1900 – 1998

Ferol Johnson Peckham was born in Natick, RI, on June 7, 1900 to Axel and Emelia Johnson. She was a graduate of the Homeopathic Hospital, now Roger Williams Hospital. She also went to business school. She was introduced to Bernard “Bink” Peckham by a fellow co-worker at the hospital (who happened to be Bink’s sister). They married in 1930 and raised four children: Rachel, Janice, Nina, and Jason (Pete). Bink and Ferol bought their farm in 1944 when they moved to Tiverton from Little Compton. At Ferol’s funeral, the minister told the congregation that it was no accident that the farm was called “Ferolbink” and not “Binkferol”! Ferol was always busy – gardening, knitting sweaters, hats, and mittens for the children, canning huge amounts of vegetables and blueberries to provide for her family. She even climbed on the tractor and plowed the fields, and was the bookkeeper for Ferolbink Farms! Ferol was active in the Tiverton/Little Compton communities, belonging to the Methodist Church and then the United Congregational Church after the demise of the Methodist Church in 1944. She was a very talented tole painter, and later learned to hook rugs, being a founding member of The Happy Hookers rug hooking guild. The group engaged a teacher, whose fee was a lobster salad roll and transportation to and from the ferry in Newport. Ferol became a very accomplished rug hooker, completing a stair runner for her home, each riser depicting her family, life on the farm, and the community. Ferol passed away on January 8, 1988 in her 98^th year.

April 2020

 

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