Background
Woodbridge Nathan Ferris son of John Ferris, Jr. , and Estelle (Reed) Ferris, was born near Spencer, Tioga County, New York.
Woodbridge Nathan Ferris son of John Ferris, Jr. , and Estelle (Reed) Ferris, was born near Spencer, Tioga County, New York.
He was educated at the Spencer Union Academy, the Candor Union Academy, the Oswego Academy, and the Oswego Normal and Training School.
In 1873 he entered the University of Michigan as a medical student but left after six months of study to become principal of the Free Academy at Spencer, New York.
He was elected governor in 1912 and was reelected in 1914. A fourth nomination for governor in 1920 resulted in defeat. Although the Republicans controled both branches of the legislature during his administrations, Ferris got along harmoniously with them.
He showed his political courage during the strike in the Upper Peninsula copper mines in 1913 when he mobilized the entire National Guard for the protection of life and property. The affectionate popular appellation of “Good Gray Governor” attests to his success.
In the campaign of 1922, he was nominated for the United States Senate and was elected, the first Democratic senator from Michigan since Charles E. Stuart in 1863.
In 1924 he was the choice of the Michigan Democrats for the nomination for president and received the vote of the state delegation on the first ballot.
An ardent Prohibitionist, he publicly opposed the presidential nomination of Governor Alfred Smith of New York in 1928 (New York Times, Mar. 8, 1928).
He died in Washington, D. C. , after a short illness.
Ferris’s political career began in 1892 when the Democrats of the 11th Michigan District nominated him for representative in Congress. He was defeated, as he was in his race for governor in 1904.
He was married in 1874 to Helen F. Gillespie of Fulton, New York, and three sons were born to them.
After the death of his wife in 1917 he wrote a memoir of her, “Mrs. Nellie G. Ferris, ” published in the Michigan History Magazine (January 1919).
In 1921 he was married a second time, to May Ethel McLoud of Indianapolis, Maryland.