The Prime Minister and the Duke of Wellington persuaded the reluctant King George IV of England of the necessity of The Emancipation Bill of 1829 which later gained support for repeal by Irish Tories of the 1830s. The Tories despaired of the “unholy alliance between the Whig government and Daniel O’Connell’s substantial band of parliamentary supporters". The abolished Catholic Association, while enjoying the political victory, still sought relief from tithes and an unfair rack-renting system. In the year that Daniel O’Connell took his seat in the House of Commons, Thomas Ferris was born to Martin and Mary Ferris in Ireland. Without finding a birth certificate for Thomas his birth year, parents name and place of birth is obtained from his Certificate of Death.

The first accurate census of Ireland recorded a population of 8,175,124 in 1841. In 1843 Daniel O’Connell was arrested on charges of conspiracy and convicted and imprisoned in 1844. The Great Famine began in 1845 when a potato blight crossed from England to Wexford and Waterford. The first report was in September, and by November half of the annual potato harvest was ruined. Next year the potato blight almost totally destroyed the year’s crop and the Famine worsened. That same year the Whig government fell. As the Famine worsened in 1847 and 1848, a typhus epidemic killed tens of thousands followed by outbreaks of cholera and the number of tenant eviction rose. “When the potato failed again massively in 1848-49, the suffering from famine, disease, and evictions was frightening and the ability to cope had diminished.” Approximately one million people died and a million more emigrated from Ireland by the time the Great Famine or An Gorta Mor was over. In the year 1849, nineteen year old Thomas Ferris bordered the ship Cremona in Galway and immigrated to the Port of New York in the United States, joining the other million or so Irish fleeing their home. Little is known of Thomas’s life in New York or of how he met and married his wife, Sarah M. McFarland. Thomas showed up in Cambridgeport, Massachusetts in 1855 though his exact arrival date is still unknown. Cambridgeport is one of the neighborhoods of Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is bounded by Massachusetts Avenue, the Charles River, the Boston-Lowell Railroad, and River Street. Cambridgeport was filled with cottages, two and three decker homes which were filled with fellow Irish. Population had increased six times between 1830 and 1870 and 20% were Irish. Soap, candle, rope making and tanneries were the earliest forms of industry but the glass making industry was led by New England Glass and led all others by the time Thomas had arrived. In 1857 Thomas, a laborer, lived on Medford Street near Cambridge St in Cambridgeport, and wife Sarah had given birth to two children. The first, born in 1855, June 22 was William Thomas Ferris. Because William has a record of birth with the City of Cambridge we conclude that at least by 1855 Thomas and Sarah were settled in Cambridgeport. Sarah Mae was born about 1838 in Ireland to Robert McFarlane and Sarah Moore both Irish born. William, her first child’s, surname was spelled Farris in official city records most likely due to the Irish brogue both parents would have had. Thomas and Sarah had a second child in 1856 on January 15. They named him Charles and though no record of death has been found, Charles does not appear in the Federal Census of 1860. Charles’s surname was also spelled Farris. The Cambridge City Clerk recorded a record of birth for Edwin J Ferris on November 30, 1858 to Thomas and Sarah. By 1859 Thomas and family were living on Willow Place just off E Cambridge St and Thomas worked as a laborer.

The Eighth Census of the United States enumerated in Cambridgeport, Massachusetts on the 16th day of June in 1860 listed Thomas a 28 year old male laborer born in Ireland. Living with him was Sarah his 26 year old wife, also of Ireland, and their two Massachusetts born children, W.J. age 5 and E.J. age 1. Further we find that William had attended school within the year. On November 8, 1860 Sarah gave birth to her first daughter and named her Sarah Ann. 1861 found Thomas and family housed in the rear of Cambridge East on Willow Place. May 12, of 1863, Robert James Ferris wass born to Thomas and Sarah and on October 13 of 1865 Sarah gave birth to another son she named Matthew Ferris. Sometime in 1865 Thomas Ferris purchased 2200 s.f. of land and house known as 32 Harding Street in the very same neighborhood of Cambridgeport he and Sarah had been resided in for the last decade. Thomas payed John Gallagher $675.00 for his new home and land. On August 28, of 1867 Sarah gave birth to Charles Alexander Ferris, who was their first child born while residing on Harding Street. On April of that same year Matthew, now listed as George M Ferris, died after living only one year, six months and sixteen days on this earth. His cause of death was recorded as marasmius. To bury George Matthew Ferris, Thomas purchased a cemetery plot on Coolidge Avenue in the Cambridge Cemetery. This plot was located on a hill near the edge of the cemetery facing Meadow Street. It is known as 245 Myrtle Path and this is where Thomas buried his fifth born son. Before the decade ended Sarah birthed her second daughter on May 16, 1869 and named her Esther Jane.

