Key to the FFN #10 cover artwork
Collage by Jerry D. Ferrin
- Soul effigy of Jonathan Farren
- Moses Miles Ferrin 5, Moses 4, Jonathan 3, Timothy 2, Jonathan 1.
- Wilford Ferrin 8, Robert 7, Jacob Samuel 6, Samuel 5, Ebenezer 4, Enos 3, Zebulon Ferrin 2, Jonathan 1.
- Wendel Gene Ferrin 8 , Ernest Leroy 7, Loren 6, Rueben 5, Zebulon 4, Zebulon 3, Zebulon 2, Jonathan 1.
- Kenneth Smith Ferrin 7, Delbert 6, Elmer Vincent 5, Joseph 4, Francis 3, Phillip 2, Jonathan 1.
- Eber Ward Ferrin 6, Wesley Clay 5, Zebulon 4, Zebulon 3, Zebulon 2, Jonathan 1.
- Mead Allen Ferrin 9, Delmer Lee 8, Ernest Leroy 7, Loren 6, Rueben 5, Zebulon 4, Zebulon 3, Zebulon 2, Jonathan 1.
- Moses Ferrin 4, Jonathan 3, Timothy 2, Jonathan 1.
- Robert Ferrin 7, Jacob Samuel 6, Samuel 5, Ebenezer 4, Enos 3, Zebulon 2, Jonathan 1.
- Darrell Gene Ferrin 9, Wendel Gene 8, Ernest Leroy 7, Loren 6, Rueben 5, Zebulon 4, Zebulon 3, Zebulon 2, Jonathan 1.
- Ernest Leroy Ferrin 7, Loren 6, Rueben 5, Zebulon 4, Zebulon 3, Zebulon 2, Jonathan 1.
- Arthur Ferrin 6, Rueben 5, Zebulon 4, Zebulon 3, Zebulon 2, Jonathan 1.
- Horatio Nelson Ferrin, Jr. 6, Horatio Nelson 5, Moses 4, Jonathan 3, Timothy 2, Jonathan 1.
The Ferrin Family Newsletter is devoted to researching and publishing information on the life & times of Captain Jonathan Farren of Amesbury, MA & Newton, NH, (circa 1697 - 5 May 1770). He was the American progenitor of many of the Farren, Ferren and Ferrin families living in the USA today.
FFN# 10 focuses on information about the farming practices, family life, local history in Jonathan's time & place, as well as the theological ideas behind "The Great Awakening", a spiritual movement which occurred in the 1740's and which had a profound effect on people & events in New England.
The articles in this issue are:
- Merrimac River Gundalows & Gundalowmen (about the barges Jona. Farren & his farming peers used to transport salt marsh hay upriver from the Salisbury marshes at the mouth of the Merrimac to landings upriver, where they'd load it in oxcarts to haul to their farms);
- Flax Culture & Linen Making ( the inventory of Jona.'s estate included flax, flax processing tools, spinning wheels and "looms & gears" for weaving linen);
- Snowbound, a poem by John Greenleaf Whittier of Amesbury about family life during a snowstorm lasting several days;
- An account of the trial of Susanna Martin of Amesbury for witchcraft in 1692 written by the Rev. Cotton Mather (she was hanged 19 July 1692 at Gallows Hill in Salem);
- Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God, a fire and brimstone sermon by Jonathan Edwards first delivered in 1741 at the height of the Great Awakening; and
- Enthusiasts, Buffoons & Others, a history of the Great Awakening in Kingston, a town which adjoins the town where Jona. lived.
This material takes up 43 pages of an 88 page newsletter, and brings us to the exciting centerfold, which is a facsimile reproduction (@ 100% of original size) of a petition from Jonathan Farren and David Bagley of Newton, NH, to Governor Benning Wentworth requesting a grant of land along the Connecticut River for the young men of Newton who had no farmland to support their families. The petition was signed by Jonathan Farren and David Bagley on the 6th of August, 1761. Also reproduced is a list of the 34 men of Newton who endorsed the petition. This document was found for the FFN by researcher George G. Gleason. Thanks, George!.
