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.
Larger image of FFN#10 cover & notes on the cover artwork
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.
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.
For information on how to order your copy, please email Jerry Ferrin.
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