Susan F. Ferree

American journalist and social activist

Jerome Dial Ferree

(m. 1860)

RelativesThomas "Scotch Tom" Nelson,
William Nelson,
Thomas Nelson Jr.

Susan F. Ferree (née, Nelson; January 14, 1844 - September 6, 1919) was an American journalist and social reformer from Iowa. Ferree served as a Washington, D.C. newspaper correspondent. She favored women's suffrage and women's rights; she also affiliated with the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). Ferree died in 1919.

Biography

Susan Frances Nelson was born in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, January 14, 1844. Her parents were Frances S. Wray Nelson and John S. Nelson, who was a lineal descent of Thomas "Scotch Tom" Nelson,^[1] the founder of Old York, Virginia. His oldest son, William Nelson, was at one time president of the king's council. William's oldest son, Thomas Nelson Jr., was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and the war governor of Virginia. At the age of one year she, with her parents removed to Keokuk, Iowa, which was her home for many years.^[2]

Ferree wrote poetry, but her forte was journalism, especially her newspaper correspondence from Washington, D.C. She supported temperance and the advancement of woman.^[2]

She was a member of the Order of the Eastern Star, Woman's Relief Corps, the Iowa Woman's Suffrage Association, Daughters of the American Revolution,^[3] and the local WCTU. In religion, Ferree was Episcopalian,^[4] and a communicant of St. Mary's Episcopal Church, of Ottumwa.^[2]

Personal life

In 1860, she married Jerome Dial Ferree (1838–1914),^[5] a business man, in Ottumwa, Iowa. By 1908, she had removed to San Diego, California.^[3] In 1913, he filed for divorce on grounds of abandonment.^[6]

She was one of several Southern California residents who formerly resided in Wapello County, Iowa that were present at the picnic in Eastlake Park, Ottumwa, Iowa, March 1911.^[7]

At the time of her death, she was a resident of Spreckels, California. Susan Ferree died September 6, 1919.^[8] Interment was in Independent Order of Odd Fellows Cemetery, Salinas, California.^[9]

References

^ The Society 1904, p. 41.
^ ^a ^b ^c Willard & Livermore 1893, p. 287.
^ ^a ^b Daughters of the American Revolution 1908, p. 23.
^ Herman & Tal 1984, p. 266.
^ Chapman Brothers 1887, p. 511.
^ "THREE SUITS FILED IN SUPERIOR COURT". Arizona Republic. 27 November 1913. p. 3. Retrieved 26 August 2022 – via Newspapers.com. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ "The following Iowans". Ottumwa Tri-Weekly Courier. 18 March 1911. p. 2. Retrieved 26 August 2022 – via Newspapers.com. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ "DIED". The Californian. 8 September 1819. p. 5. Retrieved 26 August 2022 – via Newspapers.com. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ "mANY FRIENDS AT FERREE FUNERAL". The Californian. 10 September 1919. p. 4. Retrieved 26 August 2022 – via Newspapers.com. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

Attribution

This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Chapman Brothers (1887). Portrait and Biographical Album of Wapello County, Iowa: Containing Full Page Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Prepresentative Citizens of the County, Together with Portraits and Biographies of All the Governors of Iowa, and of the Presidents of the United States (Public domain ed.). Chapman Brothers.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Daughters of the American Revolution (1908). Directory of the Chapters, Officers and Members (Public domain ed.).
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: The Society (1904). Lineage Book (Public domain ed.). The Society.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Willard, Frances Elizabeth; Livermore, Mary Ashton Rice (1893). A Woman of the Century: Fourteen Hundred-seventy Biographical Sketches Accompanied by Portraits of Leading American Women in All Walks of Life (Public domain ed.). Moulton. p. 287.