From The Story of the Ferree Family, Emory Schuyler Ferree, 1995, pages 8-4 , 8-5
Narrowing the examination of the dispersion (of the Ferree family from Lancaster, Pennsylvania) to my direct ancestor James J. Ferree, 1778-1859, son of Philip Ferree, Jr. and the cousin of Rachael and Elizabeth, came to Maryland. I do not know if he ever lived at the Abraham Ferree Plantation, but it is likely he visited there and was enticed from Paradise, Pennsylvania by either his cousins Rachael and Elizabeth or by his uncle Abraham. Since Abraham had many holdings in Maryland, he may have acquired property from him. I first found him in Maryland in the 1790 first census of the USA. At that time he was living in Kent County with one free white female over 16, 6 free white females under 16 and one free white male under 16, presumably his wife Catherine LeFevre Ferree and their children. In 1790 Kent County was across the Chesapeake bay from the city of Baltimore. By the 1820 census he is living in Anne Arundel County just south of Baltimore.
One researcher, John Randolph Troth of Bethesda, Maryland, says that James is listed in each Maryland census from 1790 through 1850.
James Ferree's brother Abraham married Catherine's sister Lydia LeFever. It must be a family trait. Their father Philip Ferree, Jr. and his brother Joel married the Copeland sisters. They were married in 1800 and were living in Anne Arundel County by 1810. James and Catherine moved to that county after 1810 and before 1816 because Mr. Troth has discovered the medical records of Gustavus Warfield, M.D. of Howard County which was split off of Anne Arundel County. It shows that he delivered a child of James Ferree in 1816 and 1818. My grandfather's Bible shows that my great grandfather, Jessiah D. Ferree, was born 3 December 1818. Dr. Warfield shows the birth one day earlier. He was probably born late in the night of 2-3 December.
There are some unanswered questions about James and Catherine's children. According to Mr. Troth there were seven children before 1810 and two later in Dr. Warfield's record. The 1790 census already shows seven children. Did some die or were some of the free white children under 16 living with them in 1790 not their children?
