FERRIS, Thomas 1866-1927

FERRIS, BARRIS, FRASER, MUTH

Posted By: Diane M Scott (email)
Date: 7/9/2012 at 11:25:23

Thomas Ferris – January 18, 1866 – November 18, 1927

Thomas was born in Lethanhill, near Dalmellington, Ayrshire, Scotland, the third of seven children born to Moses and Margaret (Barris) Ferris. Moses and Margaret were both born in Ireland but moved to Scotland soon after their marriage in 1860.

Most of the family traveled together in 1879 from Glasgow to New York on the ship Circassia. They continued immediately to Lowell, Massachusetts where the children grew to adulthood. The four Ferris brothers, William John, Thomas, Robert and James Wade, worked as electricians, eventually owning and operating electrical power plants in many locations throughout the midwest.

Thomas married 4 Sep 1893 in Lowell, Middlesex, MA to Jennie Bell Fraser, who was originally from Nova Scotia, Canada. They had two daughters, one of whom died in infancy. The other was Margaret Fraser Ferris. Sometime after 1920, both Thomas and Jennie (who was sometimes referred to as Jane) moved to live with Margaret and her husband, Merlin Arthur Muth, in Chicago, IL.

About four months before his death, Thomas was moved to the Milwaukee Sanitarium in Wauwatosa, Milwaukee, WI where he died in 1927. He was buried at the Waldheim Cemetery in LaGrange, Cook, IL. Jennie died in 1932 and was also buried at Waldheim.

Many years later, they were both moved to the Osage Cemetery in Oct 1944. Eventually, Margaret and Arthur Muth were buried there as well.

Research credit: Connie Ferris