The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-09-02
THE MYSTERIES IN A WILL.
More Curious Facts Concerning the
 Late w. II. Ferris.


 Late w. II. Ferris.
 Mount Vernon, N. Y., Sept, l,-Wll- liam Fl. Ferris, who when only seven teen years old, served under Admiral Porter in his crusade against pirates and slave traders in the spanish Man, died here yesterday in his ninety-htth year, after enjoying the distinction or being Mount Vernon's oldest lnhapl- tant and it's only citizen who wore an overcoat only once in lifetime, lie was wealthy, but left curious Will, which alluded to a mysterious paper which when read would lead to the discovery of everything"
 This mysterious paper his relatives have been unable to find. It is thought that valuable securities which he was known to own and which the will al- ludes to may be concealed under the walls of his old house. as light was ot- ten seen in the cellar after midnight, and it was said by some at those times that Ferris was down there counting his money, The strange will shows how his early life as sailor among pi- rates influenced him in hoarding his money and securities and leaving a strange document telling where to find them Mir Ferris was born in Tarry- town in 1894, and remembered Washing ton Irving, whose Sleepy Hollow was not far from his fathers farm. He early developed an adventurous spirit, and during the war of 1872 the tales told to him of the victories won by the American navy made him eager to be- come sailor.
 In 1921, when Admiral Porter was or dered to the West Indies to capture pi- rates and slave ships, young Ferris ran away from home and shipped on board the warship Jane as an able seaman. | On January i, 1921, the Jane overhauled a pirate schooner off Havana loaded with plunder. Admiral Porter ordered | ten of his crew to board the pirate. and among them was young Ferris. As the crew approached the ship shell burst | over them.
 | Two men were blown to atoms, but | Ferris escaped with a shattered leg. l When the crew returned, after the pl- | rate had been captured, the surgeon wanted to cut off Ferris leg.
 "I'll be damned if you will" said the | lad and he added that he would shoot any man who attempted it. Ferris | kept his leg.
 | He went to Africa afterward when 1 the slave trade was at it's height, and 1 later sailed on many merchant vessels and visited at different times China, the l Philippines, Australia, Hawaii and New | Zealand. He was on board the steam l ship Etony of the Philadelphia line l when she blew up in New York bay and | over two hundred people were killed. When still young man Ferris gave up sailors life and married Miss Re- | becca Rice, of New York city On his k wedding trip the bridegroom's fine, new | overcoat was stolen, and from that time until he died he never wore another | MT. Ferris never wore gloves, either and was great walker. Often wher ! he was called to serve on iures al 1 White Plains he walked and saved the 1 mileage. He thought nothing of walk I ing from Mount Vernon to the Battery
 in New York in the coldest winter days After his marriage he engaged in the
 trucking business in New York city
 He belonged to the old fire brigade 1 then During the civil war he equipped l a blockade runner, which made severa 1 successful voyages but was finally cap | tured and sunk off Savannah
 Yesterday his daughter Mrs. Bisland said that while MT. Ferris was wealthy l and they supposed he was worth mil l lion dollars, she thought it would bt l difficult to find his property. It was l known that he had many thousands o1 | dollars in government bonds and othel l valuable securities She believed tn, l securities were locked in they auts O
 some trust company, but it would b'
 impossible to tell where until the mys terious paper alluded to in the will wa:
 found.
 Mir. Ferris wife died eight years ago
 and he Is survived by two daughters
 Mrs. Bisland and Miss Frances L. Fer
 ris, who lived with her father and Johf P. Ferris of Passaic, N. J.
 The funeral was held yesterday in tht l old white house in South Fourth ave. nue, In this city, where MT. Ferris hat l lived since he retired from business
 thirty-six years ago.
 MT Ferris, mentioned in the foregoing
 dispatch, was brother of Mrs. Marit Commerford of Waterbury, mother O c. c. Commerford. Mrs. CommerforC
 is ninety-three years old. Another sis
 ter. Mrs. Fannie Quinn, resides in Oak
 land, Cal and is eighty-six years old