Fenner Ferguson

Who was Fenner Ferguson?

Fenner Ferguson was a Delegate from the Territory of Nebraska, US. He was born in Nassau, New York, on April 25, 1814, attended the common schools; studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1840, and commenced practice in Albany, New York. He moved to Albion, Michigan, in 1844 and continued the practice of law;

He later served successively as master in chancery, district attorney, and member of the Michigan House of Representatives in 1849. He was appointed by President Pierce as chief justice of the Territory of Nebraska in 1854, and moved to Bellevue, Nebraska, in October 1854. There, he organized the first district and supreme courts of Nebraska, assisted the first Territorial legislature in drafting the first code of laws enacted for the government of the Territory. He resigned as chief justice, having been elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-fifth Congress, and was not a candidate for renomination in 1858.

Ferguson died in Bellevue, Nebraska, on October 11, 1859, and his body is interred in Bellevue Cemetery.