Virgil Ferguson

Virgil Ferguson
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Full name	Virgil Stuart Ferguson
Alternative names	Virgil Fergusson, V.S. Ferguson, Virgil S. Ferguson
Presence on Earth	1844–1912
Role(s)	Seminary period alum
Location(s)	Milledgeville, IL Sterling, IL

Virgil Ferguson was a student at Shimer College in the Seminary period. He is listed in the 1862 catalog, indicating that he attended the school for some portion of the years 1859-1862.

Prior to attending the Seminary, he attended the Hazel Green School near Milledgeville, for which he helped to organize a large reunion in 1897.[1]

Ferguson joined the Illinois bar in 1868 following his graduation from Union College of Law.

Ferguson served from 1891 to 1895 as a member of the Illinois state senate.

Shimer connections

• Brother of alum Belle Ferguson

Mentioned

• in "Personals", Oread, p. 25:

  V. S. Ferguson, of Sterling, is one of the worthy Senators of Illinois.

• in "1869" in Chicago Alumni Magazine, vol. 1, 1907:

  Virgil S. Ferguson, ex-'69, is practicing law at Stirling, Ill.

• in Sterling Standard, c. 1897:

  Virgil S. FERGUSON entered upon a general law practice in Sterling in 1870. He has served in municipal offices at various times and has been for sixteen years continuously a member of the Board of Education of the Wallace School. He served, four years, from '91 to '95, in the General Assembly of the State as Senator.

Profiled

• on FindaGrave.com
• in A Compendium of Freemasonry in Illinois, vol. 2, 1897, pp. 244-245:

  HON. VIRGIL STUART FERGUSON, who has attained to an eminent position in the ranks of the legal fraternity in Sterling and is a recognized leader in political and professional circles, like many of his fellow townsmen, is identified with the Masonic fraternity, which had its origin in the remote regions of antiquity and has come down through the passing centuries inculcating among men purity of life and nobleness of character. As an Entered Apprentice he joined Rock River Lodge, No. 612, of Sterling, passed the Fellowcraft degree and was raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason on the 16th of October, 1883. In the work of the blue lodge he has been most active, has passed all of the chairs and has served for two terms as Worshipful Master, during which time the society enjoyed great prosperity and was in a very flourishing condition. He took great pride in the work, induced many leading citizens of Sterling to become members of the order and attained great perfection in methods of procedure. He became a Royal Arch Mason in Sterling Chapter, No. 57, on the 7th of May, 1884, and in the chapter has held various offices, including that of Royal Arch Captain. He became a Knight Templar in Sterling Commandery, No. 57, in the same year, and has filled a number of official positions therein in a most creditable and acceptable manner. His zeal for Masonry, his wide and accurate knowledge of the craft, which he is ever ready to impart to his less informed brethren, his acumen, his diligence, his untiring efforts and the vigilance with which he guards the ancient landmarks, make him a bright and shining light in the Masonic world. He is a close and conscientious student of the teachings and ethics of Masonry in all its departments, and being a man of much more than average ability has brought to his work a high degree of intelligence.

  Mr. Ferguson was born in Bedford, Lawrence county, Indiana, on the 18th of September, 1844, and is of Scotch and English ancestry. The first of the family in America crossed the Atlantic just prior to the war of the Revolution, and five brothers entered the colonial army to aid in the attempt to throw off all allegiance to the British crown. One brother was known to be killed and another was supposed to have lost his life in battle. The third located in New York after the independence of the nation was achieved, the fourth settled in Ohio, and the fifth took up his residence in North Carolina. It is from the southern branch of the family that Mr. Ferguson, of this review, is descended. His grandfather, Stuart Ferguson, was born in North Carolina and emigrating westward became one of the pioneers of southern Indiana. There Andrew Stuart Ferguson, father of our subject, was born, in 1819. He married Miss Zerelda Brock, a lady of English ancestry and a native of his own state. In 1849 they came to Illinois and for four years the father engaged in farming, becoming a large landowner. He died on the 25th of July, 1891, in the seventy-third year of his age. His wife still survives him and is now seventy-one years of age. In Scotland the Fergusons were Covenanters, but after coming to this country became members of the Presbyterian church, and later branches of the family have been identified with the Baptist church. Mr. Ferguson was a man of uncompromising integrity and unblemished character and his influence for good was strongly felt in the communities in which he made his home. He held various offices and discharged his duties with a promptness and fidelity which won him high commendation.