The Ninth Census of the United States for Cambridge, Ward 2 of Middlesex County, Massachusetts occurred on July 9 of 1870. This enumeration found Thomas living on 32 Harding Street, valued at $4000.00. Thomas worked as a 38 year old vegetable peddler. No surprise for someone who left a famine stricken home. Wife, Sarah now age 35 was listed as a homemaker in the same house. William T was now fifteen and had no occupation. Children Edward J, 12, Sarah A, 10 and Robert J, 7, all attended school, while Charles A, 3 and Esther J, 1, were at home all day. Also listed on their birth certificates, all Sarah and Thomas's children were born in Cambridge. One year later in 1871 Sarah gave birth to her final son on September 25, 1871 and named him George Martha Ferris. Sadly just over a year later on September 30, 1872 George Martha died of Cholera Infection surviving only one year and four days with his family. Thomas and Sarah buried George beside his brother in Cambridge Cemetery on 245 Myrtle Path. 1873 listed Thomas Ferris working as a peddler housed on Harding near Jefferson. In 1873 Thomas sold some of his property to a James Todd in July. Finally on July 8, 1874 Thomas and Sarah had their third daughter and final child, Mary Elizabeth Ferris. The decade finished without any additional found official records of Thomas and family.

The Tenth Census of the United States for Cambridge, Ward 2, of Middlesex County, Massachusetts was enumerated on the fifth day of June 1880. Thomas, now 49, was still residing at 32 Harding Street and was an unemployed huckster for the last year. His wife calling herself Anne, now 42 was still a homemaker who could not read or write. William, now be 25, no longer lived at home. Edward, now 21 worked in a glass house for five months along with his brother Robert, now 17, who worked for only two months. Daughter Sarah who also now calls herself Annie is 19 and worked for 7 months in a rubber factory. Children Charles, 12, Esther, 9, and Mary, 6 all attended school during the year. Matthew Hall a 32 year old cooper from Ireland was a boarder at the time. On November 16 of 1880 Edward J Ferris, 21 married Grace Hatfield, 19, daughter of Elias F. and Mary Hatfield of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada. It was the first marriage for both and performed by George W Durell a pastor from Somerville, MA. Edward was still working as a glass cutter, a profession that a few other Ferris family members would also work as. In 1881, October 14, Edward J and Grace D had their first child, a daughter they named Grace Edna Ferris. They were living on Bow Street and made Thomas and Sarah grandparents for the first time. On December 15, of 1882 Edward and Grace have their second child, a son who goes unnamed at the time of the recorded birth. They later named the boy George T. Ferris. 1883 started with Thomas Ferris appearing in the Cambridge City Directory living on 32 Harding St. in Cambridge. In March of that same year on the 29th, Sarah Annie Ferris, 23, married Richard Matthew Porteus, 24 a glass polisher, perhaps working in the same factory Edward Ferris worked in, who lived in Somerville, MA. Richard was born in Drumholm Parish, Mullancross, and County Donegal, Ireland. It was their first marriage and performed by Pastor George W Durell of Somerville. March 14, of 1894 saw Charles A Ferris marry a Nova Scotia girl named Margaret Lavinia DeArmond, daughter of John and Ruby DeArmond. Charles was 27 and Margaret was 19. They like many of their family were married by Pastor George W. Durell. August 27 of 1884 saw Annie and Richard Porteus lose their first born daughter to Cholera. Her name was Sarah L and she was the third of the family to be interred in 245 Myrtle Path in the Cambridge Cemetery.

