Dates: 1814-1981; n.d.

Biography:

Edward Ferris

Edward Ferris, a professor of languages at Queens College in Belfast, Ireland, immigrated to America in 1817, teaching in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C., before finally settling in Virginia. He and his second wife, Elizabeth Cary Ferris, had the following children: Edmund, Edward, Elizabeth, Eugene, Fergus, and Henry.

Eugene Ferris, Sr.

Eugene Ferris became a teacher in Virginia. He married Lucy Ann Micou (b. March 18, 1813) in Essex County, Virginia, on January 15, 1835. She was the daughter of Jack and Sally (Brooke) Micou. The Ferrises had at least eight children: Ellen R. (b. 1836), Eugenia A. (b. 1837), Virginia Beverly (b. 1839), Sally Brooke (b. 1841), Mary Fauntleroy (b. 1843), William Fauntleroy (b. 1845), Lucy Anne (b. 1847), and Eugene, Jr. (b. 1849). The Ferris family moved to Alabama in 1834, first to Moulton and then to Courtland, where Eugene Ferris held teaching positions. They moved to Mississippi in 1834, and Eugene Ferris established a female academy near Shuqualak in Noxubee County. His brothers also founded newspapers in Macon, Noxubee County; and in nearby Columbus, Lowndes County. The academy near Shuqualak was closed during the Civil War, and Eugene Ferris moved to Macon and later to his plantation near Shuqualak. Lucy Ann (Micou) Ferris died on November 15, 1849. Eugene Ferris, Sr., later married two of his first wifes sisters: Harriet Micou (b. 1806) on March 21, 1851, and Susan Micou in 1869.

Eugene Ferris, Jr.

Eugene Ferris, Jr., also became a teacher. He married Sally/Sallie Washington Minor (b. 1848) in Trinity, Alabama, on May 3, 1870. She was the daughter of William Tompkins Minor (1797-1854) and Fanny Thacker (Washington) Minor (1805-1878) of Trinity. The Ferrises had at least eight children: Henry Minor (1871-1873), Eugene Beverly I (1873-1954), Luther Bechtel (1877-1878), Lucian Overton (b. 1878), Fanny Ricks (b. 1881), Ellen Roy (1883-1886), Louisa Lile (b. 1885), and Mildred Walden (b. 1888). Sally Washington (Minor) Ferris died in 1918, and Eugene Ferris, Jr., died in 1938.

Eugene Beverly Ferris I

Eugene Beverly Ferris I was born in Trinity, Alabama, on August 21, 1873. He attended school in Trinity and Decatur, Alabama, before he left for Macon, Mississippi, in 1892 to study medicine with his uncle, Dr. Henry A. Minor. However, after a few months of study, Ferris decided to attend Mississippi Agricultural and Mechanical College (now Mississippi State University) in Starkville, Oktibbeha County. After graduating with a bachelors degree in 1895, Ferris worked for seven years as a chemist at Mississippi Agricultural and Mechanical College. He received a masters degree from the college in 1897. Ferris married Martha (Mattie) Jane Reynolds on January 8, 1902. She was a daughter of William H. Reynolds of Starkville. The Ferrises had five children: Frances Elizabeth (b. 1903), Eugene Beverly II (b. 1905), William Reynolds (b. 1908), Lucian/Lucien Minor (b. 1911), and Annie Louise (b. 1919).

In 1902, Eugene Beverly Ferris I moved to McNeill, Pearl River County, Mississippi, to become the director of the South Mississippi Experiment Station. The first such station in the state, it was established to study the Longleaf Pine Belt soils to determine their agricultural value. Ferris remained with the station when it was moved to nearby Poplarville, Pearl River County, in 1918. He later joined the Holly Springs Experiment Station, but he had to resign in 1928 during the administration of Governor Theodore G. Bilbo. Ferris also owned and operated farms in Warren County, Mississippi. Between 1928 and 1937, Ferris worked with the N. V. Potash Export Company in Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi, the Federal Land Bank (1932-1934), and the Tennessee Valley Authority and Extension Service in association with Mississippi State College (1934). Ferris retired in 1945 and moved from Holly Springs to his farm, Broadacres, on the Big Black River near Vicksburg, Warren County, where he lived until his death on June 18, 1954.

