Dexter M. Ferry Jr.

Dexter Mason Ferry Jr. (November 22, 1873 – December 7, 1959) was an American politician from Michigan.

For the founder of D.M. Ferry & Co., see Dexter M. Ferry.
Dexter M. Ferry Jr.
Born(1873-11-22)November 22, 1873
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
DiedDecember 7, 1959(1959-12-07) (aged 86)
Grosse Pointe, Michigan, U.S.
Occupationbusinessman
Spouse(s)Jeannette Hawkins
ChildrenDexter, Edith, Jean, and William Hawkins

Early life

Dexter M. Ferry Jr. was born on November 22, 1873, in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Dexter M. Ferry and Addie Miller Ferry.[1] He attended school in Lawrenceville, New Jersey,[2] then graduated from high school in Detroit in 1892.[1] After graduation, he entered the University of Michigan, but a back injury interrupted his studies in his junior year. He continued his studies two years later at Columbia University, graduating in 1898 with a bachelor of arts degree.[1]

Business

After completing college, he began working for his father, first as treasurer for the National Pin Company and then, in 1900, at a position at D.M. Ferry & Co. In 1901 he was elected a director of the firm. In 1905 he became a director of the Standard Accident Insurance Company.[1] In 1907, on the death of his father, the younger Ferry was appointed the executor of his estate.[1]

Ferry followed his father as president of D.M. Ferry & Co.[3] He was also president of Standard Accident Insurance Company,[3] vice-president of the Standard Insurance Company, and president of the Michigan Fire & Marine Insurance Co.[1] In addition to these offices, he was a director of the First National Savings Bank of Detroit, the Wayne County Savings Bank, the Security Trust Company of Detroit, and Michigan Savings Bank.[1]

Personal life

Ferry married Jeannette Hawkins on October 1, 1907.[1] The couple had four children: Dexter, Edith, Jean, and William Hawkins.[1] The Ferrys resided in both Detroit and Grosse Pointe, Michigan.

Public service

In 1900, Ferry was elected to the Michigan State House of Representatives as a representative from Wayne County, and served for two terms through 1904.[1] He was president of the Michigan State Board of Education from 1906 through 1912.[1] He was one of the founders of the Provident Loan and Savings Society in 1906, along with Tracy W. McGregor, J. L. Hudson, and James Ingles,[4] and was a trustee of Grace Hospital.[1] Like his father, Ferry supported the Detroit Institute of Arts, and sat on its board for many years, including serving from 1914 to 1917 as board president.[1]

In 1917, just before the United States joined in World War I, Ferry joined the Army Quartermaster's Reserve Corps as a captain. He was later ordered to active duty at Fort Sam Houston and then to the Motor Convoy Service in Chicago. Ferry was honorably discharged in March 1919 with the rank of lieutenant colonel.[1]

In 1950, Ferry commissioned Marcel Breuer to design a small dormitory, known as Ferry Cooperative House, at Vassar College; the building was opened in 1951.[5]

Death

Dexter M. Ferry died On December 7, 1959, aged 85, and was interred at Woodmere Cemetery, Detroit.[6]

References
  1. Clarence Monroe Burton; William Stocking; Gordon K. Miller, eds. (1922), The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Volume 3, The S. J. Clarke publishing company, pp. 284–288
  2. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain; John De Witt; John Howard Van Amringe (1900), William Roscoe Thayer; Charles Henry Smith; Jesse Lynch Williams; Albert Lee; Charles Edgar Lewis Wingate; Henry Gallup Paine (eds.), Universities and their sons: history, influence and characteristics of American universities, with biographical sketches and portraits of alumni and recipients of honorary degrees, Volume 5, R. Herndon company, pp. 124–125
  3. "Index to Politicians: Ferriss to Fiel". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved June 29, 2011.
  4. Philip P. Mason, Tracy W. McGregor (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2008), 120.
  5. David Masello (1996), Architecture without rules: the houses of Marcel Breuer and Herbert Beckhard, W. W. Norton & Company, p. 62, ISBN 0-393-31375-1
  6. "Dexter M. Ferry Dies At Age Of 87". The Baltimore Sun. December 7, 1959.
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