Dates: 1824-1938; 1943; 1944; 1954; 1989.

Original Harvey family correspondence is restricted; reference photocopies must be used instead.

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 accretion consists of Ferris family papers, including correspondence, genealogical papers, financial records, receipts, and newsclippings, and a small amount of Harvey family correspondence.

The Ferris family correspondence consists of one folder of letters entitled "Personal Correspondence, E. B. Ferris," and two folders of letters sent to various Ferris family members expressing sympathy upon the death of Eugene Beverly Ferris I in 1954. Ferriss "Personal Correspondence" is actually business-related correspondence dating from 1933 to 1937. The majority of these letters concern automobile and life insurance policies underwritten by a number of companies, including the Lamar Life Insurance Company of Jackson, Mississippi; the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York; and the Pilot Life Insurance Company of Greensboro, North Carolina. Ferris also corresponded with banks in Decatur, Alabama, concerning property he owned there; with a number of individuals interested in purchasing land from him in Decatur, Alabama, and in Poplarville, Mississippi; and with the Tennessee Valley Authority in Knoxville. There is also a 1989 letter from Dr. William R. Ferris, Jr., who was director of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi at that time.

The Harvey family correspondence mainly consists of original letters from Confederate soldier John C. Harvey to his wife, Jane. Harvey served as a private in Company E, Third Regiment, Mississippi State Troops, during the Civil War. He wrote several letters from various camps in Mississippi during the war. Harveys regiment was stationed at Snyders Mill, near Vicksburg, Warren County, Mississippi, in December of 1862. He wrote about the number of Confederate and Union casualties and gunboat and troop movements, particularly Union advances along the Yazoo River. There are also a few Harvey family letters that were written from Camden, Arkansas; Starkville, Mississippi; and Fairfield County, South Carolina.

The genealogical papers consist of photocopies of Ferris family correspondence annotated by Eugene Beverly Ferris I and several narratives written by Ferris on the history of the Ferris, Micou, Minor, and Washington families. There are also a number of essays written by Ferris describing other aspects of family history and his travels.

The financial records include a small amount of correspondence concerning life insurance policies and the sale of land in Pearl River and Warren counties in Mississippi. Although there are a few certificates for life insurance policies, the series mainly consists of a number of receipts for life insurance premiums and taxes paid by Eugene Beverly Ferris I or Martha Reynolds Ferris.

There is a December 1944 newsclipping of a farewell message written by Eugene Beverly Ferris I and Martha Reynolds Ferris to the citizens of Holly Springs, expressing sorrow at moving away from the town, and there are 1954 obituaries for Eugene Beverly Ferris I.

 

Series Identification:

Series 1: Correspondence (Ferris Family). 1933-1937; 1954; 1989; n.d.
The Ferris family correspondence consists of one folder of letters entitled "Personal Correspondence, E. B. Ferris," and two folders of letters sent to various Ferris family members expressing sympathy upon the death of Eugene Beverly Ferris I in 1954. Ferris’s "Personal Correspondence" is actually business-related correspondence dating from 1933 to 1937. The majority of these letters concern automobile and life insurance policies underwritten by a number of companies, including the Lamar Life Insurance Company of Jackson, Mississippi; the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York; and the Pilot Life Insurance Company of Greensboro, North Carolina. Ferris also corresponded with banks in Decatur, Alabama, concerning property he owned there; with a number of individuals interested in purchasing land from him in Decatur, Alabama, and in Poplarville, Mississippi; and with the Tennessee Valley Authority in Knoxville. There is also a 1989 letter from Dr. William R. Ferris, Jr., who was director of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi at that time.

Box 1, folders 1-3

 

Series 2: Correspondence (Harvey Family). 1839-1872; n.d. 2 folders.
The Harvey family correspondence mainly consists of original letters from Confederate soldier John C. Harvey to his wife, Jane. Harvey served as a private in Company E, Third Regiment, Mississippi State Troops, during the Civil War. He wrote several letters from various camps in Mississippi during the war. Harvey’s regiment was stationed at Snyder’s Mill, near Vicksburg, Warren County, Mississippi, in December of 1862. He wrote about the number of Confederate and Union casualties and gunboat and troop movements, particularly Union advances along the Yazoo River. There are also a few Harvey family letters that were written from Camden, Arkansas; Starkville, Mississippi; and Fairfield County, South Carolina.

Box 1, folder 4 (reference photocopies)
Box 3, folder 1 (restricted originals)

 

Series 3: Genealogical Papers. 1824-1928; 1943; n.d. 1 folder.
The genealogical papers consist of photocopies of Ferris family correspondence annotated by Eugene Beverly Ferris I and several narratives written by Ferris on the history of the Ferris, Micou, Minor, and Washington families. There are also a number of essays written by Ferris describing other aspects of family history and his travels.

Box 2, folder 1

 

Series 4: Financial Records. 1912-1938; n.d. 2 folders.
The financial records include a small amount of correspondence concerning life insurance policies and the sale of land in Pearl River and Warren counties in Mississippi. Although there are a few certificates for life insurance policies, the series mainly consists of a number of receipts for life insurance premiums and taxes paid by Eugene Beverly Ferris I or Martha Reynolds Ferris.

Box 2, folders 2-3

 

Series 5: Newsclippings. 1944; 1954 1 folder.
There is a December 1944 newsclipping of a farewell message written by Eugene Beverly Ferris I and Martha Reynolds Ferris to the citizens of Holly Springs, expressing sorrow at moving away from the town, and there are 1954 obituaries for Eugene Beverly Ferris I.

Box 2, folder 4

 

Box List:

Box 1, folders 1-3: Ferris family correspondence.
Box 1, folder 4: Harvey family correspondence.

Box 2, folder 1: genealogical papers. 
Box 2, folders 2-3: financial records.
Box 2, folder 4: newsclippings.

Box 3, folder 1: Harvey family correspondence (restricted originals).