Janet's Genealogy

Ferree family

Ferree family History

“Historical test by Jean BIANQUIS - Pasteur of the Reformed Church of ROUEN”

This book contains

“NOTES On the PROTESTANTS OF ROUEN

persecuted on this occasion By Emile LESENS ROUEN

Leon DESHAYS, Printer and publisher

Street of Carmelite friars, 58

1885

FERRAND, rue Grand-Pont, et sa femme, absents ; n'ont point abjuré.

FERRAND (JACQUES), m. à Judith RAFFY ; leur fils Jacques a abjuré le 3 novembre à Sainte-Croix-Saint-Ouen.

FERRAND (JEAN), marchand, m. à Anne RAULT; sa femme a abjuré le 2 novembre; réfugié

LEFEBVRE (ABRAHAM), a abjuré le 21 novembre à Saint-Herbland.

LEFEBVRE (AUGUSTIN), réfugié.

Biens abandonnés : Pièce de terre à Auzouville-l'Esneval.

LEFEBVRE (demoiselles), réfugiées.

Biens abandonnés : Rentes.

LEFEBVRE (GUILLAUME), garçon, rue Grand-Pont,. proche l'église de Saint-Martin-du-Pont, a payé 105 livres pour logement de 2 C. et 1 Cap.; a de la fortune, dit avoir abjuré; signalé ensuite comme absent.

LEFEBVRE (ISAAC), marchand, rue Grand-Pont, m. à Marie COUILLIETTE, enfants; 1 Cap. , M. de la Houssaye. Enfermé dans le couvent des Cordeliers, et sa femme dans un autre couvent.

LEFEBVRE (JACQUES), menuisier, hors Cauchoise, m. à Marguerite AUBLÉ; 1 C. qui a dépensé à la Petite-Notre-Dame 110 sols. Ledit cavalier a pris les outils de ce menuisier pour sûreté de la dépense; a abjuré le 3 novembre.

LEFEBVRE (NICOLAS), chapelier, au Jardin-au-Blanc, m. à Anne FAUCON; 2 C.; a abjuré.

LEFEBVRE (PHILÉMON), a abjuré à Saint-Herbland, le 27 novembre.

Jean Fiere ( Fuehre) LA VERREE (He was also known as Jean La Verree. Jean de la Feuhre) ca1624 - .

SECOND GENERATION

History: Every Name Index to Rupp's "History and Topography of Dauphin, Cumberland, Franklin, Bedford, Adams, and Perry counties," PA"

Major FERREE says in Chapter 4 re: "The Family in France." "This chapter is one of the reasons why this book is in loose leaf form. Someday I hope to have the time to travel and research this subject.... ...heraldry...indicates that the family from the 13th century were recognized as nobility in Lower Normandy. The first date with a name is Robert FERREE in 1265. He mentioned his father, Rodolphe. The location of the family estate was in the parish of Forchamps in the canton of Passais, district of Domfront in Lower Normandy. The term canton is defined as a subdivision of an arrondissement in France. Arrondissement is a French word meaning a chief subdivision of a district. Paris is divided into 20 districts. ...

The original of Robert FERREE's document is said to be in the Archives of St. Lo. St. Lo...is approximately half-way between CAen and Cherbourg or about 140 miles east by northeast of Paris. Whether or not the archives are still there would be an interesting point....St. Lo was the area of fierce fighting in June 1944 during WW II when the American 1st Army faced the forces of the famous German Field Marshall Rommel ....One paragraph tells us that most of the members of one of the French brances are buried in the church at Passais, the same canton where the family estate was located that was mentioned by Robert FERREE in 1265. ...The authentication...deals in very broad terms with the descendants of the Robert FERREE from 1265 A.D. We have no direct line until Jean (Fuehre) LaVERREE, a French Protestant of Picardy who moved to Flanders at the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. His son, Daniel, also known as John FERREE, was born in 1650. He married Maria WAREMBAUER in 1669. Their home and business was located in Landau, Bavaria, which was then a part of France. It is now a state in West Germany, having been sold to Germany by 'mad' King Ludwyg to pay off its indebtedness. Daniel is usually referred to as a wealthy Huguenot silk manufacturer..

The family is listed in the Patrician ranks of French nobility." The LeFEVER gang is dealt with here as well - and the flight to avoid persecution following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Concerning Daniel's death: "Early in the year 1708, Madam FERREE with her children and daughter-in-law made plans to leave for the "Island of' Pennsylvania and obtained a passport dated 10 march 1708. She was a widow. Her husband, Daniel, aka John, had died while they lived in Strasbourg. Details of his death are lacking, but one report says that he was lost at sea. We wonder under what circumstances. had he attempted to go to American earlier to join his friends? We do not know. Another report referring to the husband as John, says he 'was among those slain during the insurrection in France.' There were insurrections by the Huguenots following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Which report could be correct? Could both be correct? The abridged compendium of American Genealogy says he died in exile”

LeFerree, Ferree, Ferrie, Fuehre, Fierre, Firre, Ferie, were of the nobility of France, and originally seated at Forchamps, in Lower Normandy. The founder of the family was Robert Ferree, who in A.D. 1265 was confirmed to an extensive estate. (See "Nobility of Normandy," Vol. II, p.357. Stapleton, p.100-108.)

There some books state that Daniel FERREE was born 10 Mar 1647, Normandy Province, FRANCE; 1650, France, Forchamps, Lower Normandy d. 1708, Lindau, BAVARIA Occupation a silk weaver by trade. Then other books that state Daniel Ferree was born on 10 Mar 1646 in Steinweiler, (Palatinate) area of Bittingheim, Germany. Occupation was silk manufacturer. They only thing we can say for sure is Daniel was born in 1646/7 in Europe. Daniel married in 1675 to Mary WARENBUER (Madam Marie De La Warembur) b. 1653, Picardy, FRANCE d. 1716, Conestoga, Lancaster Co, PA

Daniel Ferree and Maria la Warembur (Warembuer or Warrembere) lived in Landau, France, along the Rhine River, and to this union were born six children: Daniel, Catherine, Mary, Jane, Philip, and John. France then controlled this territory east as far as the Rhine. Daniel died in Steinweiler near the Rhine River.

A descendant of this family was Daniel Ferree, born about 1650. In 1675 he married Marie de la Warembur (Warembuer or Warrembere). He was a Huguenot, and a wealthy silk manufacturer. They lived in Landau, France, along the Rhine River, and to this union were born six children: Daniel, Catherine, Mary, Jane, Philip, and John. France then controlled this territory east as far as the Rhine.

After the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, in 1685 the family fled to Strasburg. While here they were still living in France, Isaac LeFevre, a lad of sixteen, who also had fled his home when the other members of his family were killed, joined the family. They later fled on into Bavaria in Germany, taking with them Isaac, and while living there Isaac and Catherine were married. They stayed in Bavaria until the early part of 1708 when the senior Daniel died. At this time his widow assumed her maiden name as an additional means of safety.

Thanks to Jacquie Bell, a cousin of mine, for supplying many sources for this research. Daniel Ferree was a prosperous silk manufacturer. 1 The Ferrees had been French Huguenot silk manufacturers and members of lower Normandy's lesser nobility since 1255.

In 1685, when Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes, which granted religious freedom, he sent soldiers to all towns and villages to kill the Protestants and confiscate their properties. Daniel and Marie escaped to Germany where their daughter, Mary Catherine was born. It is believed that Daniel died while the family lived in Strasbourg. Details of his death are lacking; One report says he was slain during the insurrection in France following the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes.2 He may have died before 1708 in Lindau, Bavaria. After Daniel died, his wife assumed her maiden name for safety.

HUGUENOT & PROTESTANT REFORMED CHRONOLOGY

1681 William Penn Jr. receives grant of Pennsylvania England's King Charles II. Collections made in England for needy French refugees.

Oct., 1682 Penn made Philadelphia the capital of the Province of Pennsylvania.

Oct., 1685 Revocation of the Edict of Nantes by King Louis XIV. Many more Canadian Huguenots escaped to New England, from where they continued to trade with Canada.

After Revocation, some 80,000 French manufacturers and workmen fled to the British Isles, bring such industries as paper making, silk makers, tanners, furniture making, silver smithing. England became an exporter, rather than an importer of such items as velvets, satins, silks, taffetas, laces, gloves, buttons, serge cloth, beaver and felt hats, linen, ironware, cutlery, feathers, fans, girdles, pins, needles, combs, soap, viengar and many more items manufacturered by the new Huguenot citizens. But life in another country was not without its problems, not only of language but also when the hard-working, frugal Huguenots came into competition with the citizens.

Mary WARENBUER (Madam Marie De La Warembur/Weremburg) b. 1653, Picardy, FRANCE d. before November 28, 1716 , Conestoga, Lancaster Co, PA

I was told that Warembur was use even if her husband was still living. This was French custom. So I ask around and this what I was told.

"Marie de la Warembur (Warembuer or Warrembere) It has always been the French system that women retain their maiden name in official records.

The French/Huguenot/Walloon/Stranger church records of the Huguenot Society of GB are great to use because they give the family names of mothers in baptism records and in many instances mothers on both sides in marriages/betrothals, which takes a lot of what might be educated guess work out of family research.

Interestingly the system is still the same. When we signed up for our French house in October both my SO and the vendor's SO both had their maiden names on the contract to sell, even though they were also called Madame in the contract. Suits Jenny well because she has always called herself by her first husband's surname because that's how she is known professionally."

But George Ferree, a family historian states, “ After the death of her husband, Madam is said to have resumed her maiden name of Marie Warenbur, which is said to have been the French custom of that time”

Thanks to Jacquie Bell, a cousin of mine, for supplying many sources for this research

“The family moved from Strasbourg to a safer area in Lindau Bavaria where they heard of a "new Moses", William Penn, who was selling his rich land in the New World cheaply, title to which would ensure owners political asylum and freedom of opportunity and religion. March 10, 1708, Mary Ferree and her seven children, along with a young couple they had befriended in Strasbourg, Mathias and Catherine Schleiermacher, were pass ported by the Bavarian Civil Service to immigrate "via Holland and England to the Island of Pennsylvania to reside there." Final clearance came on May l0 from the pastor and deacons of the Reformed Walloon Church, who described them as professors of "the Pure Reformed Religion ... without having given cause for scandal that has come to our knowledge."

The little band traversed the Palatinate's burned-out landscape toward the riot of spires and masts that marked the maritime metropolis of Rotterdam. After sailing on a bark to London, they settled in a Palatine colony in Spitalfields.

"Being people of substance, the Ferree-Schleiermachers formed the nucleus around which poorer transients gathered. Through Penn agents, Madame Ferree was their spokesman to, and in dickering with, William Penn. He asked that she be brought to his London residence for an interview. The cultured and indomitable widow so impressed the proprietor that he petitioned the sovereign herself for an audience. This occurred on August 27, 1708."4 "It was obvious that England's Queen Anne took pleasure in the company of women of accomplishment, for after one sitting, she granted Madame Ferree a patent of naturalization, covering all fifty-four of the persons in the Ferree-Schleiermacher entourage. Permission for the group to colonize in America was granted in the same instrument."

"Mathias Schleiermacher and Mary Ferree's holdings comprised roughly four thousand acres from agent Martin Kendig's large share of Penn's 1710 land grant in the Pequea Valley. Possession could not be effected until the surveyor general of the province finished subdividing. Payment was then to be made to agent Kendig. Martin Kendig, like other Penn agent-servants, was a middleman for the proprietor. Penn dispensed with the work of getting settlers by allowing agents to take a commission on any portions of their own grants sold. The only injunctions laid down were those that could be expected; customers had to be "Godly" and able to come across with the money."

"Since surveying would take two years, it was decided that the Ferree-Schleiermacher group would cross the Atlantic and proceed up the Hudson River to a Huguenot colony at Esopus. When surveying was completed in Pennsylvania, they could descend to their Promised Lands."

"In early September, 1708, safely aboard the ship Lyon, the Pool of London, with its forest of masts, slipped back into the city's sooty mists, behind the Ferree-Schleiermachers and their band. The encircling horizon now became green-blue ocean for six weeks of hard biscuits, salted fish, pickled pork, scents of pitch and brine, squeaks and groans of straining rigging.

"When the ship Lyon entered the Hudson River the immigrants experienced deeply felt emotions of thanksgiving. After the Reverend Josiah Kochesthal led the group in prayer, they embraced. With laughs and tears they probably commented on the familiar Rhine-like appearance of the Hudson's steep wooded hills. They must have been thankful that they made it to Esopus before the river froze and rejoiced to settle down in the log cabins of their hosts before the first snow fell."

For two years these immigrants waited at Esopus. In 1710 word reached them that their Pequea Valley lands had been surveyed. When the ice was melted in early spring, they set sail downriver to the ocean, but this time only to coast along the shoreline to the mouth of the Delaware and up the river to Philadelphia.

