b. May 9, 1825, in Monongahela, Pennsylvania; d. September 14, 1858, in Sacramento, California. Ferguson came to Springfield, Illinois, as a child. He studied law in the law office of Stephen T. Logan and Edward Baker and was admitted to the bar in 1843. With the exception of a one-year interval in Memphis, Tennessee, Ferguson practiced law in Springfield, where he was active in Whig politics until 1853 when he moved to Texas and then to California. In 1855, Ferguson won election to the California senate on the Know-Nothing Party ticket, and two years later, he was reelected on the Democratic ticket. Ferguson died from complications resulting from a duel.