Annie’s husband Richard hads a sister named Sarah Mae Porteus who according to family stories was in a finishing school in England when against her father’s wishes came to visit her brother Richard in the United States. She stayed and became a domestic worker. Richard's sister, Sarah, met Robert James Ferris and on July 12, 1886 the two married. Pastor G.W. Durell performed thismarriage, the first for both. Robert, at the time of his marriage was working as a peddler. On June 22, 1886, Florence Mae Porteus was born to Annie and Richard Porteus. Sarah M Ferris was born January 18, 1887 to Robert James and Sarah Mae Ferris. She would come to be known as Sadie later in life. On the fourth day of July 1887 Thomas signed his will leaving $3000.00 of real estate and $345.00 of personal property to his wife Sarah and children. Suffering from pneumonia Thomas died two days later on July 6, 1887. C.H. Lockhart laid Thomas to rest at the age of 57 in 245 Myrtle Path, in Cambridge Cemetery. Thomas becomes the fourth family member to be buried at 245 Myrtle Path. With Thomas’s passing his wife would become the last of his generation in Cambridge and Matriarch of the Ferris family. In September of that same year, 1887 on the 9th Ethyl Ann Ferris was born to Robert James Ferris and Sarah Mae Ferris in Somerville, MA. On September 2, 1889 Charles T Porteus was born to Annie Porteus and Richard M Porteus. He was their third child. Robert James Ferris’s wife Sarah gave birth to a boy on November 9, 1889 in Somerville. They named him Thomas after his grandfather who died just over two years before his birth. As this decade closes nearly all of Thomas and Sarah’s living children would be married and have children of their own. Except for William, their first born good, vital and census records exist to track them. It should be noted that some time before his death Thomas purchased another burial plot in Cambridge Cemetery known as Range 76, Grave 16 that would soon be put to use in the next decade. For now though despite the loss of her husband Thomas, Sarah could enjoy her grandchildren in her remaining years. A fire in the Commerce Department building, Washington, DC, resulted in the destruction of most of the 1890 census so only vital records, city directories and other records can be used to track the family in this decade. We do know that March 5, 1890 Esther Jane Ferris, age 20, married George R Crocker, age 32, a taxi cab mechanic from Ripley, Maine son of George and Flavillia Crocker. This was George’s second marriage. July 14 of that same year Robert James Ferris Jr registered for the World War I draft. Richard Matthew Porteus III was born to Annie Porteus on May 11, 1891. George R Crocker III was born on June 18, 1892 to Esther Jane and George Crocker Jr. April 3, 1893 Sarah Ferris saw her youngest and last single daughter marry Samuel Griffith, 23, a glass polisher living in Cambridge but originally from Scotland, the son of Thomas Griffith and Jane Colvin. It was their first marriage and Mary Elizabeth was 18. As usual Pastor George W Durell performed the ceremony. Starting off 1894 in January on the 24th Charles Alexander Ferris, now 26 and a glass polisher, married Margaret L DeArmond 26 year old rubber shoe maker, originally from Nova Scotia and daughter of John and Sarah DeArmond. Charles Perley Ferris was born March 28, 1894 to Charles Alexander and Margaret Ferris. Sarah Ferris waited almost seven years after Thomas’s death on May 7, 1894 before marrying again to William McLean a 63 year old laborer from Ireland. He was the son of John and Martha McLean and this was his third marriage. Sarah was 46 when she remarried. That same year Frederick E Crocker was born in Maine to Esther Jane and George.

April 11, 1895 in Cambridgeport, Massachusetts at the age of 57 years and 8 months, Sarah Mae McFarland Ferris McLean passed away from Chronic Gastritis. As the grave at 245 Myrtle Path closed over her so did the generation of Thomas Ferris who escaped the horrors of life in Ireland to start life over in a new country at the young age of nineteen. Thomas and Sarah would have ten children who would give them thirty-three grand children. Thus the Ferris family was well started in United States. The death of Thomas and Sarah passed the torch to the next generation of Ferris all born in Cambridge and well launched with families and careers of their own. Thomas Ferris is the great-great-great-grandfather of John J Ferris Sr. the author of this Biography and Web Site. The next generation begins with his son Robert James Ferris and Sarah Mae (Porteus) Ferris his wife.