BIO:  Philip FERREE aka FIERE, Lancaster County, PA

Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by
John McCullough jmccullough61@hotmail.com June 28, 2009, 10:46 am

Copyright 2009.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/lancaster/
_______________________________________________ 

Author: John McCullough

Philip Ferree (last name is spelled various ways, but this is the most common 
one in newer records) was the son of a Huguenot family from France.  He was 
born in Germany about 1687 (keep in mind the calendar changed in 1752 so 
dates 
can be in the old calendar or in the modern calendar) about the time that the 
French Huguenots were under intense persecution and many were fleeing to find 
havens where they could worship in freedom.  The Ferrees in fact had fled 
sometime before Philip was born to the town of Steinweiler and stayed there 
until the father Daniel died.  The specific circumstances of his death are 
unknown, but after he died Maria, Philips mother resumed her family name 
Warinbuer in the protocol of the period and the family fled up the Rhine to 
Holland because it was unsafe to go by way of France and eventually came to 
England.

They settled in the Huguenot community and planned the resettlement in the 
New 
World.  It is family legend, but not proven, that Maria met personally with 
William Penn regarding the purchase of acreage in what was known then 
as "Township of Strasburg in Chester County." Whether she actually met him or 
only his agent the family sailed to America in 1708 under the sponsorship of 
Rev Kocherthal on the ship "Globe," arriving Dec 31, 1708 in New York.  It is 
possible that Maria and two of the younger children came on a later ship 
because her name and that of the younger children are not listed on the 
passenger list.

They settled temporarily among the Huguenots in Esopus, NY and then migrated 
down to take up the land in what is now Strasburg, Lancaster Co. Philip 
returned briefly to NY to marry Leah DuBois.  She was the daughter of a very 
influential Huguenot and one of the original patentees of the town.  They 
lived out their lives on the farm which was situated along what is now known 
as Black Horse Rd a short distance East of Strasburg.  They are buried in the 
family cemetery, sometimes referred to as Carpenter's Cemetery.