When Mary Ferree and her friends put into Philadelphia, they found bustling markets with dairy cattle, sheep, oxen, and horses; descendants of the original Swedish stock. From full-to-the-rafters stores they bought hardware, smoked meat, and flour. Maps of their holdings were prepared in the office of Penn's secretary, James Logan. The Pequea Valley comprised the western extremity of Chester County and was referred to as Conestoga Township. The valley was watered by two small, southwesterly-flowing rivers, the Pequea and, a few miles to its west, the Conestoga. Both emptied into the Susquehanna River.

Penn's west road had been extended through Chester County to the Gap in the Hills. Here it crossed the trading road running south to New Castle. By 1710 the west road from Philadelphia was being pushed southwesterly to the Susquehanna. It was called the Great Conestoga Road. It was over this dirt path that the Ferree-Schleiermacher caravan of wagons bumped west on a summer's day in 1710.

Reports of the settlers' arrival have it that Madame Ferree stepped in front of the others to meet the first deerskin-clad native, who stated that he would take them to their lands. Mary Ferree's family was among the first 5,000 of 150,000 Huguenots to arrive in America. Madame Anna Marie De Warrembere Ferree was the founder of the Pequea Valley, PA Huguenot colony in 1712 in Lancaster Co. One of her first actions was to vest in trustees a piece of land for a cemetery and she is buried in the SE corner.

The Pennsylvania LeFevres by George Newton LeFevre; History of Lancaster Co., PA. pages 24-39, Louis Du Bois Family History, on file at the York County Historical & Genealogical Society in York, Pa.); The Story of the Feree Family, Emory Schuyler Ferree, 829 So. Mulberry Avenue, Brea, CA, 1990;

Captive's Mansion by S. R. Slaymaker II Harper & Row, NY 1973 Rupp's "History of Lancaster County"

Children of Daniel Ferree and Marie de la Warrembere are:

1. DANIEL FERREE, JR., b. 1677, Landau, France; d. August 1762, Paradise Towbship, Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania.

2. CATHERINE FERREE, b. March 26, 1679, Landau, France; d. 1749, Strasburg Township, Lancaster Co., Pa..

3. JANE FERREE, b. 1682-1687, Lyon, France; d.1754, Lancaster Co., Pa.; m. RICHARD DAVIS, 1715, Pennsylvania.

4. MARY CATHERINE FERREE, b. 1683-1685, Rhine Country France; d. March 28, 1752, Lancaster Co., Pa..

5 JOHN FERREE, b. 1685-1686, Lyon, France; d. September 1769.

6 PHILIP FERREE, b. 1686-1687, Steinweiler, Bittingheim, Palitinate; d. May 19, 1753, Paradise Township, Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania.

AN INDEX TO THE WILL BOOKS AND INTESTATE RECORDS OF LANCASTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA 1729-1850 LANCASTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

page v

[p.v] After the revocation of the Edict of Nantes by Louis XIV in 1685, half a million French Huguenots left the country. Penn's colony not only welcomed them but encouraged their coming. In the first group to reach this section were Maria Warenbauer, widow of Daniel Ferree, or Fiere, and her three sons and three daughters, one the wife of Isaac LeFevre. It was in 1711-12 that they came into the Pequea Valley in what is now Paradise Township. Soon after settling here, Philip Ferree married Leah DuBois of New Paltz, New York - another important Huguenot community|R19|r. Since then many more have come, contributing much to the happiness and prosperity of our people because of such traits as gaiety and an optimistic outlook on life, ingenuity and adaptability, tolerance, unlimited energy, and efficiency at the handicrafts|R20|r.

"THE TRAIL OF THE HUGUENOTS in Europe, the United States, South Africa and Canada" by G. Elmore Reaman

“First about “the Lefevre family can be traced back to Mengen le Fevre, 1510 Strasbourg, Alsace. In 1685 Isaac Lefevres parents, three brothers and three sisters were murdered by the Roman Catholics. Isaac, a lad of sixteen, was the only one to escape. He took with him his father’s Bible, concealed by baking it in a loaf of bread.

A Huguenot family known variously as LaFerree, Ferree, Fuchre, Fierre and Ferie, who were nobility in France at Forchamps, in Lower Normandy, with Robert Ferree as founder in 1265.

A Descendant, Daniel Ferree, born 1650 and 1675 m'd Marie de la Warembur. Daniel was wealthy silk manufacturer and located at Landau, Bavaria, where Daniel, Catherine, Mary, Jane, Philip and John were born. After the Revocation they all fled to Strasbourg where they were joined by Isaac Lefevre, a lad of sixteen. Late they went to Bavaria where Isaac married Catherine and where they all remained until 1708 when the father died.

Accepting Queen Anne of England’s invitation they all went to London and they in the Rev. Joshua Kockerthal’s party proceeded to New York. From there they went to Esopus (Kingston, NY) where they stayed several years and met up with two of Isaac Lefevre’s uncles, Andrew and Simon, who had preceded them and who had been two of the 12 Huguenots to settle at New Paltz. In 1712 they left for Philadelphia where Madame Ferree was given 2,000 acres by William Penn along the Pequea Creek some fifty-five miles west of Philadelphia. In 1716 Madame Ferree died and the two thousand acres were divided among the Ferree children, Isaac getting 300. When Isaac died in 1751 he owned 1500 acres.”

“THE COMPENDIUM OF AMERICAN GENEALOGY” by Frederick Adams Virkus.

“Ferree, Mme. Mary (Maria Warenbur) (1650-1715’ widow of Daniel Ferree [din exile ante 1708], desc, Jean [Fuehre] LaVerree, a French Protestant, of Picardy who removed to Flanders at the revocation of the Edict of Nantes ); went from Lindau in Bavaria, German Palatinate, to Eng. Obtained letters patent for citizenship under the privy seal of Queen Anne, Aug 30,1708; visited William Penn in person and he covenanted with her for a grant of land in PA; arrived New York, party of French and Palatine refugees headed by Rev. Joshua Kocherthal from Lindau; went from Esopus, on the Hudson River as a founder of Huguenot Colony in the Pequea Valley, Lancaster co. Pa.”

"The Palatine Families of New York" by Henry Jones

"Marie Warembourg (Hunter Lists #784)

This interesting family was documented at 6741 Billigheim (7 km.s.of Landau) and at 6741 Steinweiler ( km. s. e. of Billigheim). A Jean Warembourg and an Adrian Warembourg were recorded at Steinweiler in 1664 and 1678 (Community Lists at Speyer Archives). File 52, F 11, in the Stadt Archives at Speyer mention that Han Felten Ziegler sold his goods in Steinweiler to the honourable Daniel Ferres and his wife Maria Werenbour for 100 Gulden, 40 Gulden at once and 60 Gulden at Christmasm 12 Sept 1681 (filed under Billigheim Mss.) Rupp (p.8) notes that Mary Fuhre (Feree) of Bittingheim in the High bailiwick of Germersheim, appliced 10 March 1708 for a pass to come to the "Island of Pa." She and her family also appliex for a certificate of church membership 10 May 1708, which sets forth that they were of La profession de la pure Religion Re'forme'e, fre'quents nos saintes assembles, et participe a' la cene du Seigneur avec les autres fide'les. Mary Warmbour aged 56, with sons age 24, 23, 19, and 17 and a daughter age 22, Ref widow, was in the 1st arrivals in England in 1709 (London Lists) Marie Warembourg/Waremburg made her initial appearance on the Hunter Rolls 4 Aug 1710 with pers. over 10 yrs. of age in the household. Rupp goes one to state that Maria Warenbur, Wemar or Fiere, at the instance of Martin Kendig and 2,000 acres of land confirmed to her at Pequae 12 Sept 1712"

History of Lancaster County by Dr. Frederick Klein, 1924

"Strasburg" comes into land records as early as 1712, if not earlier. Copy of receipt for annual quit-rent for two thousand acres of land reads: "Recd, Philadelphia, 11:7:1712, of Maria Warenbaner,twenty shillings sterling, for one year's quit-rent of two thousand acres of land laid out to her at Strasburg, in this Province. (Signed) James Logan, Receiver."

This Maria Warenbauer was the widow of Daniel Ferree (Fiere). a silk weaver of Steinweller. After his death she had, according to an old French custom, again taken her maiden patronymic, Warenbauer. The Ferree family, in common with other Huguenot families, suffered by the repealing of the Edict of Nantes by Louis XIV, in 1685, and eventually found refuge in England, ultimately, in 1709, reaching the British colonies. Her son, Daniel Ferree, and her son-in-law, Isaac Le Fevre (or Lefever), reached New York on January 1, 1709, but she, Maria Warenbauer (or Mary Ferree, as she is more often referred to in Lancaster county records), did not arrive, with her four younger children, until later in that year, perhaps not until 1710. It is believed that for a while the Ferree family resided in the Huguenot colony at Esopus, now Kingston, New York. But they were evidently soon in Pennsylvania, as is shown in Judge Landis's paper entitled

"Madame Mary Ferree and the Huguenots of Lancaster County," published in 1917- He writes:

The minutes of the Land Commissioners of the Province of Pennsylvania state that the late Commissioners, having granted ten thousand acres of land to the Palatines by their warrant dated 8 her (October), 1710, in pursuance thereof, there was laid out to Martin Kindig (besides the 2,ooo acres already confirmed to him and paid for) the like quantity Of 2,000 acres towards Susquehannah, of which Surveyor General has made a return. The said Martin, now appearing, desires the said land to be granted to Maria Warenbuer, widow, for whom the same was taken up or intended, and is to pay the consideration for it. All of the parties must have been present at Philadelphia before the Land Commissioners at this time,-that is, Martin Kendig, Mary Fiere, Daniel Ferree, her son, and Isaac LeFever, her son-in-law, for the record continues: "But, upon further consideration of the matter, it is agreed among themselves that the said land shall be confirmed to Daniel Ferree and Isaac LeFever, two of the said widow's sons, and the consideration money, viz.: L140, at L7 P. hund'd, by agreement, having been for some time due, but is now to be paid down in one sum 'tis agreed they shall pay only ten pounds for interest, that is L150 in the whole."

“These entries were made on September 10, 1712. The records, however, now in the office of the Secretary of Internal Affairs, show the following to be the exact situation: On October 10, 1710, John Rudolph Bundley, Martin Kindig, and other Germans made application for 10,000 acres to be laid out to them twenty miles easterly of Conestoga, near the head of Pequea creek. On the same day a warrant was secured by Martin Kendig (Kindig) for 2,000 acres and six per cent for roads and roadways." This was the tract he transferred to Daniel Ferree and Isaac LeFever, and for which a patent was issued to them on September 10, 1712. It is filed in Patent Book A, volume 4, page 303, and in part reads: Whereas my late Commissioners of Property, by their warrant bearing date ye Tenth day of ye Eighth Month in ye year One thousand Seven Hundred and Tenn, granted unto John Rudolph Bundley and Martin Kindig & divers other Germans, late inhabitants in or near ye Palatinate of ye Rhine, Tenn thousand acres of land to be laid out to them on ye north side of a hill about twenty miles easterly of Conestogoe, near ye head of Pecque Creek, in this Province, by virtue of which warrant there was survey'd & subdivided at ye instance of ye sd Martin Kindig for ye use of Daniel Ferre & Isaac LeFevre, late of Steinweilter, in ye Palatinate of ye Rhine, a certain tract, situate and bounded as follows, viz: Beginning at the corner tree of another tract belonging to ye same grant, running by ye same south by east eight hundred & twenty perches to a corner markt tree, thence east by a line of markt trees four hundred & twenty-two perches to a corner tree in a certain tract of land, surveyed by Thomas Story, thence by ye sd Story's land and vacant land north by west eight hundred & twenty perches to a post,thence west by a line of markt trees four hundred & twenty perches to ye beginning, containing two thousand acres with allowance made for Roads & Highways, which ye sd Daniel Fierre & Isaac LeFevre requesting me to confirm to them by Patent. Know ye, that for and in consideration of, and so forth. It seems to have been officially understood that Mary Ferree (Maria Warenbauer), the mother, was one of the parties of this transaction, and that the two parties named in the instrument should merely, for the present, hold the tract "in behalf of themselves and others, their kindred and relations, who had advanced part of the purchase money for the same." Madame Ferree (Warenbauer) was given receipt in November of the same year for the quit-rent on the tract, which receipt has already been quoted herein, because the name "Strasburg" appears therein. And, with the passing of some years, parts of the Ferree-Lefever tract were deeded to others of their family, and to Thomas Faulkner. The original patent was surrendered in 1735, and another then issued for 2,3oo acres, with allowances, it having been ascertained by a resurvey "that there was a considerable error in respect to the length and the quantity of land therein contained."

