Thomas White Ferry (June 10, 1827October 13, 1896), or T.W. Ferry, was a U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and acting Vice President of the United States from the State of Michigan. Except for President Gerald Ford, no Michigan politician has held higher office than Ferry. He is one of only four United States senators from Michigan to have served as president pro tempore of the U.S. Senate, and Ferry is the only U.S. senator from Michigan to hold the position for multiple Congresses (44th and 45th). Biography Birth and early life Ferry was born in the old Mission House on Mackinac Island in the Territory of Michigan. The community on Mackinac at that time included the military garrison, the main depot of John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company, and the mission. His father was a Presbyterian pastor, the Rev. William Montague Ferry, and his mother was Amanda White Ferry; together his parents ran the mission school. Rev. Ferry also was the pastor of the Protestant church on the island. Thomas moved with his parents to Grand Haven, Michigan, attended the public schools, and engaged in mercantile pursuits. He worked as a store clerk in Elgin, Illinois, for two years from 1843 to 1845 before returning to Michigan. At the age of 21 he was elected clerk of Ottawa County. In addition to English, Ferry was fluent in Ottawa, Chippewa, and French. Political career State legislator He was a member of the Michigan State House of Representatives from 1850 to 1852 and a member of the Michigan State Senate in 1856. On January 26, 1857, Ferry, with his father William Montague Ferry, platted the village of Ferrysburg, Michigan, in 1834. Years between state and federal office In 1862 Thomas became a director of the new Grand Haven Union High School and was superintendent for ten years. He went into the lumbering business with his brother, Edward Payson Ferry. Before the Civil War he served on the Republican State Central Committee for eight years and was delegate-at-large and one of the vice presidents of the national convention that nominated Abraham Lincoln. In 1864 he was elected to the 39th Congress and first and forty-second assemblies. Upon President Lincoln's death, he was appointed by the U.S. Senate to a committee that accompanied Lincoln's body to Springfield. United States Representative He was a delegate to the Loyalist Convention at Philadelphia in 1866. He was elected