Ferris, Zachariah, approximately 1717-1803

p. 58-59. Zachariah Ferris, of Wilmington, Delaware, the author of this journal, was a member of the well-known Wilmington Quaker family of that name. He was the third of the four sons of Zachariah and Sarah Ferris of New Milford, Connecticut. The exact date of young Zachariah's coming to Wilmington is not known definitely, but it can easily be inferred, as his older brother, David, came to Wilmington in 1737, and a younger brother, John, arrived in 1748. Moreover, in 1741, another brother, Benjamin, wrote an account of a meeting held at New Castle, Delaware, which he and Zachariah attended, thus showing that our "journalist" was indeed at Wilmington in that year. Benjamin Ferris, the historian, believed that Zachariah came to Wilmington in the spring of 1739, when he would have been twenty-two years old.

Not long after his arrival in Wilmington, Zachariah became acquainted with Elizabeth, the daughter of Patrick and Eleanor Scott, whom he married Sixth month 13, 1741 (0. S.). Their children were: Hannah, born Ninth month 28, 1743 (0. S.), who married Joseph Townsend; John, born Seventh month 29, 1746 (0. S.), died Tenth month 24, 1828 (N. S.); Elizabeth, born Tenth month 2, 1750 (0. S.), who married Samuel Horner; Phebe, born Eighth month 30, 1748 (0. S.), who died at the age of four years and six months; and Lydia, born Eighth month 3, 1752 (0. S.), who died in infancy.

Miss Montgomery, in her "Reminiscences of Wilmington," writes this of Zachariah: "On the north side of Second Street above West Street, Zachariah Ferris, an acceptable minister in the Friends' Society, owned a tanyard and dwelling house." His brother, John, who died Seventh month 10, 1751 (0. S.), was also a tanner, and it was more than likely that they were, at one time or another, engaged in business together. During the later years of his life, Zachariah Ferris traveled extensively, visiting many meetings, as this journal alone shows. Moreover, he is reputed to have traversed the whole eastern seaboard from Maine to Georgia, and it is hoped that some of his other journals, telling of visits to northern meetings, will be discovered in time. On January 6, 1803, Zachariah Ferris came to the end of an active and useful life of eighty-six years, at the home of his son, John, on Market Street, in Wilmington, Delaware.