It does not seem possible to confidently state the year in which the Ferrees took up residence. They may have come in soon after leaving shipboard, and "squatted" on the land while negotiations were pending, in which case Daniel Ferree, the son, and Isaac LeFever, the son-in-law, would have settled in the year 1709.

This is not corroborated by some other records, but it is the year stated by Jacob Hildebrand, in his "Reminiscences of Strasburg," published in 1896. He writes: The first settlements were made in 1709 by the Swiss Mennonites on the banks of the Pequea Creek. The name Strasburg was no doubt brought with them from their native country, but in the organization of Lancaster county in 1729 and the division into townships there seemed to be a prejudice against the German Mennonites, and the name Strasburg was entirely ignored, and what is now known as Strasburg and Paradise townships was included within the boundaries of Leacock township, although at that time patent deeds had been granted to the first settlers for over 20,000 acres of land, and in the deeds is mentioned Strasburg, Chester county. I have never been able to find any legal or Court records showing when the boundaries of Strasburg Township were defined. It was only by common honesty and in justice to the first settlers that the name has been continued.

The first patent deeds are dated June 30th, A. D. 1711. The number of patent deeds for the whole township is forty-six and they contain over 14,000 acres. The names of the original patentees are Martin Kendig, John Kunk, Jacob Miller, Able Strettle, Isaac LeFever, Hans Howery, Daniel Ferree, Samuel Taylor, Jacob Groff, John Taylor, Thomas Smith, Henry Kendig, John Bowman, John Rush, John Herr, John Eckman, Isaac Whitelock, George Smith, Henry Stoner, Jacob Kendrick John Mosser, Jacob Eshleman, John Miller, John Breckbill, Benjamin Groff, James Scott, David Witmer, John Rubley, J. and M. Fouts, Francis Bowman, Conrad Hoak, John Neff, Samuel Peoples, Samuel Hathern, and Annie Neff.

They arrived at their destination late in the fall of 1712. After all their trials and travels, it looked so good to them that they called the place "Paradise," and so the town and the township remains to this day.

From an unknown early writer we have the following:

"It was on the evening of an autumn day when the Huguenots reached the verge of a hill commanding the view of the valley of the Pequea. It was a woodland scene, a forest inhabited by wild beasts, for no indication of civilized life was very near. Scattered along the Pequea among the dark green hazel inhabited by wild beast could be discerned the Indian wigwams, and the smoke coming therefrom. "Suddenly a number of Indians darted from the woods. The females shrieked when an Indian advanced and in broken English said to Madame Ferree, 'Indian no harm white; white good to Indian; go to our Chief; come to Beaver.' Few were the words of the Indian. They went with him to Beaver Cabin, and Beaver, with the humanity, which distinguishes the Indian of that period, gave to the emigrants his wigwam. "The next day Beaver introduced them to Tawana, who lived on the great flats of Pequea and was a chief of a band of Conestoga Indians who at that time occupied this region."--Stapleton

The 2000 acre tract was later found to contain 2300 acres. Its western boundary was near to where U.S. 30 crosses the Pequea Creek and included the area now known as Gordonville, Paradise and Leaman Place, and extended southward to the Strasburg-Gap Road. It was about 1 1/3 miles wide, its northern and southern boundaries running east and west; and almost 3 miles long, its eastern and western boundaries running slightly north-west and south-east. The tract was divided among the Ferree Children

“History of Lancaster County, to Which is prefixed a Brief Sketch of the Early History of Pennsylvania.” By I. Daniel Rupp. Publishing date 1844 ( George Bennett Ferree the family Historian; States that Daniel Rupp was himself a Ferree Descendant"

Chapter II, p 90-115

“About the year 1709, a large emigration from the Lower Palatinate to the British colonies, took place. Among these were the well-known names, of Weigand, Fisher, Kennan, Volck, Plettel, Gulch, Hubertson, Schaneman, LEFEVER and FERREE among others. It is Certain that the Ferrees and Lefevers , who were what was called Walloons, did settle and improved lands, taken up by Martin Kendig. (At a meeting of the commissioners Sept 10,1712- the late commissioners having granted 10,000 acres of land to the Palatines, by their warrant dated 6th 8th 1710, in pursuance thereof there was laid out Martin Kendig, besides the 2,000 acres already confirmed and paid for, the like quantity of 2,000 acres, towards Susquchanna, of which the General Surveryer has mad a return. The said Martin Kendig now appearing desirous that the said land may be granted and confirmed to Maria Warenbuer, for whom the same was taken up, or intended and who is pay the consideration of it. But upon further consideration of the matter, it is agreed among themselves that the said land shall be confirmed to Daniel Ferre and Isaac Lefevre+ two of the said widow’s sons, and the consideration money, viz: L140 at L7 per 100 acres, by agreement having been for some time due, but is now to be paid down in one sum. “Tis agreed they shall only pay L10 for interest, that is L150 for whole.” Isaac Lefever was Maria Warenbuer son-in-law.)

Owing to French incursions into the Palatinate and other oppressions of a religious nature, the family of the Ferree turned to seek home in the new world, about the beginning of the last century, when thousands came to America. Its members were Daniel Ferree, his widowed mother (wife of Daniel Ferree deceased), his wife and their two sons Andrew and John.

The Original document for the consent of their country to their departure:

“Demmach Maria, Daniel Fuehre’s Wittib, mit ihrem sohn Daniel Furhre, dessen Eheweib und noch andern sches ledigen Kindern, ihrer hoffenden Besserung, Gelegenheit und Wohlfahrts willen, von Stenweiler aus der ober Schultheisetey Bittgheim, des Churpafaeltzishen oberamts Germersheim, auf insul Pennsylvanien per Holland und Engelland sich zubegeben und allda zu wohenen vorhaben, und dahero um ein beglaubtiges Certifikat, dasz sie mit vorwissen von dem ort Steinweiler geschieden und sich gewachrter ihrer wohnungszeit vertraeglich und ohne klag verhalten, auch niemand mit schulden verwandt, desgleichen keener leibegenschaft zugethan, gebuehrend angesucht: als hat man denselben ihr suchen and bitten willfahren, anbey unverhalten wollen, dasz obgedachte leute ganz offenbar von hier wegziehen, waehrender zeit als ihr vater, die wittib und kinder in mehrgedachten Steinweiler gewohnt, sich fromm und ehrbarlinch verhaltn, dasz man sie gern laenger all hier und der orten gesehen haette. So sind sie auch der leibegenschaft nicht unterworfen, massen die ober schulteiserey Bittgheim, worin Steinweiler gelegen freyzuegig; auch haben sie ihren gebuehrenden abzug oder nachsteur fuer gnaedigste herrschaft hinterlassen: von schulden, damit sie andern verwandt seyn sollen, hat man nichts vernommen, als schultheis Hr. Fischer in Steinweiler, welcher express deswegen gehoert worden, zeugniss alles dessen giebt. Dessen in urkund habe ich dieses in abwesenheir Churpfaelzischen regierungs rath, oberamtamann und gemeinschaeft Gudenberg, Fauthe zu Altenstatt und ober schultheis allhier Her von Cun ausgefertiget und den aus dieser inothdurft behaendiget.- Siegel Bittigheim den 10ten Maritt,1708. Siegel J. P. DIETRICH, Greffier”

‘Translation-

Whereas Maria, Daniel Fuehre’s (Feries’) widow and her son Daniel Ferie with his wife and other six single children, in view of improving their condition and in furtherance of their prosperity, purpose to emigrate from Steinweiler in the mayoralty of Brittigheim, High Bailiwick Germersheim, via Holland and England, to the island of Pennsylvania, to reside there, they have requested an accredited certificate that they left the town of Steinweiler with the knowledge of the proper authorities, and have deport themselvers peaceably and without cause for censure, and are indebted to no one, and not subject to vassalage, being duly solicited, it has been thought proper to grant their petition, declaring that the above named persons are not moving away clandestinely- that during the time their father, the widow and children resided in this place they behaved themselves piously and honestly-that it would have been highly gratifying to use to see them remain among us-that they are not subject to bodily bondage, the also paid for their permission to emigrate; Mr. Fischer, the mayor of Steinweiler being expressly interrogated, it has been ascertained that they are not liable for any debts. In witness whereof, I have, in the absence of the counselor of the Palatinate, &c., signed these presents, gave the same to the persons who intended to emigrate Dated Bittigheim, March 10th, 1708 [L.S.] J. P. DIETRICH, County Clerk.”

“History of Lancaster County, to Which is prefixed a Brief Sketch of the Early History of Pennsylvania.” By I. Daniel Rupp. Publishing date 1844

Chapter II, p 90-115

“Having openly and honestly adjusted their affairs pervious to their departure, they bade adieu to their old and endeared home, this family, via Holland and England made their way to the new world, where they arrived, sometime in 1709, in city New York,- Having arrived, and being pleased with country, their next step was to acquire the rights of citizenship from the proper authority. The following letters patent, under the Privy seal of Queen Anne will show they were successful in their application, and will be read with interest by the descendants of all named in it.

ANNE, by the grace of God, of Britain and Ireland, Queen, defender of faith, &c. To whom all these presents may come, know ye that we for good causes and considerations especially moving us hereunto by our special grace, moving us thereunto, do grant for ourselves, our heirs and successors to our beloved Isaac Feber, Catharine his wife and Abraham his son, Daniel Firre, Ann Mary his wife and Andrew and John his sons; (Note from Janet: there many others mention here but only mention mine) which persons are truly German Lutherans; and who being reduced to extreme poverty by the frequent French incursions into the Palatinate in Germany, lately have fled for refuge to this our Kingdom of Great Britain, and further have gone to live in our province of New York, in America, and therefore they shall and will be esteemed as natural born subjects and reputed as such by our heirs and successors of this our Kingdom of Great Britain, and their heirs respectively shall and will be esteemed as such and will be dealt with, reputed and governed as such, as the rest of our faithful subjects of this our Kingdom of Great Britain, and they shall be so esteemed in every place for and enter complaint in and about the same in whatsoever place or jurisdiction they may be in or under in this our Kingdom of Great Britain. (Note from Janet: there is a lot more to this document but I will not post the entire document) This documents is date 21st day of August 1708 in the seventh year of our reign. Registered under our Private Seal COCKS.

New York, Aug 10th 1709, Recorded in the Secretary’s Office of the province of New York, in the Book of General Records, Lib: No. L. Folio 141 & 142. Copied from the original, word for word and concording thereto as a sworn evidence. John Conrad Codweis, Interpreter.

New York 27th day of August, in the year 1709, diligently compared and examined this true copy. John Conrad Codweis, (Deponent,) San me tendering the oath before me, D: PROVOOK. Signed with the Great Seal of Great Britain.

After spending some time in New York, they went, according to tradition, to Espous Settlement, in Ulster County, (New York) about seventy miles from Albany. Here they remained about two years. Whence they proceeded to Pennsylvania, where (as is evident from documents) Martin Kendig had taken up for Maria Warenbuer, widow of Daniel Ferree, two thousand acres of land, as appears from the minutes of the commissioners, Sept 10,1712, quoted at large. “The said Martin Kendig now (Sep. 10, 1712) appearing desirous that said (2000 acres) land may be granted and confirmed to Maria Warenbuer, for whom the same was taken up or intended.”

This tract was then in Chester County, Conestoga township, now East Strasburg, in this county. It composted the farms now owned by Henry A. Carpenter, Ferre Brinton, John C Lefevre, Joseph L. Lefevre, R. Conyngham, Esq., and D. Lefevre.

“According to the statements of R. Conyngham, Esq., a man of erudition and well known as one of more than ordinary research into Historical facts, Mary, the mother of Daniel Ferree, accompanied by her children, and armed with s spirit of resolution superior to her sex, went to London, from thence to Kensington, where William Penn resided, be near Queen Anne, of whom he was deservedly a favorite. Madame Ferree made her wishes know to him; William Penn sympathized with her in her misfortunes and became interested for her and her children, and next day introduced her to Queen Anne.

The Queen was delighted in thus being afforded an opportunity to display the natural feelings of her heart. Lodgings were obtained for Madame Ferree in the vicinity until a vessel was ready to sail for New York.- Redmond Conyngham’s Address of July 4th,1842.

Undoubtedly Isaac Le Fevre who had married Catherine, the daughter of Mary Ferree, and who settled within the limits of this county at the time Daniel Ferree did. According to Mr. Conyingham’s statemen, “Isaac Le Fevre was born 1669, and in 1686, came to Philadelphia from Esopus. He married Catherine soon after her arrival.” He was but youth when he left his pays natal, Fatherland. Mr. C. in an eloquent address on Early Stettlement of the Valley of Pequea, delivered Jun 4,1842, speaking of the Ferree family,says: “An now let me turn your attention to a youth of fourteen: his parents had perished in the religious wars which had desolated France- an orphan_ friendless-he traveled through Holland-went to London-came to Kensington where he made know his intentions to William Penn. Alone oh no! he had one companion-it was his consolatory in Europe-it was his comforter in Pennsylvania-that companion was his Bible. That young lad was Isaac Le Fevre. That Bible is still preserved by the family of Le Levres as most precious relic.”