Eugene Beverly Ferris II

Eugene Beverly Ferris II was born in McNeill, Mississippi, on June 24, 1905. After graduating from Mississippi State University and the University of Virginia, he worked as a physician intern at the city hospital of Boston, Massachusetts, and later became a resident physician at the medical center of the University of Michigan. He married Charlotte Gordon Hopkins of Boston on June 6, 1936, and they had at least three children, including Eugene Beverly Ferris III. Dr. Ferris later taught at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. He became chief of medical service at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1952, and he taught at Emory University in Atlanta. Dr. Ferris edited the Cincinnati Journal of Medicine from 1945 to 1947, and he was an editor of the Journal of Clinical Investigation from 1947 to 1952. He was a president of the American Psychosomatic Society and the American Society for Clinical Investigation, and he was a director of the American Heart Association. A consultant to the surgeon general of the United States Army from 1949 to 1953, Dr. Ferris also directed a research project on aviation medicine for the Office of Scientific Research and Development. Dr. Ferris died in New York in September of 1957.

 
Scope and Content Note:

This collection primarily consists of the papers of agronomist Eugene Beverly Ferris I (1873-1954), including his correspondence; manuscripts; diaries, notebooks, and scrapbooks; financial papers; certificates, deeds, and agreements; genealogy; photographs; newsclippings; printed material; and books.

 
Series Identification:

Series 1: Correspondence. 1814-1972; n.d. 127 folders.

The correspondence of Eugene Beverly Ferris I is chronologically arranged, but a number of letters are also located in the manuscripts series. It mainly consists of original letters, but there are also photocopies and typescripts of some. The correspondence relates to agronomy, family business, and local events in Jackson and Starkville, Mississippi. Family correspondents include Eugene Beverly II, Fan, Harriet, Jean Micou, Louise, Lucien, Lucy Ann Micou, Martha, Martha Reynolds, Mildred, Sally Minor, Susan, and William Ferris, and Frances Ferris Hall. Other correspondents include Dean Minor Lile of the University of Virginia; E. R. Lloyd, first director of the Mississippi Cooperative Extension Service; acquaintances W. B. Andrews, J. L. Anthony, W. C. Binion, R. Coleman, H. Critz, genealogist H. K. Douglass, agronomist E. C. Ewing, J. W. Fox, M. Gieger, W. F. Hand, L. A. Higgins, B. Hilbun, H. H. Levick, C. Lyle, R. H. Means, Dr. C. Mengis, F. T. Mitchell, P. F. Newell, W. P. Perkins, W. P. Picard, C. H. Ragland, J. R. Ricks, B. M. Walker, J. M. Weeks, and attorney W. S. Welsh; and agricultural experiment station agronomists T. E. Ashley, S. P. Crockett, C. L. Newman, and H. R. Rea. Ferris also corresponded with friends from Holly Springs, McNeill, Starkville, and Vicksburg, Mississippi.

The correspondence of Martha Jane (Reynolds) Ferris, mainly consisting of letters to her from Eugene Beverly Ferris I, provides additional details about his work in McNeill and Poplarville, as well as life in south Mississippi. Other topics include agricultural experiment stations, farmers meetings, trips, work conditions, Mississippi Agricultural and Mechanical College, and the possible retirement of Governor Theodore G. Bilbo in 1924.  The correspondence is arranged chronologically by following recipients:

Subseries 1.1: Correspondence (Eugene Ferris, Jr.), 1861-1918; n.d. 
There are letters from his sisters, including Eugenia, Mollie, Nelly, Sally, and Sarah Ferris, and from Susan Micou Ferris. The letters concern family matters and the Farmers Hall in Shuqualak. Occasional correspondents include Mary R. Blackford, brother-in-law Lancelot Minor, and daughter-in-law Martha Ferris.

Box 1: Eugene Ferris, Jr. (1861-1918; n.d.)

Subseries 1.2: Correspondence (Eugene Beverly Ferris II), 1938-1954; n.d. 
There are letters from Bill, Douglas, Eugene, Fan, Frances, Louise, Lucien, Martha, Mildred, and Nellie Ferris. Other correspondents include Minor Lile of the University of Virginia; friends from Holly Springs, McNeill, and Vicksburg; genealogist H. K. Douglass; and classmate W. S. Welsh of Laurel.

Box 1: Eugene Beverly Ferris I (1905-1938) 
Box 2: Eugene Beverly Ferris I (1938-1945) 
Box 3: Eugene Beverly Ferris I (1947-1954; n.d.)

