Dennis Dozier Ferebee
(Camden County)
Featured Character – A Soldier's Life
Dennis D. Ferebee
Courtesy of Clark, Walter. History of the North Carolina Regiments in the War of the Rebellion.
Dennis Dozier Ferebee was born on November 9, 1815, in Currituck County and moved to Camden County at age 19 to make a permanent residence at South Mills. He attended the University of North Carolina and graduated in 1839, proceeding to study law under prominent Judge William Gaston of New Bern. However, he did not practice law long; in 1842 he married Sarah McPherson, the daughter of a wealthy planter, and thus was needed to run the plantation upon her inheritance of the estate. Therefore, he returned to South Mills to manage the farm. In 1845 he was elected to the House of Commons and then re-elected in 1848, 1856, 1858, and 1860. Although Ferebee openly opposed secession as unconstitutional, he still served in the Confederate forces as the First Commander of the 59th Regiment of North Carolina Troops (4th North Carolina Cavalry Regiment), organized in the summer of 1862. After his regiment reported to General Robert E. Lee for duty on May 8, 1863, Ferebee fought “with distinction” from North Carolina to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. After the end of the war, Ferebee once again became active in politics. He was elected to the North Carolina convention of 1865 and appointed to a committee by Governor Jonathan Worth. After submitting the committee's report in 1875, Ferebee finally returned to his home in South Mills with his family and farmed for a few years until his death on April 27, 1884. He was buried in the nearby family graveyard.