“The names of Huguenots who came to Kinston, twelve in number, were Louis Du Bois and his sons Abraham and Isaac, Andries Lefevre and Simon Lefevere were among the eleven who came in 1660.

This tract, spoken of before, had been taken up or intended, for Maria Warenbuer. At a meeting of the commissioners, 10th, 7th mo 1712, Martin Kendig, the widow, her son Daniel , and son-in-law Isaac Le Fevre, appeared before them, Kendig desired that the might be granted and confirmed by patent to Maria, the widow: “but upon further consideration of the matter, it was agreed among themselves that the said land be confirmed to Daniel Fierre and Isaac Lefevre and the consideration money, one hundred acres and forty pounds, at seven shilling per hundred acres, having been for some time due, but was to be paid down in one sum, it was agreed they should only pay ten pounds for interest, that is one hundred and fifty pounds”

“We here present copy of a receipt: “Philadelphia 11,7,1712, Received of Maria Warenbuer, twenty shillings sterling, for one year’s quit-rent of two thousand acres of land laid out to her at Strasburg, in this Province. JAMES LOGAN, receiver”

In 1822, an account of the ancestors of the Ferree family, as given by John Ferree age 84, Joseph LaFever and Leah Lightner age 63, and from some of the original title papers to the lands purchased from the Hon William Penn, proprietor of the province of Pennsylvania. (Mary Ferree, whose maiden name was Warenbuer, died at an advanced age, in Conestoga township, 1716. On her death, Peter Evans, Registor General for the probate wills and grant Letters of Administration, in and for the province of Pennsylvania, &c. granted Letters of Adminstration to Mary's sons, Daniel, philp and John, the 20th of Septemember 1716.) In the reign of Louis XIV, King of France, the privileges of the Protestants were openly violated, missionaries were sent for their conversion, supported by dragoons and severities were exercised which excited the horror and indignation of all the reformed states of Europe. In 1685, the relocation of the edict of Nantes first granted by Henry IV and confirmed by Louis XIII deprived the Protestants of all exercise of their religion and tore them from their children to be educated Catholics. The tyrant, at the same time, issued his decrees against emigrations, and placed guards on his coasts; nevertheless, vast numbers escaped from his machinations and carried their arts and industry to foreign and hostile nations.

Louis became ambitious of the fame that would attach to the extirpation of heresy from his kingdom. Calvinism in France, since the victory over it by Richelieu had became a peaceful separation from the national church, and its sectaries were useful citizens, chiefly attached to manufactures and commerce. Influenced by a spirit of intolerance and bigotry, he undertook to put an end to it. About this time the husband of Mary Ferrie or Verre resided in the town of Lindau, not far from the river Rhine, in the Kingdom of France; his family consisted of him, his wife, three sons and three daughters; the names of these sons were Daniel, Philip and John, the daughter’s names were Catherine, Mary and Jane. Mr Ferrie, the father, was a silk-weaver by trade, his religion Calvinistic; consequently he became one of the sufferers under those decrees. The troops had entered their town and commenced murdering the Protestants, taking and destroying their property, they had no other shift but to take flight, leaving behind them all their property except some trifling articles, and some cash; they made fight into Germany, not far from Stasburg, where they resided two years. On their leaving France, they were resided two years. On their leaving France, they wee accompanied by a young man by the name of Isaac Le Fevre, who stated that his family were nearly all put to death by the soldiers, that he himself escaped with difficulty, unhurt: he continued as one of the family until they arrived in America and married one of their daughters, Catherine Ferrie, and from whom, as far as we can learn, all the names of the Le fevers in this county, spring.

During their residence in Germany, the father died, and Mary Ferrie, the widow, (it is singular that after she came to America, she was not pleased to be called by any other name than that of Maria Warrinbuer, that being her maiden name) hearing of a find province called Pennsylvania, in North America, that the proprietor William Penn, resided in London, determined to set out for that place, that if she could find sufficient encouragement from Penn she would try to get to America; she according set out for London with her family, and when she arrived there, she employed a person to direct her to William Penn’s residence. When on their way, her conductor pointed out to her Penn’s carriage, which was just meeting them: she being of a persevering disposition, called Penn, who immediately stopped his carriage, and he being well acquainted with the French language, (Penn, while in France in 1662 and 1663, studied Theology and French under the instruction of Moses Amyraut.) which was quite gratifying to her as she could neither speak nor understand the English- Penn having learned the nature and object of her call, invited her into his carriage, as he was then on his way home, when he would be more particularly attentive to what she had to say. Penn told her, he had an agent in Pennsylvania, that to him he would give her a recommendation, so that her business, he hoped, might be done to her satisfaction.

(Penn treated her very kindly whilst at his house.- They remained in London about six months, when a vessel was about to sail for the North river, in which they took passage. On their arrival at New York, they move up the North river to a place called Esopus.)

(Esopus was an early settlement, between eighty and ninety miles north of the city of New York. Now called Kingston) where they remained about two years, then move to Philadelphia; thence into Pequea settlement. Previous to which they had taken up a large tract of land. Before they sailed from London for America, a variety of implements of husbandry were presented to them by Queen Anne, which they found of great use when they commenced clearing land.

The first distinctively Huguenot colony to come to Pennsylvania was that of Madame Ferree, for whom a large body of land was surveyed in Lancaster county in 1710. Her party came with many others under the leadership of Rev. Joshua Kocherthal (1) landing in New York in 1709. Most of these, after a brief stay in Ulster County, came to Pennsylvania. Madame Ferree, with her family, including her son John and son-in-law, Isaac Lefever, with their families, came to Pequea. Hubert Hubertson came to the Schuylkill Valley as early as 1709 (2) while Isaac de Turk and others went to Oley in 1712. Both places immediately became centers of emigration.

Death of Madame Ferree

Not long after her arrival in Pequea Madame Ferree vested in the care of trustees a plot of ground as a burial place for the settlement. This place, now known as Carpenter's Graveyard, is situated near Paradise. Here this noble woman, who had drank so deeply from the cup of misfortune, found a peaceful grave in 1716. She had accomplished her purpose to establish a new home for her posterity, many of whom are slumbering by her side. Her influence still lives in the great multitude of her descendants who belong to the aristocracy of personal worth. Her descendants, including of course, the LeFevers, are thousands in number and are to be found in many States of the Union.

"Documents relating to the Colonial History of the State of New York," Vol. 5, at page 52, and contains the following: 28th June 1708.

"The names, trades, etc., of the German Protestants to be settled at New York. Condition Sex Age

Names/Trades of life

Isaac Feber/Husbandman and Vineyard Married M 33

Chatarina Feberine Wife F 30

Abraham Feber Child M 2

Daniel Fiere/Husbandman Married M 32

Anna Maria Fiere Wife F 30

Andreas Fiere Child M 7

Johannes Fiere Child M 6

MEMORIALS OF THE HUGUENOTS IN AMERICA

The first distinctively Huguenot colony to come to Pennsylvania was that of Madame Ferree, for whom a large body of land was surveyed in Lancaster county in 1710. Her party came with many others under the leadership of Rev. Joshua Kocherthal (1) landing in New York in 1709. Most of these, after a brief stay in Ulster county, came to Pennsylvania. Madame Ferree, with her family, including her son John and son-in-law, Isaac Lefever, with their families, came to Pequea. Hubert Hubertson came to the Schuylkill Valley as early as 1709 (2) while Isaac de Turk and others went to Oley in 1712. Both places immediately became centers of emigration.

MEMORIALS OF THE HUGUENOTS IN AMERICA By Rev. A. Stapleton

CHAPTER XII [Page 100-108]

The Pequea Colony

The Ferrees==The Family Flee To Germany--They Are Joined By Isaac LeFever--They Resolve To Emigrate to America--They Go To London--The Madame Is Introduced To Queen Ann By William Penn--They Join Rev. Joshua Kocherthal's Party And Go To Esopus In New York--From Thence Journey To Pennsylvania--Are Received By The Chief Tawana--Madame Ferree Dies In Peace--Her Family And Distinguished Descendants. While her we stand with planted feet Steadfast where loyal souls have stood, Upon us let the tempest beat Around us swell and surge the flood, We fall or triumph on the spot-- God helping us we falter not." During the dark and troubled period of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685) there lived in France a family named Ferree. (1) The parents, Daniel and Mary Ferree, were married in 1669. The fruit of this union were six children, viz: Daniel, John, Philip, Catharine, Mary and Jane. The Ferrees descend from the nobility (1) and were people of the highest respectability and staunch and fearless in their adherence to the Reformed faith. Daniel Ferree was a silk manufacturer, and from what can be gathered he was a man of wealth and high position in his native place. In order to carry out the provisions of the Edict to wholly extirpate the Reformed religion from the realm the cruel Dragonades were sent to the town in which Ferree lived and were quartered upon the Protestant citizens of the place.

Click here to read more MEMORIALS OF THE HUGUENOTS IN AMERICA By Rev. A. Stapleton

MEMORIALS OF THE HUGUENOTS IN AMERICA

Ferree families in Pennsylvania

Huguenot family known as LeFerree, Ferree, Ferrie, Fuehre, Fierre, Firre, Ferie, were of the nobility of France, and originally seated at Forchamps, in Lower Normandy. The founder of the family was Robert Ferree, who in A.D. 1265 was confirmed to an extensive estate. (See "Nobility of Normandy," Vol. II, p.357. Stapleton, p.100-108.)

After the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, in 1685 the family fled to Strasburg. While here they were joined by the previously mentioned Isaac LeFevre, a lad of sixteen, who also had fled his home when the other members of his family were killed. They later fled on into Bavaria in Germany, taking with them Isaac, and while living there Isaac and Catherine were married. They stayed in Bavaria until the early part of 1708 when the senior Daniel died. At this time his widow assumed her maiden name as an additional means of safety.

Some time before this (1707) Queen Anne of England had issued a proclamation inviting the suffering Huguenots to come to England. However, the Ferrees had heard of Pennsylvania in America, and desiring to go there began to make plans to cross the Atlantic. Consent for them to leave the country was granted by the following paper:

"Whereas Marie, Daniel Ferree's widow, and her son Daniel Ferree with his wife, and other single children, in view of improving their condition and in furtherance of their prosperity, propose to emigrate from Steinweiler in the Mayoralty of Bittingheim, High Bailiwick, Gersheim, via Holland and England, to the island of Pennsylvania to reside there, they have requested an accredited certificate that they left the town of Steinweiler with the knowledge of the proper authorities and have deported themselves peaceably and without cause for censure, and are indebted to no one, and not subject to vassalage, being duly solicited, it has been thought proper to grant their petition declaring that the above named persons are not moving away clandestinely, that during the time their father, the widow and children resided in this place, they behaved themselves piously and honestly, that it would have been highly gratifying to us to see them remain among us, that they are not subject to bodily bondage, they mayoralty not being subject to vassalage -- they have also paid for their permission to emigrate; Mr. Fischer, the Mayor of Steinweiler being expressly interrogated, it has been ascertained that they are not liable for any debts. In witness thereof, I have, in the absence of the counselor of the Palatinate, etc., signed these presents, gave the same to the persons who intended to emigrate. Dated Bittingheim, March 10, 1708." (L.S.) J. P. Dietrich, "Court Clerk."

(From an old record belonging to Mrs. Minnie E. Foulk of Gap, Pa., a descendant of the above Philip Ferree. See also "Memorials of the Huguenots" by A. Stapleton, and "Rupp's History.")

Upon their arrival in London, Madame Ferree visited William Penn in person, to whom she made known her situation. Penn became deeply interested in the sad story of her misfortunes, and the next day introduced her to Queen Anne the Sovereign of England. The good Queen promised her substantial aid which she in due time rendered. William Penn consented to give her a tract of land, which she obtained upon her settlement in Pennsylvania.

"The party remained in London for about six months during which time the colony of Rev. Joshua Kocherthal was organized, composed of French and Palatinate refugees from Bavaria. This party which the Ferrees and the LeFevres joined, obtained from the Queen a patent of naturalization and permission to colonize in America. This instrument, which is dated Aug. 27, 1708, contains the names of fifty-four persons, most of whom came to Pennsylvania some years later." (The ship's register shows only twenty-five sailed at this time.) (From "Memorials of the Huguenots" by A. Stapleton.)

Daniel Ferree, Jr., and Isaac LeFevre were already heads of families when in 1708 Madame Ferree's entire family joined the party of the Rev. Joshua Kocherthal in the proposed emigration to America.

