James Ferriss

James Henry Ferriss (1849-1926) was an American politician and amateur conchologist. According to Henry Augustus Pilsbry, Ferriss was "the fore-most of American landshell collectors... as a collector he has probably never been surpassed."

James H. Ferriss was born November 18, 1849 in Kendall Township, Kendall County, Illinois, Ferriss moved to southeastern Kansas in 1869 to stake a claim as a farmer, freighter, and storekeeper. He returned to Illinois in 1872 to work as a reporter and editor of several newspapers in Joliet, Illinois.

A fiery prohibitionist, he purchased and edited the Joliet News in 1877 but was jailed that year for an editorial which offended a local political boss. He moved to Maine after the incident, but returned in 1882 to edit the Joliet News until 1915. He was elected National Chairman of the People's Party in 1904.

Ferriss died on March 17, 1926. He was 76 years old at the time of his death.

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