  Virgil S. Ferguson, the eldest of a family of four sons and four daughters, was educated in the public schools, Mount Carroll Seminary, the University of Chicago and the Union College of Law, being graduated at the last named on the 25th of June, 1868. He at once opened a law office and began practice in Sterling. He is one of the most conspicuous figures at the bar of Whiteside county, for his superior skill has gained him pre-eminence that only results from merit. He is most careful and painstaking in the preparation of cases and his points of litigation are fortified by authority and precedent which he can quote most readily. His argument is forcible, his deductions logical and his eloquence convincing. He is a man of the highest integrity of character and his devotion to his client's interests is proverbial.

  In politics Mr. Ferguson has always been a stanch Republican, and he has been very active and efficient in the ranks of his party, his oratorical powers being of much service in campaign work. He has served as supervisor for a number of years, has been a member of the board of education of Sterling for about eighteen years, and in 1891 was elected to the state senate, where he was one of the most active and influential members of the assembly for four years. He served on a number of very important committees, was chairman of the committee on penal and reformatory institutions, and was the author of a bill for the control and detention of the insane, a bill which greatly remodeled the law and improved the condition of that unfortunate class. He gave to the question which came up for settlement before the senate the benefit of a mature judgment and broad intelligence, and his course was highly satisfactory to his constituents.

  In 1868 Mr. Ferguson was united in marriage to Miss Annie E. Mickle, a native of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and a daughter of John C. Mickle. They have two sons: Harry T. , who is now city editor of the Appleton Daily Crescent, of Appleton, Wisconsin; and Virgil Stuart, Jr., who is attending the public schools of Sterling. They have a beautiful and commodious home which stands in the midst of lovely grounds, and are rated among the best people of the city.

Biography

Virgil Stuart Ferguson (1844–1912) was an Illinois attorney and Republican politician. He represented Whiteside County in the Illinois State Senate from 1891 to 1895, serving in the 37th and 38th sessions of the General Assembly. He lived for most of his life in Sterling.

Early life and education

Virgil Stuart Ferguson was born to Andrew and Zerelda Brock Ferguson on September 18, 1844, in Bedford, Indiana. He was the eldest of eight children. He attended the Mount Carroll Seminary, known today as Shimer College, in the early 1860s, while his family was living in Milledgeville, Illinois. His sister, Belle Ferguson, also attended the school somewhat later, graduating in 1888. Prior to attending the Seminary, Ferguson had attended the Hazel Green School near Milledgeville, for which he helped to organize a large reunion in 1897.

After completing his studies at the Seminary, Ferguson attended the University of Chicago for a time. He joined the Illinois bar on June 23, 1868, following his graduation from Union College of Law. In the same year, he married Annie E. Mickle; they had two children.

Political career

Ferguson was elected Assistant Supervisor of Sterling Township in 1888, without opposition. He resigned upon being elected to the state senate in 1890. He also served for at least eighteen years on the school board for the Wallace School, now the Wallace Educational Center, in Sterling.

In 1891, Ferguson was one of two state senators to oppose a bill that required the weekly payment of wages, considering it unconstitutional. The law was subsequently overturned by the Illinois Supreme Court in Bracewell Coal v. People, 147 Ill. 66, for interfering in freedom of contract.

In 1893, Ferguson sponsored legislation to reform Illinois law on the restraint and detention of the insane, replacing an 1874 law that had required a public jury trial for all such cases.

After leaving the General Assembly in 1895, Ferguson returned to private practice in Sterling.

Ferguson was struck and killed by a train while visiting in Rockford, Illinois, on September 23, 1912. A coroner's inquiry found the train to have been speeding. He was laid to rest in Sterling's Riverside Cemetery.

External links

• FindaGrave

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