Background
Isaac Ferris was born in New York, the son of John and Sarah (Watkins) Ferris, and was of English descent.
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university president Reformed Dutch clergyman
Isaac Ferris was born in New York, the son of John and Sarah (Watkins) Ferris, and was of English descent.
His father, a poor man with a large family of children, could do little to educate him, but Isaac traded a pair of skates for a Latin grammar, attended the instruction of a blind classical master named Neilson, and graduated in 1816 at the head of his class in Columbia College.
He taught Latin for a year or two at Albany and then began the study of divinity under the Rev. John Mitchell Mason. When Mason on account of ill health was compelled to dismiss his pupil, Ferris resorted to the New Brunswick Theological Seminary, where he graduated in 1820.
For a short period during the War of 1812 he appears to have been a soldier under his father, who was then a captain and quartermaster in the army.
Licensed by the Classis of New Brunswick, he labored as a missionary for five months in the Mohawk Valley, and on For thirty- three years Ferris was an active and successful minister, serving the Reformed Church at New Brunswick, New Jersey, 1821-24, the Second Church at Albany, New York, 1824-36, and the Market Street Church in New York, 1836-53.
At Albany his unflinching devotion to the sick and dying of all creeds during the cholera epidemic of 1832 was remembered with gratitude forty years after the event.
Ferris Seminary in Yokohama was named in his honor.
His most responsible post was the chancellorship of the University of the City of New York, to which he was elected in 1852.
The University at that time was heavily involved in debt, had been without a chancellor for two years, and was moving rapidly toward chaos. Ferris was a good executive, and his majestic presence, confident address, and wholesome courage inspired confidence.
By June 14, 1854, he had paid off a debt of $70, 250. Acting as secretary of the financial committee of the University Council, he personally audited the accounts and saved the University not a little money.
During his administration $215, 000 was added to the funds, and the standards of scholarship were raised. While chancellor he was also professor of moral philosophy and of the evidences of revealed religion.
In 1870 he retired as chancellor emeritus, built himself a house at Roselle, New Jersey, and, though still active in hehalf of missions and charities, lived his few remaining years in quietness.
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In 1840 he became a member of the American Bible Society.
Licensed by the Classis of New Brunswick, he labored as a missionary for five months in the Mohawk Valley, and on December 30, 1820, married Catharine Burchan, who died September 9, 1837.
His second wife was Sarah J. Crygier, who died July 2, 1848; his third wife, whom he married in 1850, was Letitia Storm.
Among them they bore him twelve children.