Ferris Family Papers, 1896–1940s
Information, Description, and Finding Aid
Collection Information
Reference: MS-FERRIS
Dates: 1896 – 1940s
Extent: 1.75 linear feet across 2 archival boxes
Finding Aid Information
Creator(s): Steven Payne, Ph.D., Librarian and Archivist
Date created/updated: June 4, 2020
Administrative History/Biography
The Ferris family have roots in the area that go back to the founding of Westchester Town in 1654. During the colonial and revolutionary era, the Ferris family was one of the most extensive landowners in Westchester County. Over the course of the nineteenth century, some members of the Ferris family became engaged in various capitalist enterprises like the Bowne and Ferris Coal Company, owned by Watson Bowne and Warren Ferris. Some continued as large landlords, like John Ferris, after whom the John Ferris Mansion that once stood in Hunts Point was named. Other members of the Ferris family also possessed mansions in the Throggs Neck and Country Club sections of The Bronx, including James Ferris and Watson Ferris.
Some members of the Ferris family belonged to First Presbyterian Church of Throggs Neck. The Doherty family, into which members of the Ferris family married, however, belonged to St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, and it is in the graveyard of this church that William J. Doherty and William M. Doherty, the father and brother of one of the donors of this collection, are buried.
Description/Scope and Content
The collection consists of 2 photograph albums, which document family trips to locations outside The Bronx, as well as five law and general interest books that belonged to William J. Doherty (1864–1914) and Coralie Ferris Doherty. Many items donated by the Ferris family over the years—2188 items—were incorporated into the Research Library and Museum Collections.
Provenance
The materials included in this collection were donated to the Society by Kathryn Doherty Tourjee in May 1996. Earlier items associated with the Ferris family that were incorporated into the Research Library and Museum Collections were donated by Coralie and May Ferris Doherty over the course of the 1960s and 1970s.
Preferred Citation
[Item name or description,] The Ferris Family Papers, box_, folder_, The Bronx County Archives at The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library.
Points of Access
- Books -- Abridgment of Blackstones Commentaries, 5th ed. -- The Autobiography of William Allen White -- Elements of the Law of Torts, 6th ed. -- Handbook of the Law of Persons and Domestic Relations -- The Werner Universal Educator
- Bronx Neighborhoods -- Country Club -- Hunts Point -- Throggs Neck
- Churches -- First Presbyterian Church of Throggs Neck -- St. Peter’s Episcopal Church
- Enterprises -- Bowne and Ferris Coal Company
- Europe -- Lapland, Finland -- Sweden -- Russia
- Individuals -- Bigelow, Melville M. -- Bowne, Watson -- Doherty, William J. -- Doherty Tourjee, Kathryn -- Ferris Doherty, Coralie -- Ferris Doherty, May -- Ferris, James -- Ferris, John -- Ferris, Warren -- Ferris, Watson -- Sprague, William C. -- Tiffany, Walter C. -- White, William Allen
- Landmarks -- John Ferris Mansion
- Westchester County, NY -- Westchester Town
Related Collections
- Frederick Bell Papers on St. Augustine Presbyterian Church. The Bronx County Archives at The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library.
- Bronx Board of Trade records. The Bronx County Archives at The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library.
- Bronx County Clerk records. The Bronx County Archives at The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library.
- Bronx Old Timers Association records. The Bronx County Archives at The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library.
- Baychester Nereid Taxpayers and Civic Association records. The Bronx County Archives at The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library.
- Bronx River Restoration Project records. The Bronx County Archives at The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library.
- Bronx Theatre records. The Bronx County Archives at The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library.
- Henry B. Dawson diaries. The Bronx County Archives at The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library.
- Early Bronx Borough Presidents records. The Bronx County Archives at The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library.
- Early Bronx Borough Presidents, Local Board records. The Bronx County Archives at The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library.
- Eickmann Family Papers. The Bronx County Archives at The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library.
- Judge William S. Evans papers. The Bronx County Archives at The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library.
- Fire Department of New York, Bronx records. The Bronx County Archives at The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library.
- Albert F. Gescheidt papers. The Bronx County Archives at The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library.
- Louis F. Haffen papers. The Bronx County Archives at The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library.
- Haffen family papers. The Bronx County Archives at The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library.
- Hallock & Hallock records. The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library.
- Carl Halpern papers. The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library.
- R. Hoe & Co., Inc. records. The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library.
- Lester E. Lamb papers. The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library.
- Richard W. Lawrence papers. The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library.
- Albert J. McNamee papers. The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library.
- O'Connor Family papers. The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library.
- New York University, Office of the Chancellor records. The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library.
Series
| Series | Title | Box | Folders |
| 1 | Photo albums, Ferris/Doherty Family | 1 | 1–2 |
| 2 | Antique books; collection documentation | 2 | 3-8 |
Container List
Series 1: Photo albums, Ferris/Doherty Family
|
Box |
Folders |
Contents |
Date |
| 1 | 1 | Ferris/Doherty Family, Family vacations: Cape Cod, Sweden, Lapland, Russia, Africa, late nineteenth/early twentieth c., photo album, 45 fols. (r&v) | 1890s - 1940s |
| 1 | 2 | Ferris/Doherty Family, Family vacations: Cape Cod, Western United States, late nineteenth/early twentieth c., photo album, 40 fols. (r&v) | 1890s - 1940s |
Series 2: Antique books; collection documentation
|
Box |
Folders |
Contents |
Date |
| 2 | 3 | Melville M. Bigelow, Elements of the Law of Torts, 6th ed. (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co.), 428 pp. | 1896 |
| 2 | 4 | William C. Sprague, Abridgment of Blackstones Commentaries, 5th ed. (Detroit: Sprague Correspondence School of Law), 554 pp. | 1892 |
| 2 | 5 | Walter C. Tiffany, Handbook of the Law of Persons and Domestic Relations (St. Paul, Minnesota: West Publishing Co.), 618 pp. | 1896 |
| 2 | 6 | Werner Company, The Werner Universal Educator (Akron, Ohio/New York: The Werner Company), 828 pp. [very fragile: compromised binding] | 1895 |
| 2 | 7 | William Allen White, The Autobiography of William Allen White (New York: Macmillan), 669 pp. | 1946 |
| 2 | 8 | Collection documentation | n.d. |