Ferreira was born on 8 August 1835 near Uitenhage and was taken on the Great Trek as an infant. He married Adriana Davel and had a daughter, Christina. He settled near Swaziland with other Voortrekker families in what they called the Commonwealth of the Little Free State (Klein Vrystaat) in 1875. At the same time, Swazi King Mbandzeni granted a 36,000 acre grazing concession to Ferreira and his brother-in-law Franz Ignatius Maritz, the largest concession to Boer settlers at the time. Ferreira began the First Boer War as the commandant of the Utrecht Commando, and went on to lead one of the two Boer divisions at the Battle of Majuba Hill on 27 February 1881. He died near Piet Retief on 16 May 1917.