Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

Sandolphon Lodge, No. 836, Ancient Free
and Accepted Masons, of Brooklyn, and
he is an honorary member of the Ameri-
can Association of Steam Engineers.
Mr. Adams married Clara Shurter,
daughter of James Shurter, of Beacon,
New York, and they are the parents of
four children, three of whom are now liv-
ing. They are : Grace
;
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
Sidney, married
Dorothy Eden, and has one son, Sidney,
Jr. Howard
; Helen ;
J. With his family
Mr. Adams attends the Methodist Epis-
copal church of Norwalk, and aids in its
support.
FERRIS, John Hanford,
Man of Affairs, Legislator.
From the earliest settlement of Fair-
field county, the name of Ferris has been
an honored one in Connecticut. The race
has always been animated by that love of
freedom which inspired the New England
pioneers. Members of every branch of
the family have played prominent parts
in the Colonial, Revolutionary and Na-
tional periods of our history.
The Ferris family is of Norman origin,
the primitive orthography having been
Ferier or Ferrerr. It is derived from
Ferian, to convey across, and was be-
stowed, ere the dawn of the family his-
tory, as distinguished from family tradition,
on one dwelling near a ferry or on
the keeper of the ferry. The founder of
the family in England was Henry de
Ferier, son of Gualchelme de Ferier, master
of the horse of William the Conqueror,
Duke of Normandy, who obtained grants
of land in the counties of Staffordshire,
Derbyshire and Leicestershire. Of this
Henry de Ferier tradition says that Wil-
liam the Conqueror rode up to him on the
battle-field, and taking from his own neck
a chain of gold threw it over the head of
Henry de Ferier, saying: "You fight too
fiercely, I must chain you up." From him
are descended the Ferrers of Groby, who
bore for their paternal arms : Gules, seven
mascles or, a canton ermine. Their
Westchester descendants carried : Gules,
316
a fleur-de-lis, a canton ermine, with a
crescent. The arms of the father of
Henry de Ferier were: Argent, six horse-
shoes, pierced sable.
(I) Jeffrey Ferris came to America in
1634, and records prove that he settled
in Watertown, Massachusetts, and that
on May 6, 1635, he was made a freeman
of that place. He was one of the first
settlers, and his name appears on the list
of those who paid for the survey, receiv-
ing ten acres of the first assignment of
land. Removing from Watertown to
Wethersfield, it is shown by record that
he sold his lot of forty-five acres to John
Deming. In 1641 he came to Stamford
with the first colony from Wethersfield,
and his house stood on the north side of
what is now Broads, west of Franklin
street. Later he removed to Greenwich,
where he passed the remainder of his
life. In 1656 he was one of the eleven
Greenwich men who petitioned to be under
New Haven jurisdiction. He was one
of the original purchasers of land which
now forms the town of Greenwich. According
to tradition, the first of his three
wives was Ann, daughter of John and
Sarah (Jeffrey) Milton, and sister of John
Milton, the blind poet. "Stamford Registrations"
says : "Wife to Jeffrey, died
31st, 5th, 1658." Also, "Susanna, wife,
married 1659, died at Grinwich, Decem-
ber 23, 1660."
(II) James Ferris, son of Jeffrey and
Ann (Milton) Ferris, was born about
1643, and was one of the original pat-
entees named in the patent granted to
the town of Greenwich by the General