Each day brought them closer
to Jefferson Davis and his family. Disaster was narrowly averted again when they entered
Covington, Georgia. Ferree and the other men mingled among many armed confederates. After
leaving, they traveled out of town for a short distance when they decided to return and
take another road. Ferree later recalled: "Just before we were about to enter the
town, we met a negro who said: 'The Rebs think youse is Yanks and they are waiting for
you.' He directed us to another road and we missed them."Yeoman's group
encountered more trouble from union troops than the confederates. They were arrested
several times. They were released when Captain Yeoman produced a copy of their orders,
which only he carried. This slowed their pursuit of Davis. On another occasion, Ferree and
two others were captured by the Twelfth Ohio Cavalry when Yeoman was not with them. Lady
Luck intervened again. Ferree remembered: "Fortunately the company (that captured
us) was from Shelby County. I recalled the name of Daniel Clark, a member of the campany
who was raised west of Sidney. I asked for him and he rode out and recognized me."
Ferree and his men were released.
Captain Yeoman would send a courier back to the general staff every day with new leads.
Ferree and the others drew closer to Davis. One night J.D. and several others made the
acquaintance of a family of confederate supporters. Passing themselves off as South
Carolina soldiers, Ferree and his cohorts received a warm reception from the family
(including their two very beautiful daughters). When supper was finished, they retired to
the parlor to sing the most popular confederate ballads. Afterwards, the father began to
question them. Ferree remembered "We had to be at our wits end all the time he
talked with us." Although they accepted an invitation for breakfast, by the next
morning the men were many miles away. As the noose around Jeff Davis drew tighter, Ferree
and the others got within twenty miles of him. On May 10, 1865 Davis was captured by
elements of the First Wisconsin and Fourth Michigan near Irwinville, Georgia. He was alone
except for his family and a few friends.
A grateful government did not forget. Ferree was promoted to 1st Sargent of his company
for his service. Several years after the war, Congress passed legislation rewarding those
who participated in the capture of Davis. By that time J.D. Ferree was home in Sidney
teaching school. He explained to his comrades at the Neal Post of the G.A.R.: "Our
squad was placed on an equality with those who captured (him) because we had run all the
risk in securing the information that resulted in his capture. Captain Yeoman received
$3000. I received $366.25." While teaching school, Ferree enrolled a new pupil
named Arvesta Line. The attraction was apparently immediate. Ferree left teaching. The two
were married on September 29th, 1870. They spent sixty-one happy and companionable years
together, raising six children along the way.
J. D. and his brother Edwin opened up a saw mill just east of Pasco which they operated
for many years. After retiring in 1915, Ferree moved to Sidney and bought the residence at
722 S. Main Avenue. He lived there until his death in 1932. Incredibly, of the 35 men who
volunteered for this dangerous mission, another besides Ferree was from Shelby County.
Private James H. Jeffries grew up near Houston. After the war, he moved to Fort Scott,
Kansas, and was never heard from again. Time healed many of the wounds of war. Jefferson
Davis spent two years in prison but never stood trial for treason. To the last of his
days, he tried to win by his pen what he could not accomplish on the battlefield by
working on his memoir, The Rise and Fall of the Confederate
Government. Davis survived both Lee and Grant, dying penniless in 1889 at the age of
81.