Ferree History
Ferrees in Europe 1646-1709
Daniel LaVerre (Ferree) is thought to have been born about 1646 in Picardy, France. His family was listed in the Patrician ranks of French nobility. Marie Warenbour was born in 1653. Daniel married Marie Warenbour around 1676. Daniel became a citizen of Steinweiler in 1679. There is record of Daniel selling 3 houses in Steinweiler in the Rhineland-Palatinate in November 1681. If they lived elsewhere prior to Steinweiler we do not know. There is no record of the family moving to Billigheim in the Palatinate. We assume their home and business were located in Steinweiler. Daniel and Marie became parents of six children while in Steinweiler: Daniel Jr. (1677), Catherine (1679), Mary Catherine (1683), John (1685), Philip (1687), and Jane (1689).
There is record of Daniel Jr. and Anne Marie Leininger, his wife, baptizing sons Andrew in 1701 and John in 1703 in the Reformed Church in Rohrbach.
Isaac LeFevre joined the Ferree family in Steinweiler after surviving the French massacre of his family. Isaac LeFevre and Catherine Ferree were married and had a son, Abraham, in Steinweiler.
Growing grapes and making wine was prominent in the Palatinate. Daniel Jr. and Isaac LeFevre listed vineyard keeper and husbandman as their profession when they applied for a passport and certificate to leave the Palatinate.
Daniel and Marie were Calvinist Protestants which posed a threat to their lives and property. It is believed Daniel may have died in Steinweiler about 1707 and certainly before 10 March 1708 when the family requested a family passport and a valid certificate to leave Germany for Rotterdam. After arriving in Rotterdam, Daniel and Isaac along with their families traveled to London in 1708.
Marie and her unmarried children traveled from Rotterdam to London in 1709.
Ferrees in England 1708-1710
At this time in London, Rev. Joshua Kocherthal had procured free passage for 53 people to New York for some of the people who were escaping to England. William Penn had spread the word among the war-torn countries that Pennsylvania was a land of golden opportunity.
The Board of Trade approved of the Kocherthal List but added one requirement which was Letters of Denization. The Palatinates were naturalized in August, 1708. Therefore, when Daniel Jr. and Isaac reached New York, they were already British citizens.
In mid-October 1708, Daniel Jr. and Anne Marie Leininger with sons Andrew and John along with Isaac Lefevre and Catherine Ferree with son Abraham left England on the Globe with Reverend Joshua Kocherthal and arrived in New York. Rev. Kocherthal later made a second trip to get the rest of the Palatinates.
Maria with her four unmarried children arrived in London on 6 May 1709. Maria’s age was given at 56. The family stayed in London until sometime in December, 1709.
According to documents in Chester County, PA, it is clear that while in London, Maria and her daughters must have encountered THOMAS FAULKNER and RICHARD DAVIS, who would become the future husbands of Mary Catherine Ferree and Jane Ferree in 1715, at the Church in New Castle, Delaware.
Thomas and Richard were obviously British subjects. Both of their names were on the 1710 survey instructions for 333 acres – a piece out of the 2,000 acres granted to Maria. Thomas Faulkner and Richard Dave do not appear to be in Chester County before 1714.
I
t is not known on which ship Maria sailed because of all the passenger lists for ships sailing to the colonies before 1727 have been lost.
Some Important Notes:
In 1709 Mary Catherine would be ~26 and Jane ~20.
When married in 1715 Mary Catherine would be ~32 and Jane ~26
Thomas and Mary Catherine had 5 girls and 1 boy. Mary died ~1745
Richard and Jane were without children at their deaths.