It is recorded in the Pennsylvania archives that Penn secured 2000 acres of land for Madame Ferree. (Stapleton.)

Madame Ferree and her children remained here until the spring of 1712. In the meantime, March 16, 1710, a second son named Philip was born to Isaac and Catherine. According to a letter written by Solomon LeFevre, one of the New York State LeFevres, the Kingston Church records give Catherine's maiden name as "Fire" and states that Philip was baptized Apr. 1, 1711.

In the spring of 1712 they left Esopus and traveled overland to Philadelphia, where Madame Ferree presented her letters of introduction and recommendation from William Penn to his agents.

Madame Ferree's tract consisting of 2000 acres was located along Pequea creek about fifty-five miles west of Philadelphia. It was a part of the ten thousand acres granted by William Penn to a Martin Kindig and other agents of the Mennonite colony. This land had been surveyed in October 1710 and was subdivided in April 1711. ("Memorials of the Huguenots" by Stapleton.)

On Sept. 10, 1712, William Penn's Commissioners granted and confirmed to Daniel Ferree and Isaac LeFevre 2000 acres of land for 150 pounds, in what was then Chester County, Pa. (Lancaster County was not organized until the year of 1729.) -- Rupp's History.

According to the above record the land was deeded to Daniel and Isaac, and not to Madame Ferree.

They arrived at their destination late one summer afternoon. After all their trials and travels, it looked so good to them that they called the place "Paradise," and so the town and the township remains to this day.

“From an unknown early writer we have the following:

"It was on the evening of a summer day when the Huguenots reached the verge of a hill commanding the view of the valley of the Pequea. It was a woodland scene, a forest inhabited by wild beasts, for no indication of civilized life was very near. Scattered along the Pequea among the dark green hazel inhabited by wild beast could be discerned the Indian wigwams, and the smoke coming there from.

"Suddenly a number of Indians darted from the woods. The females shrieked when an Indian advanced and in broken English said to Madame Ferree, 'Indian no harm white; white good to Indian; go to our Chief; come to Beaver.' Few were the words of the Indian. They went with him to Beaver Cabin, and Beaver, with the humanity which distinguishes the Indian of that period, gave to the emigrants his wigwam.

"The next day Beaver introduced them to Tawana, who lived on the great flats of Pequea and was a chief of a band of Conestoga Indians who occupied this region." -- Stapleton. The above mentioned Tawana was one of the Chiefs who signed the famous treaty made by William Penn at Shackamaxon on Nov. 4, 1682. His remains rest in the burying ground used by the Episcopal Church in Paradise, Pa.

Four years after their arrival, in 1716, after she had through much hardship and trouble established a home for each of her children in the New World, Madame Ferree passed from the scenes of this life. Her body was laid to rest in what is now known as Carpenter's Cemetery, a plot one mile south of Paradise, which she herself had selected before her death.

Excerpt from the History of Lancaster County by Dr. Frederick Klein, 1924 STRASBURG TOWNSHIP AND BOROUGH

Strasburg does not appear among the original townships of Lancaster county, yet it was of record many years earlier than 1729, when Lancaster county was organized. Samuel Evans, who compiled the greater part of the 1883 "History of Lancaster County," was evidently much concerned that he was unable to trace the organization of Strasburg, or explain why it was included in Leacock township when the county was erected; and in i896 he made reference to the subject in a paper then read before the Lancaster County Historical Society. The reference reads:

When I came to arrange some stray notes pertaining to the early settlement of the locality embraced within the limits of Strasburg Township as it was bounded one hundred and sixty-five years ago, I found a good many snags in my way. Some of the earliest settlers came from Strasburg on the Rhine, and the neighborhood came to be known as "New Strasburge " and was thus designated in 1716 by the Assessors or Surveyors of Chester county. There were no definite bounds to the district, and it was not set apart as a township before the erection of Lancaster county, in 1729.

One of the London Land patents in this county contained 5,553 acres, and was surveyed in the year l716. According to Isaac Taylor's draft the southern line was bounded by "New Strasburge," and the landholders close to the line were Isaac LeFevre, who took up 300 acres the 15th Of 4 mo., 1713; Daniel Ferree, 600 acres, 4th of 8 mo., 1716; Philip Ferree, 300 acres, 24th of 6 mo., 1716, and Henry Carpenter, 1000 acres, 7 mo. 27th, 1718. In these years the Constables returned them in the Conestoga assessment. in the year 1720 the Ferrees and LeFevers were returned in the Pequea assessment, which also included all the settlers along or near the head of Pequea creek. The settlement along the east branch of the Conestogae, now Caernarvon, was in the Conestogae rate. I find a number of titles of settlers in the year 1717 marked in "New Strasburge." There seems to be no record in Chester county of any township named "Strasburg." When Lancaster county was organized and divided into townships, in the summer of 1729 none was named "Strasburg." But I find its territory and that of Paradise were included within the bounds of Leacock; and after a diligent search among the records in Lancaster, I cannot find the date when Strasburg was erected, or taken from Leacock. This is a strange omission and has puzzled the local his- torian and surveyors of the county. I can only approximate to the date.

The name "Strasburg" comes into land records as early as 1712, if not earlier. Copy of receipt for annual quit-rent for two thousand acres of land reads: "Recd, Philadelphia, 11:7:1712, of Maria Warenbaner, twenty shillings sterling, for one year's quit-rent of two thousand acres of land laid out to her at Strasburg, in this Province. (Signed) James Logan, Receiver."

History of Lancaster County by Dr. Frederick Klein, 1924

Wills: Abstracts and Administrations 1713-1825: Chester Co, PA (Will Book A, pages 1-100)

FIERRE, MARY. November 28, 1716. Adm. to Daniel Philip and John Fierre

The Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s

Name: Maria Warenbauer Ferree Year: 1710 Place: New York Source Publication Code: 927.47

Primary Immigrant: Ferree, Maria Warenbauer

Annotation: Date and place of naturalization, date and port of arrival, or date and place of first mention of residence in the New World. Excerpted from Lancaster County Heritage, January 1984. Many German names.

Source Bibliography: BREITBARD, GAIL. "Some Names from the 1725 Pequea Tax Lists, Lancaster County, PA. (Conestoga Township)." In The Lost Palatine, no. 35 (1986), pp. 7-11. Page: 9

Name: Maria Warenbur Ferree Year: 1708 Place: New York

Family Members: 6 children

Source Publication Code: 9448

Primary Immigrant: Ferree, Maria Warenbur

Annotation: In the years from 1925 to 1942, Frederick A. Virkus edited seven volumes with the title, The Abridged Compendium of American Genealogy, published in Chicago by the Institute of American Genealogy. Each volume has a section in the main body of the work, complete in itself, entitled "Immigrant Ancestors," containing much genealogical information: vol. 1, pp. 965-997; vol. 2, pp. 387-421; vol. 3, pp. 645-692; vol. 4, pp. 727-777; vol. 5, pp. 741-793; vol. 6, pp. 749-819; vol. 7, pp. 825-895. The section in vol. 7 appears to be the most complete and it has been reprinted. Thus that 1964 reprint list is the only one appearing in no. 2048, Filby, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index. The Virkus work supplies facts on birth, ancestry, time and place of arrival on this continent, marriage, and death of each immigrant that it includes. A more complete list of immigrants to America before 1750 whose surnames begin with the letter A or the letter B through "Battles" is contained in the material listed in item no. 9450.

Source Bibliography: VIRKUS, FREDERICK A., editor. Immigrant Ancestors: A List of 2,500 Immigrants to America before 1750. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1964. 75p. Repr. 1986. Page: 30

“George Ferree, a family historian”

“Whether Madame Ferree or any of her children remained for any length of time in Holland is not clear. It is almost certain that some of the family could have tarried long in that country, for, on Aug 28,1708, Isaac LeFever (married to Madam Ferree’s daughter Catherine) and Daniel Ferree (eldest of Madame Ferree’s sons) and some others secured for themselves and their families Letters of Denization for the British Colonies. This paper is in Latin and the original is now in the New York State Archives. A copy of it is recorded in the Land Office at Harrisburg and the text and a photograph of the document were published in the Pennsylvania German Magazine. Daniel Ferree with family and Isaac LeFevre family accompanied the Rev. Joshua de Kocherthal in the ship “Globe” and that they arrived in New York on Jan 1,1709.

Madame Ferree herself does not appear in the records again until May 6,1709, when she is recorded as one on a list of poor (poor not by money) Germans lately come over from the Palatinate into this Kingdom, taken in St. Catherine’s (London). From it is supposed that Madame Ferree and others members of the family, remained in Holland and did not cross to England until early 1709. She joins her family in abt 1710.

It has been said that the family lived for some time in the city of Philadelphia. (note from Janet: This could be where Mary Ferree and Thomas Faulkner met). This is doubted by others, and even if they did live there, it was for a short time only. We know that Mary Ferree, her son Daniel and her son-in-law, Isaac LeFevre, appeared in Philadelphia on Sept. 10,1712, for the purpose of securing two thousand acres of land which tradition says William Penn had personally promised Madame Ferree in London. From the records it seems that John Rudolph Bundley, Martin Kendig and others had taken up ten thousand acres at Pequea, Oct 10,1710. On Sept 12,1712, Martin Kindig appeared before the Land Commissioners and asked that two thousand acres of this land be granted to Marie Warenbur “For whom the same has taken up or intended.” “But upon further consideration of the matter, it is agreed among ourselves that the said land should be confirmed to Daniel Fiere and Isaac LeFevre, two of the said widow’s sons, and that the consideration mony, viz’t 140 pounds at 7 pounds p hund’d, by agreement, having been for some time due, but now to paid in one sum, tis agreed that they shall pay only ten pounds for interest, that is 150 pounds in the whole.” Thus the two thousand acres were patented, not to Marie Warenbur, but to her son Daniel Ferree and her son-in-law, Isaac. The record of this can be found in the Pennsylvania Archives, 2nd Series Vol. 9, page 529.

Legally, Madame Ferree NEVER owned a foot of ground in Pennsylvania although the land has ever since been known as Marie Ferree Tract. Nevertheless, on Nov 7,1712, Marie Ferree paid year’s quitrent on the tract and received a receipt for it in her own name. Evidently the land was intended for the family as a whole and to be divided among the various members of the family.

In dividing and resurveying the land it was discovered that, instead of containing two thousand acres of land, the Marie Ferree Tract really contained two thousand Three hundred acres. This was taken up with the proper authorities and it was agreed that the Ferrees might keep all it, provided they paid for the additional land a sum of twenty pounds. Madam Ferreed died about January, 1716. Letters of administration on her estate were granted to Daniel Ferree, Philip Ferree and John Ferree, her sons, by the Register of Wills in Chester, County. The bond of the administrators, set at two hundred pounds, was signed by Isaac LeFevre and Richard Davis, two of Madame Ferree’s son-in-law. This bond is dated Nov 28,176. An Appraisal of the personal estate of Marie Ferree was made on Jan. 13, 1716, by Michael Welfare and John Rutlidge, and this inventory was filed May 22,1917 (should be 1717, I am sure it did not take that long)“ Daniel and Maria Waremburg Ferree children:

1 Daniel Ferree Birth: 1677 , France d abt Aug 1762 Strasburg Twp., Lancaster Co, Pennsylvania m’d before 1701 Anne Maria Leininger in France.

2 Catherine Ferree Birth: 1679 , France died in 1749 in Strasburg Twp., Lancaster Co., PA Birth Place Lindau, BAVARIA m’d Isaac LE FEVRE Marriage: Abt. 1694 Of, , France

LE FEVRES

3 ** Mary Katrina Ferree was born in 1683 in Lindau, Bavaria and died before 1745 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania: m’d Thomas Faulkner

4 Jane Ferree Birth: 1685 , France m’d Aug 1715 Richard Davis at Immanuel Episcopal Church in New Castle, New Castle Co., Delaware

5 Philip Ferree Birth: 1687 , France d before July 26, 1753 Leacock Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania m’d Leah Dubois abt 1711, New York. Leah is dau of Abraham Dubois and Margaret Deyo

6 John Ferree Birth: 1688 , France d before April 8,1773, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

Children information

1 Daniel Ferree b 1677 France d 1750 Strasburg Twp., Lancaster Co, Pennsylvania ,eldest son of the Madame, m’d before 1701 Anne Maria Leininger in France ,Their sons Andrew (1701-1739), and John (1703-1773), who were born in Europe, a son named Daniel, Jr. (d. 1762)

Daniel and Anne Leininger Ferree Children

1 Andrew Ferree b 28 Sep 1701, Steinweiler, Bavaria, Germany Andrew Ferree born 1701 was baptised in Steinweler, Germany, 9/28/1701 with sponsors Andrew Leininger and wife Margaret. d 20 Dec 1735, Pennsylvania m’d Mary Reed

“History of Lancaster County, to Which is prefixed a Brief Sketch of the Early History of Pennsylvania.” By I. Daniel Rupp. Publishing date 1844

Chapter II, p 90-115

While speaking of the family of Ferrees, it will not be out place to direct the attention of the reader to two other documents; one is an inventory of goods and chattels of a farm of the early times, being that list of appraisement of the person property of Andrew Ferree, the same person who is mention as the eldest son of Daniel, the first settler. It shows the prices of articles at that time. The reader will find in it plenty of all the useful and necessary food, and implements, of a farmer; but will seek in vain for the fine furniture of the present day.

