Sedgwick County KSGenWeb

Portrait And Biographical Album of Sedgwick County, Kan.

Chapman Brothers 1888

Page 245

 WILLIAM R. FERRIS, who owns eighty acres of the most valuable land in Minneha Township, and has distinguished himself as one of its most active and enterprising citizens, came from New York to Nebraska, and thence to Kansas, settling by pre-emption in 1871.  Since that time he has given his close attention to the improvement of his land, upon which he has erected good buildings, and the soil of which he has brought to a high state of cultivation.

      Mr. Ferris is a native of the Empire State, and was born in Otsego County on the 19th of June, 1840.  He is consequently in the prime of life, and if his future career compares favorably with his past, he will be named among the leading men of the State.  His father, Benjamin Ferris, also a native of New York, was an ordained minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and spent his last years in Pennsylvania, where his death took place in the spring of 1849.  The mother, a native of New York, was born Jan. 30, 1810, and is now deceased.  The parents were married Oct. 29, 1837.

      Our subject spent his boyhood and youth in his native county, and before reaching his majority enlisted, under the first call for troops to put down the Rebellion, in Company E, 11th Pennsylvania Infantry, serving the full term; in the fall of 1861 he re-enlisted, in the 56th Pennsylvania, for three years, or during the war.  At the call for veterans, in the fall of 1864, he again re-enlisted and participated in the battles of Rappahannock Station, the second battle of Bull Run, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, the Wilderness and Spottsylvania Court House, being slightly wounded at the latter place.  He met the enemy in various other minor engagements, and signalized himself by his bravery and fidelity to duty, receiving the approval of his officers and the warm friendship of his comrades.  The regiment at the last was marched from Richmond to Washington, D.C., and mustered out in June, 1865.

      Upon being transformed from a soldier to a civilian, Mr. Ferris took up his abode in Pennsylvania, and on the 14th of March, 1869, was married at Fall City, Neb., to Miss Sarah Jane Steel, a native of LaFayette County, Mo.  Her parents, Chester and Elizabeth (Edwards) Steel, were natives of Pennsylvania, and the father spent his last years in LaFayette County, Mo., where his death took place in 1859.  The mother is still living, making her home on the homestead in Missouri.  Mr. and Mrs. F. remained in Nebraska for a time after their marriage, and settled upon the new farm in Minneha Township in the spring of 1871.  Five children blessed the household, namely:  Elizabeth, who died Oct. 12, 1874; William R., John W., Stella M. and Sarah J.  The latter four live with their parents and are pursuing their studies in the district school.

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