Ferrier Family Bibliography

Family Ypsilanti New York Michigan Genealogy Public

Ferrier Family

Thomas Ferrier, the generally-accepted patriarch of the American branch of this family, was born in Ireland in 1705 to Huguenot parents. Thomas Ferrier came to North America in 1729 on the same ship, the George and Anne, as Charles Clinton.¹ Thomas married Hester Lucky (who may or may not have been also a passenger on the George and Anne; conflicting stories exist) prior to 1757. Thomas died on April 1, 1792, and Hester died on March 17, 1796, both in Orange County.

Thomas and Hester had only one son, Robert, who was the third child. Robert Ferrier was born October 9, 1762. On March 9, 1785, he wed Mary Wilcox (September 3, 1764 - March 2, 1836). Robert was believed to have had extensive land holdings west of Warwick, in the area between Amity and Edenville. Robert and Mary had eight children that survived into adulthood, most of whom inherited Robert's estates. However, William Ferrier their first-born, seems to have foregone his father's lands for homes further west.² Robert died at Warwick on January 6, 1822, and Mary on March 2, 1836 at Dundee, NY.

William Ferrier was born in Warwick on November 2, 1786. He married Hannah Samons (1788-1877) in 1808 (William would have been 21 years old then, Hannah 20). William and Hannah had five children. John, the eldest child, was born in 1809, married Martha Fitch, and then Delilah Farrington Nelson (b 1816; Delilah survived John and later migrated to Australia). Nelson was born in 1816, Philo on December 17, 1820, and Robert in 1823. Mary, the youngest child, was born in 1826, married a Jonathan Rowe, and migrated to Idaho. Nelson and Robert both died before 1838 when the family left New York.³ No source offers any explanation why William Ferrier, the oldest son of extensive land-holder Robert Ferrier, left eastern New York. He first moved to Steuben County, in western New York, by 1820 or when he was in his early thirties. Anschuetz notes that William Ferrier family's migration to Ypsilanti, Michigan, happened in 1838 (when he was about 51 years old).

William Ferrier was a carpenter by profession and he lived on Cross St. in Ypsilanti. In 1866 (when he was 80 years old), he suffered an accident with a "buzz saw" and lost the ends of his fingers from one hand.⁴

William Ferrier died in the River Street home of his son, Philo, in Ypsilanti on April 13, 1873, and Hannah Samons Ferrier died in 1877, also in Ypsilanti.

Notes

1. ⇑ Lane claims "concurrent family traditions" as the source for this information. That he had Huguenot parents would explain the French name. The family account of Thomas's passage concurs in details with the account in Charles Clinton's diary held in the New York State Archives. Additionally, in 1731, Thomas seems to have moved with other survivors of the George and Anne, including Clinton, to settle in Orange County, NY. ⇑

2. ⇑ Lane, p. 10. ⇑

3. ⇑ Anschuetz. ⇑

4. ⇑ Ypsilanti Commercial ?, March 31, 1866, and Reprinted in Anschuetz. ⇑

Sources

Public