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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.
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'm standing at the gravesite of Jonathan Farren in the Old Town Cemetery behind Town Hall in Newton, NH.
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 Ferrin 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 1998, 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.
To request ordering information for FFN#10, please email Jerry Ferrin