Louisiana AHGP

Part of the American History and Genealogy Project

H. M. Drew Ferguson

H. M. Drew Ferguson was born in Drew County, Ark, April 16, 1848, and is a son of Jonathan Ferguson, a native of Chester County, South Carolina, and Sarah (Hyatte) Ferguson, also a native of that county and State, the father of Irish and the mother of German descent. The elder Ferguson removed from South Carolina to Mississippi, resided there about two years, and in 1846 went to Arkansas, locating in Drew County. In 1864 he removed from Arkansas to Louisiana and settled in Claiborne Parish, twelve miles north of Homer, and after residing there for two years removed to that town. He now makes his home with his son, Drew Ferguson. He is a Royal Arch Mason and is a prominent member of that body. Although eighty-seven years of age, time has dealt kindly with Mr. Ferguson, and he is in comparatively good health. His wife died December 8, 1881, in her sixty-ninth year. They were the parents of a large family of children, nine sons and three daughters, all of whom grew to mature years. Six sons served in the Confederate Army, and three never returned. H. M. D. Ferguson enlisted in his fifteenth year (in 1863) and served in the Trans-Mississippi Department until the close of the war. Coming to Claiborne Parish, Mr. Ferguson entered Homer College, where he remained for nearly two years.

After this he engaged in various business pursuits until November, 1876, when he was elected clerk of the district court, which position he has held to the present, his term of office expiring in April, 1892. Mr. Ferguson is a Royal Arch Mason, having joined that organization in 1877, and is also a member of the Knights of Pythias, an Odd Fellow and a member of the American Legion of Honor.

Mr. Ferguson was married in Homer in April, 1872, to Miss Bettie Otts, a native of Greene County, Louisiana, and the daughter of William P. Otts, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work. Mrs. Ferguson was educated principally in Mount Lebanon College. Mr. Ferguson is a member of the Baptist and his wife a member of the Presbyterian Church.

Biographical Sketches| Claiborne Parish

Source: Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Northwest Louisiana, Southern Publishing Company, 1890