Benjamin Ferris

Last updated

Benjamin Ferris (August 7, 1780 - November 9, 1867) was a watchmaker and historian from Wilmington, Delaware.

Ferris was born the sixth of seven children to Ziba Ferris (1743–1794) and Edith Sharpless (1742–1815) in a house on the northeast corner of Third and Shipley Streets in Wilmington. He was a descendant of Samuel Ferris, who had come from Reading, England, in 1682 to settle at Groton, Massachusetts, and of John Ferris, who was among the first settlers in the city of Wilmington in 1748.

Ferris moved to Philadelphia at age 14, where he learned the watchmaking business. He was married to Fanny Canby (1778–1833) in Wilmington's Monthly Meeting Cemetery on May 17, 1804. They returned to live in Wilmington in 1813, where he was appointed city surveyor in 1820. The couple had ten children together, William (#1)(1805-1805), Edward (#1)(1809-1810), Anna (#1)(1811–1814), Deborah (1813–1897), Anna (#2)(1815–1890), Benjamin (1817–1831), Martha (1819–1912), David (1821–1908), William (#2)(1822-1909), and Edward (#2)(1825-1919). After the death of his first wife, he married her cousin Hannah Gibbons (1793-1860) on October 15, 1835.

As a member of the Religious Society of Friends, Ferris was a proponent of the views of Elias Hicks, claiming "obedience to the light within" as sufficient for salvation, and publishing a debate with an evangelical minister which contributed to a schism in 1827. [1] In 1839, Ferris was appointed to a committee of the Yearly Meetings of Friends of New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore, to investigate wrongdoings against the Seneca Indians. Although the treaty he recommended was ultimately rejected by the Senate, he was successful in brokering a deal which resulted in about half their land being restored to them.

Ferris was particularly interested in preserving the history of Wilmington, devoting several years of his life to research, and studying the Swedish language to enable him to use the records of the Old Swedes Church. In 1846 he published A History of the Original Settlements on the Delaware: From its Discovery by Hudson to the Colonization under William Penn.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas McKean</span> American Founding Father and politician (1734–1817)

Thomas McKean was an American lawyer, politician, and Founding Father. During the American Revolution, he was a Delaware delegate to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, where he signed the Continental Association, the Declaration of Independence, and the Articles of Confederation. McKean served as a President of Congress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Read (American politician, born 1733)</span> American Founding Father and politician (1733–1798)

George Read was an American politician from New Castle in New Castle County, Delaware. He was a Continental Congressman from Delaware, a delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787, president of Delaware, and a member of the Federalist Party. In addition, Read served as U.S. Senator from Delaware and chief justice of Delaware.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Dickinson</span> Founding Father of the United States (1732–1808)

John Dickinson, a Founding Father of the United States, was an attorney and politician from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Wilmington, Delaware. Dickinson was known as the "Penman of the Revolution" for his twelve Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, published individually in 1767 and 1768, and he also wrote "The Liberty Song" in 1768.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James A. Bayard (politician, born 1767)</span> American lawyer and politician

James Asheton Bayard Sr. was an American lawyer and politician from Wilmington, Delaware. He was a member of the Federalist Party, who served as U.S. Representative from Delaware and U.S. Senator from Delaware.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacob Jones (naval officer)</span> United States naval officer

Commodore Jacob Nicholas Jones was an officer in the United States Navy during the Quasi-War with France, the First Barbary War, the Second Barbary War, and the War of 1812.

James Sykes was an American physician and politician from Dover, in Kent County, Delaware. He was a member of the Federalist Party, who served in the Delaware General Assembly and as Governor of Delaware.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Garrett</span> American abolitionist

Thomas Garrett was an American abolitionist and leader in the Underground Railroad movement before the American Civil War. He helped more than 2,500 African Americans escape slavery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Preston Lea</span> American businessman and politician (1841–1916)

Preston Lea was an American businessman and politician from Wilmington, in New Castle County, Delaware. He was a member of the Republican Party who served as Governor of Delaware.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cornelius P. Comegys</span> American politician

Cornelius Parsons Comegys was an American farmer and politician from Dover Hundred, in Kent County, Delaware, near Little Creek. He was a veteran of the War of 1812, a member of the Federalist Party, and then later the Whig Party, who served in the Delaware General Assembly and as Governor of Delaware.

William Barkley Cooper was an American politician from Laurel, in Sussex County, Delaware. He was a member of the Federalist Party, then later the Whig Party, who served in the Delaware General Assembly and as Governor of Delaware.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilmington Friends School</span> Private school in Wilmington, Delaware, United States

Wilmington Friends School is a private Preschool-12 school in unincorporated New Castle County, Delaware, United States, near Wilmington. It is affiliated with the Society of Friends, also known as the Quakers.

Thomas Cooper (1764–1829) was a Delaware lawyer and politician who was a Federalist member of the United States House of Representatives. He served in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Congresses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bayard family</span> American family

The Bayard family has been a prominent family of lawyers and politicians throughout American history, primarily from Wilmington, Delaware. Beginning as Federalists, they joined the party of Andrew Jackson and remained leaders of the Democratic Party into the 20th century. Counting Richard Bassett, the father-in-law of James A. Bayard, Sr., the family provided six generations of U.S. senators from Delaware, serving from 1789 until 1929.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John M. Broomall</span> American politician

John Martin Broomall was an American politician from Pennsylvania who served as a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 7th congressional district from 1863 to 1869. He also served as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the Delaware County district from 1851 to 1852.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Rawle</span> United States District Attorney in Pennsylvania (1759-1836)

William Rawle was an American lawyer from Philadelphia, who served as United States district attorney in Pennsylvania from 1791 to 1800. He founded The Rawle Law Offices in 1798 which evolved into Rawle & Henderson, the oldest law firm in the United States. He was the first chancellor of the Philadelphia bar association and published several influential legal texts including A View of the Constitution of the United States. He was the first to argue for secession in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Sellers</span>

William Sellers was a mechanical engineer, manufacturer, businessman, noted abolitionist, and inventor who filed more than 90 patents, most notably the design for the United States standard screw thread, the standard bolt and machine screw thread still used today. As president of the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Sellers proposed the adoption of a system of screw threads which was easier for ordinary mechanics and machinists to cut than a similar design by Joseph Whitworth. For many years, he led the machine tool firm of William Sellers & Co., which was a very influential machine tool builder during the latter half of the 19th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bass Otis</span> American painter

Bass Otis, was an early American artist, inventor, and portrait painter. He painted hundreds of portraits including many of the best known Americans of his day, and produced the first American lithograph in 1819.

Joseph Tatnall (1740–1813) was an American businessman, who was a prominent Quaker merchant, miller, and banker in Wilmington, Delaware.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Roche (politician)</span> American politician

Edward Roche was an American merchant who served in both houses of the Delaware General Assembly, as a delegate to the Delaware state constitutional convention, and in the American Revolutionary War.

Isaac S. Flint was an Underground Railroad station master, lecturer, farmer, and a teacher. He saved Samuel D. Burris, a conductor on the Underground Railroad, from being sold into slavery after having been caught helping runaway enslaved people.

References

  1. "Roots and Flowers of Quaker Nontheism".