Dexter M. Ferry

Dexter Mason Ferry (August 8, 1833 – November 10, 1907) When Dexter was three, his father died, and his mother moved to Penfield, New York, where Dexter spent his school years. When he was 16, Dexter Ferry began working on a farm, earning $10 per month, and attending school in the winter. In 1851, he began working for Ezra M. Parsons of Rochester, New York, and entered school there. A few months later, Parsons secured a position as an errand boy for Ferry at the S.D. Elwood & Company of Detroit, a stationery firm, and in 1852 Ferry moved to Detroit. He was soon promoted to salesman at the firm, and later bookkeeper. of M.T. Gardner & Company (also known as Gardner, Ferry, and Church). The first year, the company did $6000 in business Ferry changed the company name to Ferry, Church & Co, and two years later, when Church retired, changed the name again, this time to D.M. Ferry & Co. Ferry was among the first to sell seeds in small packets.

The business grew steadily, and in 1879 was incorporated under the name D.M. Ferry & Co with $750,000 in capital, with Ferry as president, A. E. F. White, John Stoughton Newberry, and W. K. Anderson were also officers.

Ferry was also active in public service and Republican politics. He served one term on the Detroit Board of Estimates in 1877-78, and on the Detroit Board of Park Commissioners in 1884. In 1892 and 1904 he was a delegate from Michigan to the Republican National Convention. He was Chair of the Republican State Central Committee in 1896-98, and a candidate for nomination for governor in 1900. He was buried at Woodmere Cemetery in Detroit, Michigan.