William Henry Ferry (April 1819March26, 1880) was an American politician from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Life

He was born in April 1819 in Remsen, New York, the son of Heman Ferry (1786–1856) and Roxanna (Burchard) Ferry (c.1796–1842). He attended

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zephaniah Swift Moore, Amherst is the third oldest institution of higher educatio ...

for some time. He married Mary Ann Williams (b. 1816), and they had seven children. He was a member of the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan com ...

(19th D.) in

1860 Events January–March * January 2 – The discovery of a hypothetical planet Vulcan is announced at a meeting of the French Academy of Sciences in Paris, France. * January 10 – The Pemberton Mill in Lawrence, Massachusett ...

and

1861 Statistically, this year is considered the end of the whale oil industry and (in replacement) the beginning of the petroleum oil industry. Events January–March * January 1 ** Benito Juárez captures Mexico City. ** The first steam-p ...

. On March 25, 1861, he was elected President pro tempore of the State Senate. He was a director of the

Galena and Chicago Union Railroad The Galena and Chicago Union Railroad (G&CU) was a railroad running west from Chicago to Freeport, Illinois, never reaching Galena, Illinois. A later route went to Clinton, Iowa. Incorporated in 1836, the G&CU became the first railroad built out ...

. He died on March 26, 1880, in

Lake Forest, Illinois Lake Forest is a city located in Lake County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 19,367. The city is along the shore of Lake Michigan, and is a part of the Chicago metropolitan area and the North Shore. Lake Forest ...

, and was buried at the Rosehill Cemetery and Mausoleum in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Sources

''The New York Civil List''
compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough, Stephen C. Hutchins and Edgar Albert Werner (1867; pg. 442)
''Biographical Sketches of the State Officers and Members of the Legislature of the State of New York''
by William D. Murphy (1861; pg. 50ff)

at Genealogy.com
''14th Annual Report of the Directors of the Galena & Chicago Union Raiulroad''
(1861; pg. 7)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ferry, William H 1819 births 1880 deaths Republican Party New York (state) state senators People from Remsen, New York People from Lake Forest, Illinois Amherst College alumni 19th-century American railroad executives 19th-century American legislators