Peter P. Ferry, First Collector of Customs in Sandusky

Peter P. Ferry was the first Collector of Customs in the port of Sandusky. Mr. Ferry had been born in Marseilles, France, and he fought under the command of Napoleon Bonaparte during several campaigns. He emigrated to the United States in 1802, where he married Ann Lloyd Jones, a native of England.  Birth dates of Peter Ferry’s children, recorded in History of Monroe County, by Talcott Enoch Wing, indicate that the Ferry family lived in the Sandusky Bay area between 1816 and 1822. Ferry collected customs at both the port of Danbury and the port of Sandusky. Mrs. Malcolm Kelly donated these early documents signed by Mr. Ferry to the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center. 

On December 1, 1817, Ferry requested the removal of the Schooner Elizabeth to a safe place for the winter months. He stated he would provide refreshments and pay for the labor of those who completed the task.

On July 15, 1820, he requested the attendance of Truman Pettibone at a Court of Enquiry at Sandusky to ascertain the value of the cargo of the Schooner Huron.

In 1822 Ferry and his family moved to Monroe, Michigan, where he was a justice of the peace, a school teacher, and served for several terms as Monroe County Treasurer. While justice of the peace, he often sentenced offenders to be lashed at a public whipping post. His son Elisha P. Ferry moved west, and served as Governor of the state of Washington from 1872 to 1880. Peter P. Ferry died in May, 1845, and he was buried at Woodland Cemetery in Monroe, Michigan.