64y; Listed as a Tory in October 1779; with William Peck and Darling Whelpley, under sentence of death for treason; on December 1, 1779, was exchanged for Ephraim Palmer, Nathaniel Palmer and Bethel Ferris. Solomon was a 'cowboy' who went to the British because he did not want to fight where they wanted him. The October, 1779 Session of the General Assembly sentenced Darling Whelpley, Solomon Ferris, William Peck, and David Washburn to death for their crime of high treason. Sentence was suspended until the first Wednesday of March 1780. Seventy-nine people signed a petition for Solomon, claiming .... That he bore the character of an honest young lad - diligent in business & of good deportment until the present war; and although he has been guilty of an atrocious Crime against the State & some of the Inhabitants of this Town have suffered from his rash and Imprudent conduct in joining the enemy; yet considering his former good character - his youth & want of experience in Life which induce us to believe that he was enticed away; we beg leave to intercede for him. Solomon's own petition to the General Assembly, written from the Litchfield jail in October 1779, claimed he was enticed to join the British. About two years ago (being then about twenty years of Age and Under the Influence of Evil Counsellors who took advantage of his apparent Backwardness go Serve as a Soldier) was enticed away from his Wife & child and persuaded to go to Long Island, and as one Evil leads to another so your unfortunate Petitioner Suffered himself to be lead. Your Petitioner's ill chosen companions taking advantage of his Penury and consequent Gloomy State of mind urge him on to the Perpetration of crimes which shock his Mind Even at the Recollection. Your Petitioner before he left Home would not believe he should Ever have been so lost to a Sense of the obligations of a moral Nature he lay under as to be instrumental in bringing Distress on his own Friends & neighbors by spoiling their Goods & carrying them captive. With the greatest Humility & Earnestness intreats your Honours to spare his Life however your Honours may otherwise in your great Wisdom see fit to dispose of him, your Petitioner prays your Honours to consider his tender age how easily inconsiderate youth is lead astray especially to the Perpetration of Crimes almost unheard of in this Land... Thanks to the neighbor's intercessions, Peck, Whelpley and Ferris escaped death. On December 1, 1779, Solomon and others were exchanged as noted above. Solomon received several Greenwich properties from his father in 1794, 1796, 1800, and 1804, so apparently his father was not too terribly upset over his son's 'high treason'.

64y; Listed as a Tory in October 1779; with William Peck and Darling Whelpley, under sentence of death for treason; on December 1, 1779, was exchanged for Ephraim Palmer, Nathaniel Palmer and Bethel Ferris. Solomon was a 'cowboy' who went to the British because he did not want to fight where they wanted him. The October, 1779 Session of the General Assembly sentenced Darling Whelpley, Solomon Ferris, William Peck, and David Washburn to death for their crime of high treason. Sentence was suspended until the first Wednesday of March 1780. Seventy-nine people signed a petition for Solomon, claiming .... That he bore the character of an honest young lad - diligent in business & of good deportment until the present war; and although he has been guilty of an atrocious Crime against the State & some of the Inhabitants of this Town have suffered from his rash and Imprudent conduct in joining the enemy; yet considering his former good character - his youth & want of experience in Life which induce us to believe that he was enticed away; we beg leave to intercede for him. Solomon's own petition to the General Assembly, written from the Litchfield jail in October 1779, claimed he was enticed to join the British. About two years ago (being then about twenty years of Age and Under the Influence of Evil Counsellors who took advantage of his apparent Backwardness go Serve as a Soldier) was enticed away from his Wife & child and persuaded to go to Long Island, and as one Evil leads to another so your unfortunate Petitioner Suffered himself to be lead. Your Petitioner's ill chosen companions taking advantage of his Penury and consequent Gloomy State of mind urge him on to the Perpetration of crimes which shock his Mind Even at the Recollection. Your Petitioner before he left Home would not believe he should Ever have been so lost to a Sense of the obligations of a moral Nature he lay under as to be instrumental in bringing Distress on his own Friends & neighbors by spoiling their Goods & carrying them captive. With the greatest Humility & Earnestness intreats your Honours to spare his Life however your Honours may otherwise in your great Wisdom see fit to dispose of him, your Petitioner prays your Honours to consider his tender age how easily inconsiderate youth is lead astray especially to the Perpetration of Crimes almost unheard of in this Land... Thanks to the neighbor's intercessions, Peck, Whelpley and Ferris escaped death. On December 1, 1779, Solomon and others were exchanged as noted above. Solomon received several Greenwich properties from his father in 1794, 1796, 1800, and 1804, so apparently his father was not too terribly upset over his son's 'high treason'.