the company managed to fill orders for its customers. Ferry built a new warehouse, and by 1890 was doing over a million and a half dollars in business annually. By the early 1900s, the company was doing over $2,000,000 per year in business, and supplying seeds to 160,000 retail outlets. Personal life On October 1, 1867, Ferry married Addie E. Miller. The couple had three children who outlived them: Dexter M. Ferry, Jr., Blanche Ferry Hooker, and Queene Ferry Coonley. Other pursuits Dexter M. Ferry was also president of the First National Bank of Detroit, the Union Trust Company, Standard Accident Insurance Company, Michigan Fire & Marine Insurance Company, the American Harrow Company, and the National Pin Company, and one of the organizers of the Wayne County Savings Bank. He also owned substantial real estate, much of it used by his seed company. He helped manage Detroit's Harper Hospital for nearly forty years, and was one of the founders of Grace Hospital. He was a trustee of Olivet College and of the First Congregational Church of Detroit, and was a founding subscriber to the predecessor to the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Detroit Museum of Art in 1884. Ferry was also active in public service and Republican politics. He served one term on the Detroit Board of Estimates in 1877-78, and on the Detroit Board of Park Commissioners in 1884. In 1892 and 1904 he was a delegate from Michigan to the Republican National Convention. He was Chair of the Republican State Central Committee in 1896-98, and a candidate for nomination for governor in 1900. Death Addie Ferry died on November 2, 1906. Dexter closely followed his wife, dying at his home in Detroit on November 10, 1907. He was buried at Woodmere Cemetery in Detroit, Michigan. References 1833 births 1907 deaths Businesspeople from Detroit Michigan Republicans People associated with the Detroit Institute of Arts 19th-century American businesspeople