William Montague Ferry, Jr.

William Montague Ferry, Jr. (July 8, 1824 – January 2, 1905) was a Michigan and Utah politician and an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

Michigan years

Ferry was born in the Mission House on Mackinac Island, Michigan, as the first son of the Reverend William Montague Ferry and Amanda White Ferry. In the 1830s, the family founded Ferrysburg, Michigan and in 1834 founded and moved to Grand Haven, Michigan.

In August 1861, Ferry joined the Fourteenth Michigan Infantry, and served during the American Civil War, eventually being made a major and lieutenant-colonel in 1865.

In 1871, Ferry's brother Thomas W. Ferry—who was a Republican—was elected by the Michigan Legislature as a United States Senator for Michigan. As a result, Thomas Ferry vacated his seat in the House of Representatives for Michigan's 4th congressional district, and William ran as the Democratic Party nominee in a special election for the seat. William Ferry lost the election to Republican Wilder D. Foster by a 58%–42% margin.

In the 1872 election, Ferry was the nominee of the Democratic Party for governor of Michigan. He received only 1.2% of the vote, losing badly to Republican John J. Bagley (61.9%), and also trailing Liberal Republican and former governor Austin Blair (36.3%). The following year, Bagley appointed Ferry as a member of the committee charged with revising the constitution of Michigan.

In 1876, Ferry was elected the mayor of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Utah years

In 1878, Ferry moved to Park City, Utah and become involved in the mining industry. From 1884 to 1892 he was a member of the Democratic National Committee. In 1893, he was a Commissioner of the Chicago World's Fair.

In 1904, Ferry joined Utah's new anti-Mormon American Party. Ferry was the party's nominee for governor of Utah in the 1904 election. In losing to Republican John Christopher Cutler, Ferry received nearly 8,000 votes, or 7.8% of the statewide total.

Ferry died in Park City, Utah and was buried in Grand Haven, Michigan.

Family

Ferry married Jeanette Hollister on October 29, 1851. The couple had six children. One of his nephews, W. Mont Ferry, was mayor of Salt Lake City from 1916 to 1919.

References

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