Ferris Family Papers

Collection

Identifier: A.1989.088

Scope and Contents

Included in this collection are genealogical records, charts, and notes, books, birth certificates, house and property maps and plans, cemetery plot maps, family letters, wills, bills, receipts, photographs, advertising cards, society memberships, early nineteenth century letters from William Sackett at Yale to his father, jewelry, coins, locks of hair, information on the transfer of the Ferris property "Willowmere" to the Nature Conservancy, several copies of "Eighty Years" by Mary A. Reynolds including a publisher's proof copy with additions made by Edna Reynolds Ferris.

Dates

Creation: 1712-1997

Conditions Governing Access

There are no conditions governing access to this material.

Biographical / Historical

The materials in this collections relate to the Ferris family, which traces its ancesty to Jeffrey Ferris, one of the original settlers of Greenwich born in England in 1610 and died in Greenwich in 1666. He was later one of the "Twenty-seven Proprietors", the group that laid out the original township of Horseneck. Since his descendents later intermarried, these papers reflect the interrelationships of the Ferris family with other Propriety families including the Knapps, Meads, and Lockwoods.

Full Extent

6 Linear Feet (5 legal size document boxes, 1 letter size document box, 2 legal size half document boxes, 1 flat document box, 1 oversize box. )

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

This collection has been arranged into seven series. Series 1: Genealogical Records, contains both the complete genealogy of the Ferris family up to 1997 and the collected notes and histories of Ferris and related families. Series 2: Family Papers, contains correspondence, bills, wills, and other various papers related to the Ferris Family, with a special focus on Isaac Ferris. Series 3: "Eighty Years", contains the publisher's proof of the 1972 reprint with additions by Edna Reynolds Ferris, an older copy prior to said additions, research and correspondence, and pages not included in the final copy. Series 4: Willowmere and Tide Crest, contains deeds and information about the gift to the Nature Conservancy. Series 5: Deeds, contains deeds belonging on the Ferris family starting from 1712, includes an inventory of deeds donated with the collection. Series 6: Photos and albums, contains loose photographs and negatives, along with photo albums. Series 7: Ferris Family Objects Box, this box contains both items with museum and archival accession numbers that were donated by Barbara Ferris Van Liew and Jean Ferris Anderson.