Revocation of Edict

Born in Bracken County, Kentucky, Thomas Marsh Ferree was the seventh child of John and Rebecca Marsh Ferree. Early in his life, about 1809, the family moved to Clermont County, Ohio, where his father was a Methodist circuit rider preacher and one of the pioneer Methodists in Clermont County. The first preachings were held in the Ferree home until a church could be built.

Thomas Ferree married twice. His first wife was Elizabeth Miller. They were married on March 28, 1825, in Connersville, Indiana. Elizabeth was born January 13, 1802, and died about 1832 in Ohio. They had three children:

On April 23, 1833, in Brown County, Ohio, he married second wife, Esther Ann Nelson. Esther was born on January 3, 1812, in Clermont County, Ohio. Their children were:

Thomas was engaged in the mercantile business in Clermont County. Soon after marrying Esther, they located to Montgomery County, Illinois, where he bought a farm. They remained there until 1845 when they moved to St. Louis, Missouri, and Thomas took a contract to sprinkle the streets of that city. He died there in July of 1849 from cholera.

Esther remarried after the death of Thomas. She, with her children and new husband, Asa Turner, returned to the farm in Montgomery County. She had one more son, Richard Turner, born about 1853 in Litchfield, Montgomery County. She died there on October 6, 1880.

Sources: "History of Clermont County, Ohio" by Louis Everts; "Illinois Death Index 1850-1900"; "History of Wapello, Iowa and Representative Citizens"; "1860 & 1870 Census Records" .

Our acknowledgement and thank you to Ellen Veden for her contribution of information and assistance in preparation of this biography. Ellen is a ninth generation Ferree descendant on the John Ferree/Mary Musgrave line and a great great granddaughter of Thomas Marsh Ferree.