Born: September 6, 1824, Glasgow, Scotland.
Died: November 3, 1897, Glasgow, Scotland.
Buried: Sighthill Cemetery, Glasgow, Scotland.
Ferguson was the son of Reverend Fergus Ferguson of Bellshill (near Glasgow), and later of Aberdeen.
He was educated at the University of Glasgow (BA 1845, MA 1858) and Cumberland University, Lebanon, Tennessee (DD 1876).
In 1845, he became pastor of the Blackfriars Street (later named Montrose Street) Evangelical Union Church in Glasgow.