Timothy was the only one of the children of Silvanus who, when the latter joined with the Rev. George W. Gale in organizing a group of pioneers to migrate to Illinois for the purpose of founding a college there, did not become enamored of the enterprise or tempted by the lure of western prairie land, and elected to remain behind in Herkimer County, where he passed the rest of his life. Timothy served a term as Town Supervisor, of the town of Russia in 1849, [although he is referred to as Timothy A. Ferris] and was for a long period prominent in the state militia, receiving first an appointment as adjutant of the 12th Regiment of Rifles, 4th Brigade, 1st Division of Riflemen, and being then promoted to the office of Major, Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel of the same regiment. He was commonly known for the remainder of his life as Colonel Ferris. In a sketch of him, which appeared in the History of Oneida County, it is stated "Colonel Ferris received his education in the district schools of his neighborhood and worked on his father's farm till twenty-one years of age. After marriage he settled on a farm in Norway, sold to him by his father at about its original cost. His father dealt by each of his sons in the same manner, making it a rule to settle them on a farm when they were married; not before. He remained seven years in Norway, where he was elected as a highway commissioner in 1833; then purchased a farm in Russia Township, where he remained from 1837 to 1878". In 1877/78 he moved to Prospect, Oneida County NY. Timothy's seven children were probably all born on the old home farm in Herkimer County, and all of them remained and brought up families in New York State. None of this branch of the family appear to have possessed the nomadic traits of the other descendants of Silvanus, many of whom, after tarrying a generation or so in Illinois, removed still further west, chiefly to California.