London Ferrell - Early Life and Education

Early Life and Education

London was born into slavery in 1789 in Hanover County, Virginia, where his enslaved mother was owned by Richard Ferrill, an English immigrant. The unmarried master died soon after the boy's birth and his estate, including slaves, was inherited by his sister Ann (Ferrill) Winston. She named the slave boy London Ferrill after her brother, who was likely his father, as he was of mixed race.

Some recent researchers believe the naming suggests that Ferrill may have been of mixed race. His white father was likely Richard Ferrill. As noted by Edward Ball, author of Slaves in the Family (1999), a study of the interracial relationships among his ancestors, mixed-race slaves were frequently given names that distinguished them from the others. London Ferrill is an example of such naming.

Ann Winston died when London Ferrill was eight or nine years old. When her estate was settled, the boy was sold away from his mother to Colonel Samuel Overton. Soon the master apprenticed Ferrill to learn carpentry, a skilled trade. This was often the pattern for children of white masters, to give them an artisan skill to enable them to support themselves as adults.

Ferrill was baptized in 1809 at the age of 20 and had a conversion experience with the Baptists. The minister and congregation approved of his preaching and singing, and he began to preach more widely in the community. Ferrill appeared to have been freed while living in Virginia, perhaps by Overton's will.