2 John Ferree b 1703 ,Rhorbac, Germany d 1773, Pennsylvania John Ferree born 1703 was baptised at nearby Rhorbac, Germany, 2/8/1703 with sponsors Abraham Ptillion and Judith Miller, both of Steinweiler m’d abt 1825 to Barbara Stautzenberger,

3 Daniel Ferree b 1709, New York d 1762, Pennsylvania m’d 24 Nov 1735 to Mary Carpenter in Pennsylvania .Mary Carpenter, whose father, Henry Carpenter and Salome Rufener, was one of the earliest and most prominent Swiss emigrants in the Province. John Ferree, the second son of the Madame, became a Quaker, as also most of his descendants after him.

Will Abstracts 1721-1819: Lancaster Co, PA

FERREE, DANIEL JR. Strasburg Twp. August 10, 1750 September 4, 1750 Children: Solome, Mary and Daniel. N.B. Daniel Ferree, Jr. was the son of Daniel Ferree, who owned the tract in Strasburg Township -- where the writer of the will lived at date of will (as per statement in will). Ex.: Emanuel and Henry Carpenter.

“History of Lancaster County, to Which is prefixed a Brief Sketch of the Early History of Pennsylvania.” By I. Daniel Rupp. Publishing date 1844

Chapter II, p 90-115

“The other document is the marriage of Daniel Ferree Jr, who was a son of the first settler; but born in this country, with Mary Carpenter. It is somewhat in the form now used by the Society of Friends. Many of the present citizens of the vicinity will recognize the names of their ancestors, in the list of signers and guest at the wedding. Date Nov 24th day of the month 1735

“Whereas, Daniel Feire, Junior, of County of Lancaster and province of Pennsylvania, yeoman and Mary Carpenter, daughter of Henry Carpenter of the county and province aforesaid, spinster, having made due publication of their intention of marriage as the law directs:- These are therefore to certify all whom it may concern that on the first of May, Anon Domini, 1739, before me Emanuel Carpenter, one of his Majesty’s justices of the peace for the said county, they, the said Daniel Fiere and Mary Carpenter appeared in a public and solemn assembly for that purpose appointed and meet together at the dwelling house of the aforesaid Henry Carpenter, where the said did openly declare that he took the said Mary Carpenter to be his wife, promising to be unto her a loving and faithful husband till death should separate them, and she, the said Mary Carpenter, then and there in the assembly, did in like manner openly declare that she took the said Daniel Fiere to her husband, promising to be unto him a loving, faithful and obedient wife till death should separate them, and for a further confirmation thereof, both the said parties to these presents have hereunto interchangeably put their hands, she after the custom of marriage, assuming the surname of her husband; and we whose names are hereunto subscribed, being witnesses present at the solemnization thereof, the year and day first above written.

DANIEL FIERE

MARY FIERE

Witness: Emanuel Carpenter.

Henry Hanes, Elizabeth Kemp, Paulus, Peter Apfel, Henry Carpenter, Salome Carpenter, Lawrence Hayn, Daniel Le Fevre, Henrich Zimmerman, William Buffington, Isaac Fiere, Peter Fiere, Isaac Le Fevre, Hester Le Fevre, Abraham Fiere, Jacob Fiere, Philp Le Fevre, Samuel Le Fevre, Leah Fiere, Rachael Fiere and Issac Fiere.

4 Elizabeth Ferree b 1710, New York, d m’d Abraham le Fevre before 1730, son of Isaac le Fevre and Catherine Ferree. Daniel Fiere, the son in America, produced a daughter Elizabeth who married Abraham LeFevre (7-001) eldest son of Isaac LeFevre (6-004). Daniel also had two sons Andrew and John who had been born while they lived in Germany. A son Daniel, Junior, (whose marriage to Mary Carpenter was recorded 1739) was born in Pennsylvania, and Daniel, Jr. later produced a son also named Daniel.

5 Joseph Ferree b 1712 Chester, Pennsylvania or Philadelphia

"The Story of The Ferree Family" Page 7.1-3

The Revolutionary War came 68 years after the family arrived in America there were some of the grandchildren of Mary Ferree still alive. One of the most prominent was Joseph, son of Daniel. He was born in 1712, the year the family arrived at the Pequea. In 1774 he was a member of the Lancaster County Committee to consider the general dissatisfaction of the British Government.

While Joseph Ferree, Esquire, was a member of this Committee of Correspondence for Lancaster. they composed and sent a declaration of their grievances to the committee in Philadelphia.

Joseph Ferree and his wife, Sarah, nee De la Plaine, must have made their home in Lancaster County and in Germantown. He was elected to the Pennsylvania Assembly in 1770 and reelected several more times (1771, 1772, 1773, & 1774). He was also a member of the five man Germantown commitee of safety. Om March 28, 1776 the committee issued a notice against profiteering merchants. In May of the same year, Ferree's house was designated a storehouse for salt and saltpeter (potassium-nitrate) used in the making of gunpowder. Sulphur was also collected, stored and issued fm h home. On July 4, 1776, immediately after the Declaration of Independence, the committee of safety appointed Joseph Ferree and two others to collect lead window weights and clock weights and other lead which could be used to make bullets. They were authorized to pay six pence per pound. This was also stored in Joseph Ferree's house.

Joseph had a good sized house which he purchased from his father-in-law, James De la Plaine, the son of a French Huguenot who came to America in 1657. It was on three acres of land on upper end of Market Square in Germantown at the corner of Main Street. This is apparently between Church and Schoolhouse Lanes. It was later divided into three stores. In 1885 it was torn down and repkaced by the Mutual Insurance Building.

When Germantown was being considered the capital of the country in 1789, Joseph Ferree, as a member of the Trustees of the German Academy, with four others of the board, met with President George Washington and offered to rent the academy building for $300 per session. The offer was finally declined, because the buildings were considered too small and there were not adequate local living accomodations for all the Congress members.

Joseph Ferree is listed as one of the 800 prisoners of war held on the prison ship "Old Jersey", but there is no record of what became of them.

6 Isaac Leininger Ferree b 1715 Chester, Pennsylvania d 2 Apr 1782 Bart Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

2 Catherine Ferree Birth: 1677 , France died in 1749 in Strasburg Twp., Lancaster Co., PA Birth Place Lindau, BAVARIA m’d Isaac LE FEVRE Marriage: Abt. 1694 Of, , France (LeFevre.--As already noted, Isaac LeFevre married Catharine, the daughter of Madame Ferree. The name LeFevre occurs in many honorable connections in France. Jacques LeFevre, of Meaux, was one of the first Reformers and died a martyr's death. Francois Joseph LeFevre (1755-1820), Duke of Dantzic, one of the great Napoleon's Marshals, was born in Alsace and was one of the greatest soldiers of the past century.)

1 Abraham le Fevre b 1706 Germany d 20 Nov 1735, Strasburg, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania m’d Elizabeth Ferree

Abraham LeFevre, the oldest son, had been born in Germany and came with the family from New Paltz to Pennsylvania as a young child. His father Isaac had purchased a 300 acre tract for him. Today that is on North Star Road, just north of Strasburg. Abraham had two sons, John and Peter. When Abraham died 11/20/1735 at the young age of 29, father Isaac on the back of the sheepskin warrant (deed from Penn) signed over that 300 acre tract to his grandsons John and Peter. It must have been a sad occasion. For this only son who had made the voyage with them from Europe Isaac was required to put up 200£ surety to settle his son's estate. Circa 1728 in Pennsylvania Abraham married Elizabeth Fiere, his first cousin, the daughter of brother-in-law and wife, Daniel Fiere and Anne Marie Leininger Ferree.

Of John LeFevre's children Elizabeth (9-002), Catherine (9-003), Abraham (9-004), and John (9-005) were baptised as infants according to Zion Reformed Church records. Of Peter LeFevre's children Catherine (9-009), and Elizabeth (9-012) were baptised as infants according to Zion Reformed Church records, but Mary (9-010) wife of Peter Eckman was baptised as an adult in 1789 at the First Reformed Church of Lancaster. Marie Eckman, daughter of the above Marie LeFevre Eckman was baptised as an infant at First Reformed Church at Lancaster, too. Additionally, a granddaughter of Peter, Margaret LeFevre (10-009) daughter of Jacob (9-006) and wife Rebecca, son of John (8-001) and Margaret LeFevre was baptised as an infant 8/3/1800 in First Reformed Church in Lancaster.

2 Philip le Fevre b 1710 Kingston, Ulster County, New York d Sep 1761 West Lampeter Twp, Lancaster, Pennsylvania m’d Mary Herr dau of Christian Herr and Anna Philip LeFevre, Gunsmith (7-002) married circa 1730 Mary Herr, daugher of immigrant Mennonite minister Christian Herr. Her birth date is not known, but letter of estate administration very soon after her death was given to her son Adam LeFever (8-007) on 10/27/1783. They had produced four sons, Isaac, George, Adam and Jacob, in addition to four daughters, Catherine married to Nickolas Meck, Elizabeth married to Henry Christy, Esther married to Henry Eckman, and Eve married to Rudolph Haub. Records for infant baptism of their children have been located, as given below. Philip was born near New Paltz, New York 1710, and came with his family to Pennsylvania in 1712 as an infant. Somewhere he learned the trade of blacksmith and gunsmith, as well as continuing as a tanner. But he died unexpectedly in 1766, only 56 years of age. Though his guns were surely used in the Revolutionary War, he can not be used as a Patriot for DAR or SAR, because he wasn't alive to make a decision on which side to sympathize and fight at the outbreak of the war. He had married a wife named Mary, and many believe she was daughter of nearby Christian Herr of the Hans Herr Mennonite tradition.

3 Daniel le Fevre b 29 Mar 1713 Near Leaman Place, Paradise Township, what is now Lancaster County, Pennsylvania d Apr 1781 Strasburg, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania m;d Mary Catherine Kerr He was the first white child born in Pequea Valley, his birthplace being within sight of the Pennsylvania Railroad bridge at Leaman Place, Pa. He lived on a 300 acre tract just north of and adjoining Abraham's tract. Will of LEFEVER, DANIEL Lampeter Twp. April 2, 1781 May 2, 1801 Wife: Mary Catharine Lefever. Children: Christian, Ellis, David, Daniel, Mary wife of David Ferree, Catharine wife of Peter Lefever, Esther wife of Jacob Lutman and Solomon. Ex.: Daniel Lefever, Joel and Isaac Ferree

4 Mary le Fevre b 24 Aug 1715 Strasburg, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania d 25 Feb 1774 m’d David Deshler born in Heidelberg, Germany by a justice of the peace in a civil ceremony, but moved to Philadelphia after their marriage. 'Ihey became Quakers, accepting the style of life and mode of dress required of them. Please see the separate notation of this family, which came to light just in 1992, in APPENDIX D Apparently it is the only known account of any of the early LeFevre women; the genealogy book traces only the males who carry the name

5 Esther le Fevre b 3 May 1717 Strasburg, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania m’d Daniel Herman He appears on a 1725 tax list for Pequea Township. These could have been witnesses to a cousin Ferree's wedding by a justice of the peace 5/l/1739 before their marriage: Hester LeFevre and Daniel Harmon. There are many later records of Harmon farmers within the several townships near Quarryville, but there is no known record of their families or church preferences.

6 Samuel le Fevre b 28 Jun 1719 Strasburg, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania d 4 May 1789 Lancaster ., Pennsylvania m’d Lydia Firre Both he and his wife Lydia Ferree (1731-2/8/1778) are buried in the Ferree-Carpenter cemetery on Black Horse Road. Their markers are in the first row of markers just west of the marker for Madam Warembauer Ferree. It may be of interest to note that Samuel is the only child of Isaac and Catherine Ferree LeFevre whose marker is still in existence at this writing.

