Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2020, All Rights Reserved USGenNet Data Repository Please read USGenNet Data Repository Copyright Statement on this page: Transcribed and submitted by Linda Talbott for the USGenNet Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ ========================================================================= USGenNet Data Repository NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be re- produced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization. Non-commercial organizations desiring to use this material must obtain the consent of the transcriber prior to use. Individuals desiring to use this material in their own research may do so. ========================================================================= Formatted by USGenNet Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== Portrait and Biographical Record of Muskegon and Ottawa Counties Biographical Publishing Co., Chicago - 1893 Page 134-135 HON. THOMAS WHITE FERRY, of Grand Haven, who was from 1875 to 1877 President of the United States Senate, and acting Vice- President of the United States, was born at Mackinac, June 1, 1827, and was but seven years old when he removed with his parents to the wild home at Grand Haven, to experience the hardships and adver- sities of pioneer life. He received a common-school education and was bred to business pursuits. With the exception of two years spent as a clerk in a store in Illinois, he remained a co-laborer with his father until the latter's death, in 1867. In partnership with his brother, E. P. FERRY, he later continued the lumber business, which under his general management was prosecuted with energy and success. He early manifested an interest in public matters, and at the age of twenty-one years was chosen County Clerk of Ottawa County. Two years later, in 1850, he was elected a Representative to the Michi- gan Legislature to serve a term of two years. In 1856 he was elected State Senator for two years. For eight years he was an active member of the State Republican Committee. He was a delegate-at-large, and one of the Vice-Presidents of the National Republican Convention at Chicago in 1860, which nominated ABRAHAM LINCOLN. In 1863 he was appointed Commissioner for Michigan of the Soldiers' National Ceme- tery at Gettysburg. In 1864 he was elected a Representative to the Thirty-ninth Congress, and was re-elected successively to the Fortieth, Forty-first and Forty-second Congresses, serving on some of the most important committees. In January, 1871, after an excit- ing contest, he was elected United States Senator for six years. He consequently surrendered his fourth-term place in the House of Rep- resentatives of the Forty-second Congress, and took his place in the Senate March 4, 1871. His services of six years in the House, and the legislative experience there obtained, were recognized when he entered the Senate. He was chosen Chairman of the Committee on Revision of Rules; afterwards was repeatedly elected President pro tempore of the Senate; and by virtue of this office, upon the death of Vice-President WILSON, became Acting Vice-President of the United States. He was president of the joint meeting of the two houses of Congress during the intensely exciting count of the electoral votes resulting in the choice of President HAYES and Vice-President WHEELER. In this position he acquitted himself with such imparti- ality and ability, that he was re-elected March 4, 1877, by a unanimous vote President pro tempore of the Senate. In January, 1877, he was re-elected United States Senator, to serve for the term of six years. In early life he acted with the Whigs, but joined the Republican party as soon as it was organized, and at once became a zealous advocate of its principles. In every campaign since 1860, he has canvassed the State in behalf of the Republican candidate. As a public speaker his power lies in his earnest language, concise statements and sound logic, without any attempt at eloquence or ora- torical display. His course in Congress has met with the general approbation of the people of all parties in Michigan. He has done much to advance the interests of his native State. To his efforts Michigan is generally indebted for the generous river and harbor improvements which have so materially aided in developing her re- sources and in preserving the lives and property of her citizens. It was mainly through his efforts, also, that the beautiful Island of Mackinac, or as much of it as belongs to the United States, has been converted into a National Park. He also labored zealously in the cause of the soldiers and sailors of Michigan who participated in the late Civil War. His speeches on finance have been widely read and are highly valued. He has done much to perfect the postal system, and his work on the Committee on Postoffices and Post Roads has elicited the highest praise from the press throughout the country. The present rules of the United States Senate, adopted by that body under his revision and report, are a standing tribute to his ability as a parliamentarian. To promote the general welfare has been the object of his Congessional life. An indefatigable worker, courteous and upright, his career reflects honor upon his State and country. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - American Biography: A New Cyclopedia, Vol. 2 Published under the direction of The American Historical Society, Inc., New York - 1918 Pages 216-218 FERRY, THOMAS WHITE, Statesman, President for One Day THOMAS WHITE FERRY was born in Mackinac, Michigan, June 1, 1826, son of WILLIAM MONTAGUE and AMANDA (WHITE) FERRY. His father was a Presbyterian minister, who under a commission from the United Foreign Missionary Society established a mission to the Indians on the island of Michilimackinac, in Lake Huron; he later removed to Grand Haven, Michigan, where he acquired extensive tracts and engaged in the lumber business until his death in 1867. Reared amid the hardships and privations of pioneer life, THOMAS WHITE FERRY enjoyed only the limited advantages of the frontier public schools, supplemented by the guidance of his parents, who implanted in his mind a deep and permanent conviction of the ver- ties of religious life. When very young he became clerk in a store at