Next, FFN# 10 reproduces a letter from Richard Luther Ferren which tells of his own interest in family history and how he came to research and write the report he contributed to this issue of the FFN, Concentrations of the Names Farren, Ferren and Ferrin in Various Regions of the United States. Finally, this issue reproduces a listing of Farren, Ferren & Ferrin households in the USA today which "Cousin Dick" compiled from the internet.
The Ferrin Family Newsletter #10 is available for $25.00 per copy, which includes postage costs, from Jerry Ferrin.
Each copy is 8 & 1/2" x 11" and is bound in a hand-sewn, single-signature binding with a plastic-laminated cover sheet for durablility.
About the soul effigy of Jonathan Farren
This soul effigy evolved from my study of Jonathan Farren's gravestone, the location of which is unknown today.
In the photo at left, taken in October, 1998, I, Jerry Ferrin, am standing at the gravesite of Jonathan Farren in the Old Town Cemetery behind Town Hall in Newton, Rockingham County, New Hampshire.
The bronze replica of Jonathan Farren's gravestone was originally inset into the boulder in the foreground.
A photo of the bronze replica of the original stone was published in Captain Jonathan Farren of Amesbury, Massachusetts, and Some of His Descendants, Frank M. Ferrin & Mary A. Brennan, The Murray Printing Company, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1941.In the preface to that book, Mary Brennan wrote: "E.S.S. Stearns, in his History of Plymouth, N.H., gave the Ferrin family of New Hampshire as descending from Jonathan Farren of Newton, N.H. Starting with this lead, visits were made to Newton, N.H. (formerly part of Amesbury, Mass.), and the town records there proved that this was the correct information. These records were replete with entries of Capt. Jonathan Ferrin (or Farren) and his family. The late Mr. Edward Kelly of Newton, then an elderly gentleman, volunteered the information that as a boy he had seen a Ferrin grave in the town cemetery. A thorough search was made by Mr. Kelly and others of the town, and the grave of Captain Jonathan Ferrin was found with its gravestone broken and buried between mounds of earth. The grave was immediately cared for and two boulders erected with bronze tablets, one an account of incidents in the life of Captain Jonathan, and the other a replica of the old gravestone."
The bronze replica of the original stone has since been stolen by some lickspittle miscreant who pried it loose from the boulder. In an attempt to learn what the original stone looked like, I studied the half-tone reproduction of the photo of the replica which appears in the book but was unable to tell how the eyes on the "soul effigy" were carved. One curious thing I noted is that Jonathan Farren's soul effigy was the only one I saw in literature on New England gravestones which had a beard.
In October of 1995, I visited Newton, NH, and identified several other gravestones by the carver of Jonathan's original stone, the best-preserved of which is that of Gershom Bartlett .
The soul effigy on the cover of FFN #10 consists of a photo of the soul effigy on Gershom Bartlett's gravestone over which a portion of the half-tone photo of the bronze replica of Jonathan's gravestone (the beard & wings) have been collaged. The eyes in the image belong to my grandfather, Ernest Leroy Ferrin, and are taken from the image of him used in the cover artwork. Finally, the image was stretched vertically to give the face a thinner appearance.
Other versions of this soul effigy have appeared on the covers of FFN #6, #8 and #9, except that the eyes of Moses Ferrin 4 were used in the collage.
Also see:
Capt. Jonathan Farren of Amesbury, MA, & Newton, NH (1697 - 1770)
Capt. Jonathan Farren's Farms in Massachusetts and New Hampshire
This RootsWeb website is being created by Jerry Ferrin with the able assistance of many Contributors. Your comments, suggestions and contributions of historical information and photographs to this site are welcome. Please sign the Guest Book.
This was one of the first webpages I ever made, which was in 1999. It was originally published in my personal webspace at theriver.com and was added to this Rootsweb site on 21 June 2008.
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