert Lee Jr, 1898, Hellen Mills, 1899, Carolyn, 1902, Elizabeth Rawlings, 1904, and Charles William, 1910. After their marriage, they also cared for Lillie's widower mother, Sarah Rawlings Mills Hellen until her death in 1924. One period letter has survived written by Robert on behalf of his mother-in-law to her son George Ireland Hellen in Texas. It notes Sarah as then "beyond the age of writing letters".
Robert died "suddenly" in his Harvard Street, Washington DC home on Oct 5, 1932 of a heart attack. Various sources note many of his publications of such quality and authority as to still be standard reference material now over eighty years later.
Lillie would survive him by sixteen years, passing on January 8, 1948 in Bethesda, Maryland. They are buried together in Rock Creek Cemetery. Many of their descendants appear to still be in the Washington area today.
Allan Garner - Rev: 31 Jan 2022..
Captain Robert Lee Faris, one of two sons of James White Faris and his first wife, Willie Ann Stovall, was born in Missouri in 1868. After his widowed father's remarriage, he would eventually add another five half-siblings. He received his higher education at the University of Missouri, where he earned a degree in Civil Engineering and later at Columbian University in Washington, DC, now George Washington University, where he studied higher mathematics. He married Carrie Elizabeth "Lillie" Hellen in Baltimore, MD on 8 June 1897.
From his official biography published in 1932:
"Entering the service of the Coast and Geodetic Survey on May 12, 1891, he held the position of assistant director for the 18 years prior to his death. His early assignments covered various field operations, including transcontinental triangulation and the survey of the Yukon Delta and the northern coast of Bering Sea. He commanded various survey ships in Puerto Rico and along the United States east coast. It was during this period that he did important pioneer work in the development of making magnetic observations at sea. In September 1906, he was designated inspector of magnetic work and chief of the division of terrestrial magnetism, which position he held until November 1914, when he became assistant inspector of hydrography and topography. He was appointed assistant director in March 1915, and during the World War, in the absence of the director in Europe, acted as head of the survey."
"Captain Faris was appointed a member of the Mississippi River Commission in 1919, and served in that capacity until his death. He was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; member of the committee on navigation and nautical instruments of the National Research Council; Federal Board of Surveys and Maps; Washington Academy of Sciences; Philosophical Society of Washington (President, 1921); Washington Society of Engineers (President, 1921); American Society of Civil Engineers; American Astronomical Society; American Geophysical Union; Society of American Military Engineers; Geological Society of Washington; International Association of Navigation Congresses; and the Cosmos Club".
Robert and Lillie had five children, Robert Lee Jr, 1898, Hellen Mills, 1899, Carolyn, 1902, Elizabeth Rawlings, 1904, and Charles William, 1910. After their marriage, they also cared for Lillie's widower mother, Sarah Rawlings Mills Hellen until her death in 1924. One period letter has survived written by Robert on behalf of his mother-in-law to her son George Ireland Hellen in Texas. It notes Sarah as then "beyond the age of writing letters".
Robert died "suddenly" in his Harvard Street, Washington DC home on Oct 5, 1932 of a heart attack. Various sources note many of his publications of such quality and authority as to still be standard reference material now over eighty years later.
Lillie would survive him by sixteen years, passing on January 8, 1948 in Bethesda, Maryland. They are buried together in Rock Creek Cemetery. Many of their descendants appear to still be in the Washington area today.
Allan Garner - Rev: 31 Jan 2022..
From his official biography published in 1932:
"Entering the service of the Coast and Geodetic Survey on May 12, 1891, he held the position of assistant director for the 18 years prior to his death. His early assignments covered various field operations, including transcontinental triangulation and the survey of the Yukon Delta and the northern coast of Bering Sea. He commanded various survey ships in Puerto Rico and along the United States east coast. It was during this period that he did important pioneer work in the development of making magnetic observations at sea. In September 1906, he was designated inspector of magnetic work and chief of the division of terrestrial magnetism, which position he held until November 1914, when he became assistant inspector of hydrography and topography. He was appointed assistant director in March 1915, and during the World War, in the absence of the director in Europe, acted as head of the survey."
"Captain Faris was appointed a member of the Mississippi River Commission in 1919, and served in that capacity until his death. He was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; member of the committee on navigation and nautical instruments of the National Research Council; Federal Board of Surveys and Maps; Washington Academy of Sciences; Philosophical Society of Washington (President, 1921); Washington Society of Engineers (President, 1921); American Society of Civil Engineers; American Astronomical Society; American Geophysical Union; Society of American Military Engineers; Geological Society of Washington; International Association of Navigation Congresses; and the Cosmos Club".
Robert and Lillie had five children, Robert Lee Jr, 1898, Hellen Mills, 1899, Carolyn, 1902, Elizabeth Rawlings, 1904, and Charles William, 1910. After their marriage, they also cared for Lillie's widower mother, Sarah Rawlings Mills Hellen until her death in 1924. One period letter has survived written by Robert on behalf of his mother-in-law to her son George Ireland Hellen in Texas. It notes Sarah as then "beyond the age of writing letters".
Robert died "suddenly" in his Harvard Street, Washington DC home on Oct 5, 1932 of a heart attack. Various sources note many of his publications of such quality and authority as to still be standard reference material now over eighty years later.
Lillie would survive him by sixteen years, passing on January 8, 1948 in Bethesda, Maryland. They are buried together in Rock Creek Cemetery. Many of their descendants appear to still be in the Washington area today.
Allan Garner - Rev: 31 Jan 2022..
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