Elgin, Illinois, but, returning to Grand Haven after two years, was employed by his father and brothers in the firm of FERRY & Sons, lumber dealers. Mr. FERRY began his political career in his twenty-first year, when he was elected on the Whig ticket a member of the board of supervisors and clerk of Ottawa county. Two years later he was elected as a Republican to the Legislature, and in 1856 to the State Senate. So great was his talent from the very beginning that he rose rapidly in reputation and public favor. In 1860 he was Michigan's candidate for Vice-President, and although a prominent member of the convention which nominated ABRAHAM LINCOLN, was unsuccessful through the greater reputation and popularity of his rival, HANNIBAL HAMLIN, of Maine. At the close of his career in the State Senate, he again devoted his time to the lumber business, in which he was nominally engaged throughout life. For eight years he was a member of the Republican State Committee of Michigan; was appointed in 1863 to re- present his State on the board of managers of the National Soldiers' Cemetery at Gettysburg, and in 1864 was elected a representative to the Thirty-ninth Congress. In this Congress he served on the post office, post road, Loyal States war debt, and militia committees, and was appointed a congressional commissioner for his State to accompany the body of the martyred LINCOLN to its last resting place in Springfield, Illinois. In 1866 he was a delegate to the Loyalist Convention held in Philadelphia, where he is still further added to his reputation and popularity by able speeches and sage counsel. He was thrice re-elected a representative; served on the committee on naval affairs in the Fortieth Congress; played an equally prominent part in the Forty-first, but did not take his seat in the Forty- second, having been elected United States Senator to succeed JACOB M. HOWARD, resigned. His career in the Senate covered two full terms, and amply fulfilled the promise of his previous record. His knowledge of the Great Lakes and the need of harbor and river improvements early enlisted his earnest efforts, and all through his public life he was continuously an advocate for needed improvements upon them and our extended sea coast. The principal works on the lakes were: The Sault Ste. Marie ship canal, connecting Lakes Superior and Huron; improvements through the St. Clair Flats, the great breakwater of the port of Chicago; and protection for en- trance into the principal ports of the several Great Lakes. As president of the committee of rules he reported a table of classi- fication and revision of the rules of procedure for the Senate, which were unanimously adopted without amendment, and as a member of the special Senate committee he drew up the bulk of the "resumption act" of January 14, 1875. Having on several occasions acted as president pro tem of the Senate, he was, upon the death of Vice- President HENRY WILSON, in November, 1875, chosen acting Vice- President of the United States, and held the office with dignity and ability throughout the stormy period of the HAYES-TILDEN electoral contest, gaining great reputation as a tactician and practical parliamentarian. During this controversy he presided at the im- peachment trial of Secretary of War BELKNAP, and at sixteen joint meetings of the two Houses of Congress. In the absence of President GRANT, he further discharged the duties of his temporary office by formally opening the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia, July 4, 1876. President GRANT'S term expiring on Sunday, March 4, at noon, and HAYES being inaugurated on March 5, at noon, he was President of the United States for the twenty-four hours intervening. By appointment of Governor RICH, he became president of the Mack- inac Park Commission, and it was most largely through his efforts that the enterprise was brought to a successful issue. His credit- able record led to his re-election to the Senate in 1876; but having been proposed as candidate for a third term in 1882, he met with a strenuous opposition which culminated in his defeat by THOMAS W. PALMER, of Detroit. In the excitement of this campaign his business interests in the firm of FERRY Brothers, lumbermen, and proprietors of the Ottawa Iron Works, at Ferrysburg, suffered to greatly that the hitherto prosperous concern was placed in the hands of a trustee. After this double calamity, Senator FERRY spent three years in travel through Europe, Egypt and the Holy Land, and upon his return resumed business, although he never recovered his former prosperity. A loyal Republican from the inception of the party, he was a staunch adherent to its principles and deeply versed in its history and traditions. In the days of the "greenback" controversy following on the panic of 1873, he took an unequivocal stand in favor of a system of national banks; the recognition of greenbacks as legal tender; a low-interest convertible bond, and the substi- tution of silver for the fractional paper currency then in cir- culation. His Senate speech of May 2, 1878, "Greenbacks Redeemable in and Equal to Coin," together with his other able contributions to the financial debates of the period, greatly contributed to the result of stopping the discredit by the government of its own currency. He was also a lifelong advocate of the free coinage of silver, and chairman of the Republican caucus of the Forty-sixth Congress on refunding the government debt at three and three and one-half per cent. Senator FERRY'S special characteristics were energy, untiring industry and a never-faltering loyalty to his friends and his party. He was of fine presence, and of a genial manner, as becomes a Christian gentleman. He was in religious faith a Presbyterian, and a constant adherent to its standards. He was never married, and resided with his aunt, MARY A. WHITE, until his death at Grand Haven, Michigan, October 14, 1896. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Transcriber Notes: THOMAS WHITE FERRY was the first person from Michigan to have served in both houses of the Michigan State Legis- lature and in both houses of the United States Congress. He died in Grand Haven, MI., October 14, 1896 and is buried in Lake Forest Cemetery. ===========================================================================