Benjamin Gilbert Ferris (1802 – February 21, 1891) was a Secretary to the
Territorial Government of Utah, a
lawyer
A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...
, a
district attorney
In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...
and leader in
Ithaca (town), New York.
[
]
Biography
Ferris was born in 1802 in Spencer, New York
Spencer is a town in Tioga County, New York, United States. The population was 2,976 at the 2020 census. The town and its primary village are named after Ambrose Spencer. It lies on the western border of the county and is south of Ithaca. Inside ...
, where his father was a prominent citizen. He received his secondary education in Spencer and Canandaigua. He studied law at Union College in Schenectady and graduated in 1828. He began practicing law in 1829 in the Ithaca, New York offices of David Woodcock, whose daughter Elizabeth Cornelia (1809–1903) he married in 1830.New York State Assembly
The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits.
The Assem ...
(Tompkins Co., 2nd D.) in 1851
Events
January–March
* January 11 – Hong Xiuquan officially begins the Taiping Rebellion.
* January 15 – Christian Female College, modern-day Columbia College, receives its charter from the Missouri General Assembly.
...
. He was Supervisor of the Town of Ithaca in 1855.
Mormon criticism
Ferris was appointed by President Millard Fillmore as Secretary of the Territory of Utah in 1852.[ Ferris was a follower of ]Swedenborgianism
The New Church (or Swedenborgianism) is any of several historically related Christian denominations that developed as a new religious group, influenced by the writings of scientist and mystic Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772).
Swedenborgian or ...
and clashed with the Mormons
Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...
during his six months in Utah. A biographer wrote: "He could not suppress his abhorence icof Mormonism nor tolerate its influences, nor accept its devotees as his neighbors, and resigned his high position, thus sacrificing great possibilities in his very promising public career."[
From his Utah experience, Ferris wrote the 1854 book ''Utah and the Mormons'', and his wife published her letters from this period in the 1856 book ''The Mormons at Home''. These books were influential in building opposition to Mormonism in the American public.][
Ferris died in 1891 at the age of 89.][
]
''Female Life Among the Mormons''
Ferris or his wife were suspected to be the author of ''Female Life Among the Mormons: A Narrative of Many Years' Personal Experience'' under the penname "Maria Ward". Recent scholarship has shown that they were not the author.
''A New Theory of the Origin of Species''
Ferris was the author of ''A New Theory of the Origin of Species'' (1872 and republished 1883). The book advocated an unorthodox form of creationism
Creationism is the religious belief that nature, and aspects such as the universe, Earth, life, and humans, originated with supernatural acts of divine creation. Gunn 2004, p. 9, "The ''Concise Oxford Dictionary'' says that creationism is 't ...
. Paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope
Edward Drinker Cope (July 28, 1840 – April 12, 1897) was an American zoologist, paleontologist, comparative anatomist, herpetologist, and ichthyologist. Born to a wealthy Quaker family, Cope distinguished himself as a child prodigy interested ...
negatively reviewed the book in '' The American Naturalist'' stating that "his theory, that each new specific form is produced from the matrix of a pre-existent species by supernatural power, is only a form of the old belief in distinct creations, and is not a developmental theory in any sense. He produces no evidence in support of it, in fact, he does not appear to know what scientific evidence is."[E. D. C. (1873)]
''Reviewed Work: A New Theory of the Origin of Species by B. G. Ferris''
'' The American Naturalist'' 7 (4): 231-232.
Published works
*
*
References
External links
Review of ''Utah and the Mormons'' published in ''The New Englander'' in 1854.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferris, Benjamin G.
1802 births
1891 deaths
American Christian creationists
American Swedenborgians
County district attorneys in New York (state)
Members of the New York State Assembly
Members of the Utah Territorial Legislature
New York (state) lawyers
Politicians from Ithaca, New York
People from Spencer, New York
State cabinet secretaries of Utah
Critics of Mormonism
19th-century American politicians