There are references to several of Samuel's descendants, the Hon. Joseph LeFevre (8-022) having been one of Samuel's sons, who served in Congress 1811-1813, but to this date no reference has been found of his church membership. He wrote a letter attesting to the good character of neighbor Daniel Esbenshade who had applied for citizenship naturalization papers circa 1805. Two of his sons were members of the Leacock Presbyterian Church in Paradise, that church having been built 1840. John Carpenter LeFevre (9-088, 1793-1863) was a trustee of the church. Buried in Paradise Leacock cemetery are his wife Eliza, and son Joseph H. LeFevre, M.D. (10-245). Buried there also are another son, Joseph Smith LeFevre (9-089) and his wife Rachel, and two children Joel Lightner LeFevre (10-251) and Josephine LeFevre (10-257). A grandson of Joseph with descendancy through son John F. LeFevre (10-249) was Nathaniel J. LeFevre (11-711, 1852-1915) who had been an elder for over 20 years of the Paradise Leacock Presbyterian Church. An interesting anecdote tells that when a church pastor, Rev. Workman, was to have been honored for his 25 years in the ministry, but was too unassuming to acknowledge it, at the special service an earlier pastor made some remarks of great appreciation for Dr. Workman's superb ministry. With that Elder Nathaniel LeFevre stood in the rear and asked all who agreed with those remarks to stand to which the congregation responded overwhelmingly. Almost immediately Mr. LeFevre was stricken with a heart attack, and expired a few minutes later after having been carried to a nearby home. This occured 10/8/1915.

3 ** Mary Katrina Ferree was born in 1683 in Lindau, Bavaria and died before 1745 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania: m’d Thomas Faulkner on 30 Jun 1715, Immanuel Episcopal Church in New Castle, New Castle Co., Delaware. Thomas son of Frances Faulkner of Maryland

THOMAS FAULKNER For information who I think is Thomas Faulkner parents and family go to my worldconnect site look Thomas Faulkner

Janet Green Ariciu family

Mary Katrina Ferree and Thomas Faulkner Children:

1 Unknown (Catherine) Faulkner b Abt 1716 m’d William Green 8 Nov 1736 at Immanuel . Episcopal Church, New Castle, New Castle, Delaware

2 Mary Catherine Faulkner b Abt 1717, Pennsylvania d 1780, Virginia m’d Stephen Heard

Click here to go to the Heard family

Click here for Heard

3 Susannah Faulkner b Abt 1718 m’d Thomas Wilson, 20 Dec 1737, Delaware

4 Eve (Eva) Faulkner b 1719 now Lancaster County, Pennsylvania d 1769 Dunnings Creek, Bedford County, Pennsylvania m’d Thomas Griffith 1742, Sadsbury Meeting Center, Chester, Pennsylvania

5 Jesse Faulkner b Abt 1720, now Lancaster County, Pennsylvania d aft 1786 Frederick County, Virginia ,m’d 1st Martha Smith abt 1744 and 2nd Mary HASTINGS, 1786, 11, 8, Berkley County., Virginia

On Thomas Faulkner page I have post all the Facts that I have for him with his transcribed will and who I think his parents were. Click here for Thomas Faulkner page

Click here for ThomasFaulkner

4 Jane 1685 Germany d 1754 Belmont, Lancaster, Pennsylvania m’d Richard Davis, no children

5 Philip Ferree (1687-1753), the third son of the Madame, was married during their sojourn at Esopus to Leah DuBois, the daughter of Abraham DuBois, whose father Louis was the founder of New Platz in 1660. Soon after his marriage, which was about 1711, he came to Pequea and settled on a part of the Ferree grant. Upon his arrival he constructed a temporary habitation of forked poles, bark roof, etc. In this queer house their first child was born. Philip and Leah Ferree had eight children as follows: Abraham (d. 1775), Isaac (d. 1782), Jacob, Philip, Joel, and daughters Lena, married to William Buffington, Leah, married to Peter Baker, and Elisabeth, married to Isaac Ferree, her cousin. Abraham, the eldest son of Philip Ferree, the emigrant, was married about 1736 to a Miss Eltinge, of Esopus, N. Y. Their children were Cornelius, who settled in Virginia, Israel, and a daughter Rebecca, who married David Shreiver and removed to Frederick county, Maryland

Philip Ferree and Leah Corlea DuBois had the following children:

1 Abraham Ferree b Aug 1715 Strasburg Township, now Lancaster, Pennsylvania d 7 Mar 1775 Paradise Township, Lancaster ., Pennsylvania m’d Elizabeth Eltinge Elizabeth dau of Cornelius Eltinge and Rebecca Van Meeteren

“History of Lancaster County, to Which is prefixed a Brief Sketch of the Early History of Pennsylvania.” By I. Daniel Rupp. Publishing date 1844

Chapter II, p 90-115

Abraham, first born, was married about 1735 or 36, to a woman by name of Eltinger from Esopus, her parents were Low Dutch. Abraham lived on part of the land owned by his grand-mother, Mary Ferrie. They have several children: Cornelius who settled in Virginia, Israel who married Miss Dickey, Rebecca m'd David Shreiver, father of the Hon. Abraham Shreiver, fo Frederick County, Maryland. Abraham died at an advance age and was buried in a place now called "CARPENTER'S grave-yard, about one mile from where he was born. After Abraham death his widow remarred one Curgus or Circus, they moved up the Susquehan

Will Abstracts 1721-1819: Lancaster Co, PA

FEREE, ABRAHAM Strasburg Twp. March 7, 1775 March 14, 1775 Wife: Elizabeth Feree. Children: Israel, Cornelius, Rebecca wife of David Shriver, Rachel wife of David Muskimmius, Elizabeth wife of William Miller and Mary wife of George Graff. Ex.: Cornelius and Joel Feree.

2 Isaac Ferree was born in 1715. He died in 1782. He married Elizabeth and had a son named Joel.

3 Magdalena Lena Ferree.b 1717 now Lancaster,Pennsylvania m’d William BUFFINGTON 24 Nov 1749 in Lancaster Co, PA. William son of Thomas Buffington and Ruth Cope

4 Elizabeth Ferree was born in 1718 in now Lancaster Co., PA. d 27 May 1752 in Bart Twp., Lancaster Co., PA. Death may have been 1807 cited by unknown internet source. m’d Isaac Leininger FERREE in Lancaster Co, PA. Son of Elisabeth FERREE and Isaac FERREE

5 Jacob Ferree b 1728 now Lancaster,Pennsylvania d 5 May 1782, Gettysburg, Adams ,Pennsylvania m’d Susan Barbara Carpenter dau of Emanuel Carpenter and Catherine Line

6 Philip Ferree Jr. was born on 24 Mar 1729. He died on 24 Apr 1796 m’d Anna Copeland He was a gunsmith.

NOTE: "Philip is reputed to be the first of the Feree gunsmiths. Philip Jr. & Joel became active gunsmiths also. Joel and Jacob made gunpowder for the Continental Army at French's Creek near Kimberton, Chester Co, late in the Revolution. Joel was killed in Allegheny Co in the spring of 1801 by a marauding party of Indians. His scalped & mutilated body was returned to Lancaster Co for burial. " He was married to Anna Copeland (1735-1807) in about 1756. He is buried in LeFevre Cemetery, Strasburg, PA. His occupation was wheelwright.

7 Joel Ferree Sr b 19 Feb 1730 Paradise Twp., Lancaster, Pennsylvania d 19 Jan 1801, Allegheny ,Pennsylvania Buried Ferree burying ground, Paradise, Lancaster, Pennsylvania m’d Sarah Susan Green

Joel was scalped by Indians He was buried in Paradise, Lancaster, PA, Ferree Cemetery. He served in the military as an Arms contractor in Revolutionary War providing the Army with firearms. He was a Gunsmith. Joel may have learned gunsmithing from his cousin Phillip LeFevre, son of Isaac LeFevre and Catherine Ferree. It was believed that knowing they were going to live in the wilderness of the New World, Isaac trained in gunsmithing while in Germany. When Joel reached maturity, he received a land grant from his father and set up a rifle making shop. During the American Revolution, he made gun barrels or guns or both. He extended his works, employed a larger force of men and turned guns out for the Government at the rate of 30-40 per week. Gunlocks were said to have been imported by a German. The family continued to speak German for several generations.

Will Abstracts 1721-1819: Lancaster Co, PA

FERREE, JOEL Leacock Twp. November 3, 1797 July 13, 1801 Wife: Sarah Ferree. Children: Isaac, Leah wife of Adam Lightner and Rachel wife of Jacob Ferree. Grandchildren: Joel, Isaac, Elijah, Uriah and Reuben (children of Isaac), Joel, Rebecca, Jane and Elizabeth (children of Jacob). Ex.: Isaac Ferree

8 Leah Ferree was born in 1732. She was married to Peter BAKER in Lancaster Co, PA. Leah FERREE and Peter BAKER had no known children.

6 John Ferree Birth: 1688 , Germany d before April 8,1773, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania m’d on 4mo 10da 1736, Darby, Chester, Pennsylvania 1st sp: Ruth BUFFINGTON (-) and before 1720 to 2nd Mary MUSGROVE (-) . Ruth dau of Thomas Buffington and Ruth Cope and Mary dau of John Musgrove and unknown wife

John Fiere held 191 5-6 acres on the northeast corner and the same number of acres on the southeast corner, and, in addition, held the 334 acres of the Jane Davis tract on the southwest corner.

Will Abstracts 1721-1819: Lancaster Co, PA

FEREE, JOHN Lancaster Borough. March 10, 1773 April 8, 1773 Wife: Mary Feree. Children: Conrad, Susanna wife of George Cryder and Mary. Ex.: Mary Feree and Henry Hare.

Mine link to the Ferree family is Daniel and Maria Waremburg daughter Mary Kartherina Ferree married Thomas Faulkner to daughter Mary Faulkner married Stephen Heard to son John Heard married Mary Meador son Jesse Heard married Margaret Hose to daughter Mary Meador Heard married John/James Kilmer son Jeremiah Early Kilmer m’d Nancy Williams daughter Marguerite Jane Kilmer married John Green son James Isaac married Lillie Armanda Stewart son John Edward Green married LaVena Mable Watts. John and LaVena were my parents.

Nancy Landis from the charts and legends given to her by Mrs. Charles I Lanis

EARLY LEFEVRE CHURCH CONNECTIONS

The Daniel Ferree family (Fiere, Fire, etc.) were more likely from a much wealthier background, for Daniel was described as a wealthy silk manufacturer. He and his family had come under the heel of the French government because he was a professing Huguenot, a despised Protestant in that Roman Catholic comitted country. Instead of merely killing them as the soldiers had done to the LeFevres, it is believed they dragooned the Ferrees, sending a large band of perhaps 20 soldiers to live in their home. Usually under such circumstances the homes were upset, furniture broken, women desecrated, food taken or destroyed -- all in an effort to force the Huguenots to give up their Protestant religion and return to the Roman Catholic church. The Ferrees chose not to obey the soldiers. Instead they departed under cover of night, leaving all their possessions behind, and fleeing for their lives to depart their native country. That near part of Germany at that time was under the control of Lutheran Protestants, having been sold to them by Mad Ludwig to try to pay for the exorbitant castles he built for himself. So together, the Ferrees and Isaac LeFevre fled to the small town of Steinweiler in the mayoralty of Bittingham very likely about 1686, or within a year or so of fleeing their homes in France. This town was on the west side of the Rhine River, southwest of Mannheim and Heidelberg yet northeast of Karlsruhe. To help set the dates, Daniel Ferree was born in France circa 1650, and died in Germany circa 1708 before his family left for America. Circa 1669 he married Maria Warembauer born in France 1653, and died in Pennsylvania 1716. Among the Ferree family keepsakes is a church letter giving permission for them to leave for America. It was written on behalf of the pastor and elders of the Reformed Walloon Church of Pelican in the Palatinate of Germany. It was dated 5/10/1708 and granted permission for Daniel Ferree (son) and wife Anne Marie Leininger and their family to leave with their church's blessings. Records for the childrens' baptisms were included. Andrew Ferree was baptised in the Steinweiler Church 9/28/1701, sponsors being Andrew Leininger and wife Margaret. John Ferree was baptised 2/8/1703 in the church at Rhorbac with sponsors Abraham Ptillian and Judith Miller, both of Steinweiller. Though no such record for Isaac LeFevre, wife Catherine Ferree and son Abraham is known to exist, it would seem logical to believe they, too, had a similar church letter. They were so closely related, and were surely together members of the same Protestant Reformed Church there. Perhaps one should here consider what differences there were in the early European Protestant churches. The Roman Catholic Church had become quite corrupt, selling indulgences for money for permission to commit certain sins. The Catholic church had also become almost synonymous with the civil government of the land

Old Dutch Church When the Ferrees and the LeFevres arrived in New York in 1709 there was an already existing Dutch Reformed Church awaiting them both in New Amsterdam (New York City) and in Kingston, not far from New Paltz