Subseries 1.3: Correspondence (Lucy Ann Micou Ferris), 1835-1847. 
There are business letters from her husband, Eugene Ferris, Sr., and a letter from her cousin, Ann O. L. Micou.

Box 1: Lucy Ann Micou Ferris (1835-1847)

Subseries 1.4: Correspondence (Martha Reynolds Ferris), 1905-1968. 
There are letters from her husband, Eugene Beverly Ferris I, while he was working in Holly Springs, McNeill, Poplarville, and Starkville, and on trips to Europe and New Orleans, which were sent to her in Starkville or on the Ferris family farm on the Big Black River. Other letters are from her brother-in-law, Lucien Ferris, her father-in-law, and sisters-in-law.

Box 4: Martha Reynolds Ferris (1905-1968)

Subseries 1.5: Correspondence (Sally Minor Ferris), 1892-1935. 
There are letters from her son, Eugene, in Macon and at Mississippi Agricultural and Mechanical College.

Box 1: Sally Minor Ferris (1892-1935)

Subseries 1.6: Correspondence (Susan Micou Ferris), 1834-1861. 
There are letters from her brother, William, her sisters, Harriet and Jean, her cousins, Thomas W. and Ann O. L. Micou, and her cousin, Ellen R. Micou.

Box 1: Susan Micou Ferris (1824-1861)

Subseries 1.7: Correspondence (Frances Ferris Hall), 1921-1972. 
There are letters from her father, Eugene Beverly Ferris I, from Holly Springs, Jackson, Poplarville, Starkville, and Vicksburg, and during a 1928 trip to Europe. There are also several letters from genealogist H. K. Douglass written after her fathers death.

Box 5: Frances Ferris Hall (1921-1943) 
Box 6: Frances Ferris Hall (1944-1972)

Subseries 1.8: Correspondence (Dr. Henry A. Minor), 1864-1914; n.d. 
There are photocopies of Civil War letters to Dr. Henry A. Minors mother, Fanny W. Minor, and to his sister, M. Ann Moseley. Other correspondents include Fanny M. Crymes and J. W. Haddon.

Box 1: Dr. Henry A. Minor (1864-1914; n.d.)

Subseries 1.9: Correspondence (Lancelot Minor, Sr., and Lancelot Minor, Jr.), 1814-1839. 
There are letters from William Minor to his father, Lancelot Minor, Sr., from Camp Carters (1814) and from Alabama (1839).

Box 1: Lancelot Minor, Sr., and Lancelot Minor, Jr. (1814-1839)

There are also letters to and from colleagues of Eugene Beverly Ferris at Mississippi Agricultural and Mechanical College and several agricultural experiment stations. Correspondents include agronomists J. L. Anthony, T. E. Ashley, R. Coleman, H. Critz, S. P. Crockett, J. W. Fox, M. Gieger, W. F. Hand, L. A. Higgins, B. Hilbun, H. H. Levick, E. R. Lloyd, C. Lyle, R. H. Means, F. T. Mitchell, P. F. Newell, C. L. Newman, W. P. Perkins, C. H. Ragland, H. E. Rea, J. R. Ricks, B. M. Walker, and J. M. Weeks; and publisher W. B. Andrews. There is also correspondence with German associates of the N. V. Potash Export Company and with the Veterans Administration regarding farm appraisals.

 

Series 2: Manuscripts. 1860-1890; 1916-1981; n.d. 49 folders.

The manuscripts include a number of reports by Eugene Beverly Ferris I, particularly three volumes of essays on agricultural experiment stations, agriculture, and Mississippi Agricultural and Mechanical College. These reports include articles, recollections, and speeches by Ferris. One article is entitled "Historical Sketch of Mississippi Experimental Stations." There are also photographs of Eugene Ferris, Jr., and Sally Minor Ferris, and there is a poem entitled "Tupelo" that was signed by Mississippi senator W. A. Ellis in 1916.

There are original manuscripts for much of the work of Eugene Beverly Ferris I. Three volumes contain numerous essays on agriculture, agricultural experiment stations, and Mississippi Agricultural and Mechanical College. The rest of the manuscripts are collectively entitled "Reminiscences." Most of these are original, but there are photocopies and typescripts of some manuscripts. The "Reminiscences" include speeches at clubs, farmers meetings, and schools. There are articles for agricultural and local newspapers and publications concerning agricultural experiment stations in Mississippi, fertilizers, observations on work, reforestation, visits to European farms (1928), and Mississippi State Agricultural and Mechanical College.

