Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

association continued. At the end of this
time Rodney Light took over the management
and cultivation of Mrs. Light's
mother's farm, and was so engaged until
1910, when he returned to New Canaan.
Since that time he has followed general
contracting, principally road work, in this
district, employing a force of men vary-
ing from twenty to fifty. Mr. Light has
executed many contracts in the decade of
his activity in this calling, and has built
up a reputation for efficiency and reliabil-
ity that is a valuable asset.
He is a Democrat in political faith, and
it is a tribute to his personal standing in
the community that in a town with a normal
Republican majority of three hundred
he was elected to the office of selectman.
During one term each he served as third
and second selectman, and he is now serv-
ing as first selectman. For thirty years
he has been a member of Harmony
Lodge, No. 67, Free and Accepted Ma-
sons, of New Canaan, and he also affil-
iates with Wooster Lodge, Independent
Order of Odd Fellows.
Mr. Light married Hattie May Wardwell,
daughter of Isaac Wardwell, of New
Canaan. Their one child, Ralph Ward-
well, died aged seventeen years.
FERRIS, William Jacob,
Lawyer.
As a former deputy judge of the Borough
Court, and as a leader of long stand-
ing of the Fairfield county bar Mr. Ferris
requires no introduction to his fellow-cit-
izens of Greenwich. He has recently ac-
quired a new claim to distinction as the
proprietor of an inn which, in the splendid
success achieved by its novel plan of op-
eration, adds to his high reputation as a
lawyer that of an original and sagacious
executant.
The Ferris family traces its origin from
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
333
the Norman house of Ferriers, Ferrerr,
or Ferries, or, as the name is written now,
Ferris. The first of the race to appear in
history is Guelchelme de Feriers, Master
of the House of the Duke of Normandy.
Henry de Feriers, son of Guelchelme de
Feriers, accompanied William the Con-
queror to England and took an active part
in the battle of Hastings in return for
which he received large grants of land in
Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Leicester-
shire. The family is entitled to display
the following escutcheon
Arms—Azure, on a chevron or, three horse-
shoes of the first, between three cinquefoils argent.
Crest—Out of a ducal coronet a hand proper
between two wings.
Motto—Multum in florins artae.
Jeffrey Ferris was born about 1610, in
Leicestershire, England, and about 1634
came to America. In 1635 he was made
a freeman at Boston, and subsequently
removed to Wethersfield, thence to Stam-
ford, and finally to Greenwich, where he
died. His descendants have ever since
been numerously represented there, and
also in Stamford, New Milford and other
towns and cities of New England, also in
different parts of the American Union.
(I) Jacob Ferris, grandfather of Wil-
liam Jacob Ferris, married Mary ,
and resided in New York City.
(II) Jacob Wesley Ferris, son of Jacob
and Mary Ferris, was born in New York
City. He learned the carpenter's trade,
following it for some years as a journeyman.
About the time of his marriage he
established himself as a contractor and
carried on that business during the remainder
of his life, engaging for the most
part in residential work. He was also as-
sociated with the real estate business,
building and selling houses on his own
account. About thirty years ago the family
became residents of Greenwich. They
were members of the Congregational
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