Debra Walker of Peoria, Arizona says Ferris women have longevity in their DNA. She knew two of her great grandmothers and one of her great great grandmothers, including Rena D’Arcy. The proof is in this photograph showing five generations of Ferris descendants. One of those pictured, Annabell Walker Burnworth, is 94 years old as of this writing and still living in Roswell.
Left to right Deb, Annabell, Aaron Scott, Anna D'Arcy Walker Gill, Rena Ferris D'Arcy
Debra shares with us some memories of her great grandmother Rena Belle Ferris D’Arcy (1882-1972). Rena was the granddaughter of Warren Angus Ferris. The daughter of Charley Ferris and his second wife, Marena Isabelle “Belle” Sutton. Rena was born in Bosque County, Texas. Her mother, like so many women in the 1880’s, died of complications of childbirth. Belle died many months after the birth of her daughter Rena. Rena was only five months old. Her father sent her to live with relatives (probably his sister Mary Catherine Dozier). She spent her childhood as a domestic servant for relatives and sometimes referred to herself as “an orphan”. Still, she was not bitter and did not resent her father who had remarried and had another family.
Rena and four of her daughters. Left to right seated is Rena “Billie” D”Arcy and Ada D’Arcy Walker. Standing behind their mother, Rena, is Anna D’Arcy Walker Gill and Dee D’Arcy Sheaffer.
When Charley Ferris retired to the Capitan Mountains of New Mexico to homestead a small ranch, he was a widower again. His third wife, Anna Brinkman, died in 1893. Once again, Charley left his four small children with relatives. As young adults, his children drifted toward his NM homestead. Rena was the first to move to New Mexico. She came to work on a ranch where her skills as a cook, baker, babysitter, and housekeeper served her well. On the NM ranch, Rena was a hard worker. She loved the outdoor ranch work, taking care of livestock and working on the windmill. Perhaps that is how she first met John Edward “Jack” DeArcy, a handsome blue-eyed Irishman, twelve years her senior. Jack was a man of many trades - plumber, well driller, carpenter, and - windmill repairman.
Jack DeArcy’s business in Artesia, New Mexico
Rena married Jack DeArcy in Roswell, NM in 1903. They had 11 children over the next 25 years. Jack was often traveling for work so the child rearing was left to Rena, a loving and supportive mother. When Jack came home, he always had a bag of candy. He sang as the kids clung to his legs. There was much singing and poetry recitation in the DeArcy home. Although she had little schooling, Rena valued education. On one occasion, Jack said the family should move out to the mountains and keep goats. Rena responded “Where would the children go to school?” She threatened to divorce him rather than move, and Jack, a Catholic who deplored divorce, backed down. Her children were well-educated, some going to university.
Photo - Wedding Picture of Jack and Rena DeArcy
Jack DeArcy and Rena Ferris DeArcy with newborn circa 1904
Around 1930, Jack and Rena moved to Wink, Texas where Jack died in 1936. It was in Wink that the surname spelling changed to D’Arcy. Around 1950, her children grown, Rena moved to California to be near a daughter. She had two unsuccessful cataract surgeries. By 1958, she had lost her eyesight. Rena returned to Roswell where she lived next door to her daughter Anna.
Rena was blind for the last 20 years of her life but lived alone and functioned very well. She learned to read Braille and kept up correspondence. She baked bread every week for the four households of relatives who lived nearby. She cooked her own meals, crocheted, and listened to “talking books”. She was always cheerful and optimistic, even-tempered, and nonjudgmental. A clothesline rope strung between her back door and Anna’s guided Rena to visit with her daughter.
Debra Walker called Rena “Mamo” and relates that her great grandmother taught her how to bake with a “pinch of this” and a “handful of that”. Rena’s bread recipe was used by the Roswell Public Schools where students enjoyed “Mamo’s Rolls” for years. Debra also remembers Rena’s keen memory. She could recite poetry down to the last verse with dramatic voice intonation. Debra read the comics to Rena - “Little Orphan Annie” was her favorite.
Photo - Rena D’Arcy (C.1970)
Nine of Rena’s children lived to adulthood. Debra remembers a 1968 family gathering when many of Rena’s children and their children came to Roswell. It was a boisterous reunion with much storytelling, poetry recitation, singing, and laughter. Rena was greatly loved by all of her relatives and she returned that affection. She was very close to her brother Robert “Bob” Ferris and visited him in Tularosa in the 1960’s.
Chuck Ferris says that Rena’s daughter Anna Gill was his parents’ favorite cousin and that theyvisited Anna’s Roswell home often. More than a relative, she was a friend who was always bailing them out when problems arose. According to Chuck, Anna was a born leader - very active in American Legion and the Methodist Church. She was certainly a loyal daughter and caregiver to Rena. Like Debra, Chuck remembers Rena moving around the house with ease despite her blindness and playing her “talking books.”
Anna’s home in Roswell was the center of multi-generational gatherings of Ferris descendants including her mother, Rena, her daughter Annabell Walker Burnworth, her son Lee Roy Walker Jr, and her grand-daughter, Debra Walker. They all lived within a few blocks of each other. Rena was able to enjoy a close-knit family that made up for her lonely childhood.
Aaron Scott (Debra’s son) with his son Weylin at Ferris Historic Marker in Dallas (2010)
Story written by Susanne Starling.