The "Reminiscences" (1943-1953) consist of an autobiography of Eugene Beverly Ferris I, genealogical correspondence and sketches, journals of twentieth-century events, newsclippings, and photographs. The "Reminiscences" concern Ferriss childhood in Alabama, matters relating to Mississippi Agricultural and Mechanical College, his work at the Holly Springs and McNeill agricultural experiment stations, general agricultural observations, personal travel, racial attitudes, the South, and life after his retirement.

The "Reminiscences" began as an autobiography in 1933, and they continued in 1943 as a family history for the Ferris children. Therefore, half of the manuscripts consist of photocopies or typescripts of family letters annotated by Eugene Beverly Ferris I. The original correspondence includes a letter sent by Eugene Ferris to friends in Winston County shortly before the Civil War, more recent letters from family members and researchers concerning genealogical matters, and recollections of Eugene Beverly Ferris I.

The majority of this series consists of several volumes of "Reminiscences" of Eugene Beverly Ferris I. These include family sketches, original family correspondence, transcriptions of family correspondence with annotations by Ferris, family trees, obituaries, and newsclippings relating to members of the Ferris, Minor, Trueheart, and Moseley families. 

Correspondents within the volumes of "Reminiscences" are W. C. Binion, Lancelot Minor Dent, H. K. Douglass, lawyer H. Doxey, agronomist Early C. Ewing, Mildred Ferris, Dr. C. Hengis, and W. H. Picard. 

Other items of interest within the volumes of "Reminiscences" include the correspondence between H. Critz, president of Mississippi Agricultural and Mechanical College, and J. N. Bowman of the Federal Land Bank of New Orleans (1932). Ferris also kept a daily diary in 1952. Photocopies of articles written by Ferris concern subjects such as Confederate general Robert E. Lee. There are also reminiscences (ca. 1918) of Dr. Henry A. Minor: "From Appomattox to Macon, 1865," "Gettysburg," "Macon Before and After the Civil War," "Scenes and Incidents . . . While a Surgeon in the Confederate Army"; "Condensation of My Family History" (1951), by Eugene Beverly Ferris I; and "Reminiscences" (1981) and "My Ancestors (n.d.), by Frances Ferris Hall.

Boxes 7-13

 

Series 3: Diaries, Notebooks, and Scrapbooks. 1905-1954. 9 folders.

The diaries, notebooks, and scrapbooks were primarily written or compiled by Eugene Beverly Ferris I, and there is also a scrapbook compiled by Dr. Henry A. Minor. The diaries contain accounts of Ferriss daily activities or accounts of his travels in Europe and New England. Ferriss notebooks contain addresses, notes, quotations, and reminders. His scrapbooks contain letters, notes, newsclippings, and photographs. This series includes the following diaries, notebooks, and scrapbooks:

Subseries 3.1: Diary/scrapbook (Eugene Beverly Ferris I), 1905; 1947-1954. 
This 1905 diary was reused from 1947 to 1954 as a scrapbook containing letters, newsclippings, notes, and photographs.

Subseries 3.2: Diary/scrapbook (Eugene Beverly Ferris I), 1918; 1945-1955. 
This 1918 diary was reused from 1945 to 1954 as a scrapbook containing letters, newsclippings, notes, and photographs.

Subseries 3.3: Diary (Eugene Beverly Ferris I), July 1928. 
This diary contains notes on a trip to Europe.

Subseries 3.4: Diary (Eugene Beverly Ferris I), August-September 1945. 
This diary contains notes on a trip to New England.

Subseries 3.5: Diary (Eugene Beverly Ferris I), October 1945-January 1946.

Subseries 3.6: Diary (Eugene Beverly Ferris I), March 1952.

Subseries 3.7: Diary (Eugene Beverly Ferris I), July 1952-February 1953.

Subseries 3.8: Notebooks (Eugene Beverly Ferris I). 
This notebook contains addresses, notes, quotations, and reminders.

Subseries 3.9: Scrapbook (Dr. Henry A. Minor), 1914-1915. 
This scrapbook was kept for his nephew, Eugene Beverly Ferris I, and it contains notes and historical, literary and religious articles from newspapers or booklets. Included are letters from A. I. Mather of the Masonic Temple Association (1914) and Dunbar Rowland, first director of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (1914).

