I don’t come from a long line of rich folk. In fact, up until the 1900s, most of my ancestors were simple farmers. So I was surprised to discover an ancestor who had made a “fortune” in France back in the 1600s.
His name was DANIEL FERREE, and he was my 8th great grandfather on my mother’s side. He was born around 1646 in Picardy, in northern France.
Daniel was descended from a Huguenot (Protestant) family of French nobility. In 1669 he married MARIE WARRENBAER. He followed his fathers before him in the family trade and became a wealthy silk manufacturer.
During this time in history, France was predominantly Catholic but the Protestant Reformation started by Martin Luther around 1517 was spreading rapidly throughout the country. Over the next 150+ years the Huguenots were under relentless religious persecution, and in 1685 King Louis XIV ordered all protestants to be killed and their property confiscated. Daniel Ferree escaped with his family to Strasbourg, Germany. They would later settle in Steinweiler in the German Palatine. Sometime before 1707, Daniel died leaving Marie and the children, now mostly grown adults, alone.
In 1707 the Queen of England offered to help the persecuted Huguenots to colonize in America. In 1708 Madame Ferree and her children sailed to America and settled on fertile farmland granted to her by William Penn in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. She died just a few years later at the age of 63. Her gravestone in the Village of Paradise names her as the founder of the Pequea Valley, Pennsylvania Huguenot colony in 1712.
Daniel Ferree may have started with a fortune as a wealthy silk manufacturer, but his family ultimately had the fortune of coming to America to begin a new life that allowed them to freely practice their faith.
Ancestors Across the Ages 