The Ferrees Madam Marie Warembauer had married Daniel Fiere, a wealthy silk manufacturer in France. Father Daniel died in Germany after their flight there circa 1708. They were Huguenots, and when oppression became too much in their native France, they fled to nearby Germany where they could live their Protestant faith with much more liberty. Their son Daniel, also born in France, married Anna Maria Leininger while they lived in Germany, and with their two sons came to America arriving in New York January 1, 1709. The eldest Fiere daughter, Catherine, married Isaac LeFevre, the orphan taken in by the family circa 1685. The LeFevres with their son Abraham came to America with the son Daniel Fiere family in 1709. Widow Madam Fiere came to America perhaps a year later with her other children. They all took refuge in New Paltz, New York, on the Hudson River south of Kingston. In the Fall of 1712 they proceeded to Philadelphia and got their promised grant of land from William Penn's agents for 2000 acres of land. At first it was decided to deed it jointly to Daniel Fiere and Isaac LeFevre, to be divided among the family at a later time. The LeFevre family has a special interest in Catherine Fiere as Isaac LeFevre's wife and co-progenitor of all the Pennsylvania LeFevres. It seems in this modern day most of the Ferrees have moved elsewhere. Aside from historical reference, seldom does the name Ferree come up in a discussion. Daniel Fiere, the son in America, produced a daughter Elizabeth who married Abraham LeFevre (7-001) eldest son of Isaac LeFevre (6-004). Daniel also had two sons Andrew and John who had been born while they lived in Germany. A son Daniel, Junior, (whose marriage to Mary Carpenter was recorded 1739) was born in Pennsylvania, and Daniel, Jr. later produced a son also named Daniel. It might be of interest to know there are only two known partial tracings of the Ferree family, one an address by Judge Landis to the Lancaster County Historical Society in 1917, and the other a family tracing by a contemporary Ferree living in California. But neither attempts a genealogical tracing of the family. A Ferree Family Tree record, a fairly well detailed family recording, by Major George Bennett Ferree (1963) may be found in the Philip Schaff Library of the Evangelical and Reformed Church Historical Society at 555 West James Street, Lancaster, Pa. Young Philip Ferree, brother of Daniel, must have liked what he saw while living in New Paltz, for after the family had moved to Pennsylvania in 1712, he returned to New Paltz where he worked for Abraham DuBois until he had won the hand and heart of their daughter Leah. They were married in Kingston Reformed Church, and then he brought her to Lancaster County for the remainder of their lives. Soon after, in 1717, father Abraham DuBois journeyed to Lancaster County where he purchased 1000 acres of land adjacent to the Ferree-LeFevre tract. After the death of the Dubois parents, the land was divided among their children: Leah, who had married Philip Ferree; Abraham; Joel; Sarah, who married Rolf Elting; Catherine, who married William Donaldson; and Rachel. Philip Ferree and wife Leah produced the following children: Abraham, who married Elizabeth; Isaac; Jacob; Philip, Jr., wheelwright whose marriage to Mary Carpenter was recorded in 1739; Joel, gunsmith, who helped appraise his uncle Philip LeFevre's gunsmith estate after his death in 1766; Rachel who married James Gardner; Magdalena; and Elizabeth who married a Zurker. First son of Philip, Abraham and Elizabeth Ferree had the following children: Cornelius, who married Elizabeth; Israel; Rebecca, who married David Schriver; Rachel, who married David Miskimmons; Elizabeth, who married William Miller; and Mary, who married George Graff. It might be of interest to know Abraham Ferree deeded 99 perches of land (less than an acre) for a school house for 999 years to John Carpenter, Jacob Ferree, Joel Ferree, Philip Ferree, Sam LeFevre and Isaac Ferree. There were not many church references found in church records to the Ferree family, but those that were found are here recorded. It might be noted that many of the Ferrees moved to York County, Maryland, and to Virginia which probably explains why they are so sparse in these local church records.

“FIRST RIFEMAKER IN AMERICA AND “ULSTER HUGUENOT” Contributed by Chaplin Randall

From among the Huguenots of France prior to the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, 1682, were the LeFevre and Ferree families, who, when the revocation, fled from thence almost upon the eve of their arrival by the Germansheim succession war; at Lindau eight members of the LeFevre family were massacred. Isaac, the only survivor, fled with the family of the Hon. Daniel Ferree to village of Steinweiler in the vicinity of the Black Forest, close to the border of the Grand Duchy of Baden. In less than two years thereafter the Hon Daniel Ferree died, leaving a widow and six children, the youngest, Philip, an infant. In this strange country they remained for twenty-three years. In 1704 Isaac LeFevre, the only survivor of that family, married Catherine, the daughter of the widow Madame Marie Warembier (?) Ferree and in 1708 this entire family emigrated to America on the Ship Transport Globe, arriving a the port of New York, Dec 31,178, went to the Huguenot colony at Esopus, New York (now Kingston) and in the fall of 1712, with other Huguenots of this colony, emigrated to Pennsylvania and settled a colony in Pequa Valley , now Lancaster county.

Prior to leaving New York, on March 16,1710, was born at Esopus, Philip LeFevre, the gunsmith of the Pennsylvania Huguenot colony

In untitled book but the story of ‘MADAME MARIA DE LA WARREMBUR FERREE” was all that was there.

Madam Ferree is generally regarded as then ancestress of all the Ferree in America. The name has been spelled several different ways--- Fier, Fiere, Ferrry, Free, Firre, Fuehre, etc. Philip Ferree, youngest son of Madame Ferree, made his will March 3,1753. In the body of the will the name is always spelled as we now spell it, Ferree. The will was written by some other person and then signed by Philip who wrote plainly “Fier”. This fact and the fact that most of the deeds of that time had it “Fiere” Leads us to believe that the original spelling was “Fier” for the masculine and “Fiere” for the feminine. There is a French word fier and the feminine of it is Fiere. This would seem to indicate that our name, like many other non-English names, was garbled into the present form by the scriveners of that day and then adopted as the proper form by members of the family. Philip’s son Joel Ferree, signed his will as we would now. Both wills are on file in the Lancaster County Court House.

Madame Ferree is generally thought to have been born Marie Warenbur (also spelled several ways) About 1650/53. She married Daniel Ferree who was a silk weaver. Daniel is said to have been a descendant of Jean Ferree of whom we know nothing more. They were Huguenots, or French Protestants. When the Edict of Nantes was revoked in 1685 and thereby liberty of worship taken away from the Protestants, the family of Daniel Ferree fled to Landau in German Palatinate. Subsequently they removed to Steinweiler, an adjacent village. Daniel Ferree died there before 1708, but neither the month nor the year of his death are known.

After the death of her husband, Madame is said to have resumed her maiden name of Marie Warenbur, which is said to have been a French custom of that time. She and her family decided to emigrate to Pennsylvania. With this in view, they obtained a certificate of membership from the French Reformed (Walloon) Church at Pelican, dated May 10,1708. Previously, on March 10,1708, they obtained a civil passport from the Court Clerk of the Mayoralty of Billighein in which town of Steinweiler was located. This passport stated that they “purpose to emigrate from Seeinweiler , via, Holland and England, to the Island of Pennsylvania” The Church letter was in French and the passport was in German, and both may be found in a

“HISTORY OF LANCASTER COUNTY” published in 1844 by I. Daniel Rupp who was himself a Ferree Descendant.

Whether Madame Ferree or any of her children remained for any length of time in Holland is not now clear. It is almost certain that some of the family could have tarried long in that country, for , on Aug 28,1708, Isaac Le Fevre (married Madam Ferree’s daughter Catharine) and Daniel Ferree, eldest of Madame Ferree ‘s sons) and some others secured for themselves and their families letters of Denization for the British Colonies. This paper is in Latin and the original is now in the New York State Archives. A copy of it is recorded in the Land Office at Harrisburg and the text and a photograph of the document were published in the Pennsylvania German Magazine. The photograph shows that the paper is badly worn, but the opening words and the names in which we are interested are easily legible. It is certain that Daniel Ferree and Isaac Le Fevre with their families accompanied the Rev. Joshua de Kocharthal in the ship “GLOBE” and that they arrived at New York on Jan 1,1709.

Madame Ferree herself does not appear in the records again until May 6,1709, when she is recorded as one on a list of poor Germans lately come over from the Palatinate into this Kingdom, taken ins St. Catherine’s (London). From this it is supposed that Madame Ferree and the other members of the family, excepting Daniel and his family and Catherine and her family, remained in Holland and did not cross to England until early in 1709, and that she and the rest of her family come to America in 1709 or 1710. They probably came with the Rev. Mr. Koocherthal and his second party of emigrants in the ship “Lyon” which landed at New York on June 15th or 14th , 1710. Unfortunately, this latter statement cannot be verified since all the ship lists prior to 1726 seem to have been destroyed.

Whenever or wherever, Madame Ferree landed, it seems certain, that she and her family made their way to Esopus (now Kingston), New York, where a Huguenot colony had existed from about 1660, and where Hugo Freer, the Dubois, some of the LeFebres, and others had established themselves. Family tradition has it that Philip, youngest son of Madame Ferree, worked there for a year for Abraham Dubois and we know that Philip married Leah Dubois, one of the daughters of Abraham Dubois. Thus it would seem that the entire family was untied at Esopus.

It has been said that the family lived for some time in the city of Philadelphia. This is doubted by others, and even if they did live there, it was for a short time only. We know that Mary Ferree and her son Daniel, and her son-in-law Isaac LeFevre appeared in Philadelphia on Sept 10,1712 for the purpose of securing two thousand acres of land which tradition says William Penn had personally promised Madame Ferree in London. From the records it seems that John Rudolph Bundley, Martin Kindig and others had taken up ten thousand acres at Pequea , Oct 10,1710. On Sept 10,172, Martin Kindig appeared before the Land Commissioners and asked that two thousand acres of this land be granted to Marie Warenbur. “for whom the same was taken up or intended” “But, upon further consideration of the matter, it is agreed among out selves that the said land should be confirmed to Daniel Ferree and Isaac LeFevre, two of the said widow’s sons, and that the consideration money, vis’t 140 pounds at 7 pounds p bund’d by agreement, having been for some time due, but now to be paid in sum, ‘tis agreed that they shall pay only ten pounds for interest, that is 150 pounds in the whole”. Thus the two thousand acres were patented, not to Maria Warenbur, but of this can be found in Pennsylvania Archives, 2nd Series, Vol. 19 page 529.

Legally Madame Ferree never owned a foot of ground in Pennsylvania, although the land has ever been known as the Marie Ferree Tract. Nevertheless, on Nov 7,1712, Marie Ferree paid a year’s quitrent on the tract and received a receipt for it her own name. Evidently the land was intended for the family as a whole and to be divided among the various members of the family. Later Daniel Ferree and Isaac Fevre made out deeds in their own names in favor of the various members of the family, each grantee paying his proportionate share of the original purchase price. These deeds are recorded in Lancaster County.

In dividing and resurveying the land it was discovered that, instead of containing two thousand acres of land, the Marie Ferree Tract really contained two thousand three hundred acres. This was taken up with the Proper authorities and its was agreed that the Ferree might keep all of it, provided they paid the additional twenty-one pounds for the additional three hundred acres. This was paid accordingly and on Oct 29,1734, “John Penn, Thomas Penn and Richard Penn,, Esqrs true and absolute Propietaries and Governors in Chief of the Province of Pennsylvania and the Counties of New Castle, Kent and Sussex, on the Delaware,” gave the Ferrees a new patent in place of the old one which they surrendered. In the meantime the individual members of the family, had and later did, take up more land, so that in all, they received probably five thousand acres. Madam Marie Ferree died about Jan 1716. Letters of Administration on her estate were granted to Daniel Ferree, Philip Ferree and John Ferree, her sons, by the Register of Wills of Chester County of which Lancaster County was then a part. The bond of the Administrators, set at two hundred Pounds , was signed by Isaac LeFevre and Richard Davis, two of Madame Ferree’s son’s in-law, This bond is dated Nov 28,1716. An appraisal of the personal estate of Marie Ferree was made on Jan 1716, by Michael Wefare and John Rutlidge, and this inventory was filed May 22,1717.

Marie Ferree was buried in what later became the Ferree Graveyard and is also know as Carpenter’s Graveyard. This Cemetery is located about one half miles south of the village of Paradise in Lancaster County. Madame Ferree is said to have been the first to be interested there. Although no one can be sure of the exact spot in the cemetery, some one has lately put up a small marble stone in the farthest corner of the cemetery and his cut on it “Mary Ferree 1716”

Most of the information contained in this brief Sketch of Madame Ferree may be found in a paper read by Judge Charles I Landis, before the Lancaster County Historical Society at their meeting held Sept 7,1917, and included in the bound volume of the proceeding of the society. This paper contains much information regarding the early history of the family and is without doubt, that most comprehensive and authoritative work published on this subject

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LeFEVRE HISTORICAL SPOTS

LeFevre historical Spots

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