Boxes 14-15

 

Series 4: Financial Records. 1925-1954; n.d. 23 folders.

The financial records include correspondence (1931-1954) and papers related to insurance, real and personal property, stocks and bonds, and other transactions. There are also a number of bills and receipts concerning bank accounts and taxes.

Boxes 16-17

 

Series 5: Certificates, Deeds, and Agreements. 1928-1961. 5 folders.

Among the certificates, deeds, and agreements are trust and warranty deeds concerning the Reynolds family properties, the Ferris family farm on the Big Black River, and rental contracts. Included are an award of merit, employment and poll-tax certificates, warranty registrations, and the will (photocopy) of Eugene Beverly Ferris I.

Box 18, folders 182-186

 

Series 6: Genealogy. 1982; n.d. 8 folders.

The genealogical records include correspondence, family trees, and research pertaining to the Ferris, Micou, Minor, Trueheart, and Washington families. The genealogical correspondence from the 1920s and after provides insight into the establishment of the Ferris family in Macon during the mid-nineteenth century. The recollections of Dr. Henry A. Minor written around 1918 describe Macon before and after the Civil War, and they recount the daily life of a Confederate surgeon.

Box 18, folders 187-193
Box 24, folder 246

 

Series 7: Photographs. 1928; n.d. 11 folders.

The photographs depict friends and relatives of the Ferris family, including Eugene, Lucien, and Sally Minor Ferris. There is also a photograph of a French Potash Society reception at the Restaurant Laurent in July of 1928.

Boxes 19, 23

 

Series 8: Newsclippings. n.d. 9 folders.

The newsclippings concern Eugene Beverly Ferris I and other members of the Ferris family, including the Ferrises of the Macon Beacon, and Eugene Beverly Ferris II. Other newsclippings pertain to relatives, colleagues, local agricultural concerns, and Mississippi politics.

Box 20, folders 204-212

 

Series 9: Printed Material. 1928-1956; n.d. 6 folders.

Among the printed material is a 1928 N. V. Potash Export Company report entitled Twenty-two Agricultural Leaders Go Abroad. There is a 1938 article entitled "Historical Periods of Fredericksburg," by V. Minor Fleming, and there are annual reports from Emory University, which were written by Eugene Beverly Ferris II in 1955 and 1956. There is also an extract concerning Eugene Beverly Ferris I from Richard Aubrey McLemore's A History of Mississippi.

Box 20, folders 213-218

 

Series 10: Books. 1842-1881; n.d. 5 folders.

The books include an 1842 Bible owned by W. J. Minor in 1850, McGuffee's New First Eclectic Reader (1857), and N. Webster's The Elementary Spelling Book (1857). Eugene Beverly Ferris I annotated a copy of R. L. Richmond's The Dairyman's Daughter and The Life, Speeches, and Public Services of James A. Garfield (1881).

Boxes 21-22

 
Box List:

Box 1, folders 1-24: correspondence. 
Box 2, folders 25-46: correspondence. 
Box 3, folders 47-68: correspondence. 
Box 4, folders 219-239: correspondence. 
Box 5, folders 69-88: correspondence. 
Box 6, folders 89-110: correspondence. 
Box 7, folders 111-117: manuscripts. 
Box 8, folders 118-125: manuscripts. 
Box 9, folders 126-129: manuscripts. 
Box 10, folders 130-133: manuscripts. 
Box 11, folders 134-136: manuscripts. 
Box 12, folders 137-140: manuscripts. 
Box 13, folders 141-149: manuscripts. 
Box 14, folders 150-151: diaries, notebooks, and scrapbooks. 
Box 15, folders 152-158: diaries, notebooks, and scrapbooks. 
Box 16, folders 159-174: financial records. 
Box 17, folders 175-181: financial records. 
Box 18, folders 182-186: certificates, deeds, and agreements.  
Box 18, folders 187-193: genealogy. 
Box 19, folders 194-203: photographs. 
Box 20, folders 204-212: newsclippings.  
Box 20, folders 213-218: printed material. 
Box 21, folder 240: books. 
Box 22, folders 241-244: books. 
Box 23, folder 245: photographs. 
Box 24, folder 246: genealogy.