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History of Herrick Township
Reprinted from 1905 Account
Editor's Note: The following History of Herrick Township was
written by Mrs. Eugene Camp Putnam and presented on Saturday, August
26, 1905, as part of the Herrick Day celebration at the Bradford
County Historical Society. The events of this meeting were published
in the Bradford Star over a period of four consecutive weeks starting
August 31, 1905.
All Bradford Star publications have been transferred to microfiche.
Due to the print size and age of the newspapers, it is sometimes
difficult to read material copied via microfiche equipment. Therefore,
articles related to the Herrick Day Celebration have been retyped
by former Herrickville resident, Janet McGovern of Towanda, who
submitted them to the Rocket-Courier for publication.
It should be noted that the retyped material appears exactly
as shown in the original newspaper articles. Punctuation, spelling,
sentence/paragraph structure, etc., are the same as in the original
document. The Rocket-Courier will republish Mrs. Putnam's account
over the next four weeks.
Herrick Day Celebrated
A Meeting of Great Interest -
A Valuable Paper and Interesting Addresses -
"Home Coming Week" Established
Saturday proved an unusually pleasant and profitable afternoon at
the rooms of the Bradford County Historical Society, a large audience
being present to listen to and take part in the exercises, arranged
as Herrick Day. Commendable interest was shown on the part of the
citizens of Herrick in the work of the society, by a large number
attending the meeting and making it the most successful of any of
the township gatherings yet held.
The exercises were opened by a phonographic selection, given by
Wm. Siegel, on one of Mr. Mouillesseaux's excellent machines, and
were followed by several others during the afternoon. A number of
gifts were reported by the secretary and two new members elected.
It was suggested that the week of the fourth Saturday of September
be fixed upon as "Home Coming Week" for all former residents
of the county, who might wish to meet each other and visit their
old homes, and that the Historical Society arrange a program for
their welcome at its meeting on Sept. 23. The suggestion was adopted
and the secretary authorized to arrange a program suitable for the
occasion. The matter of having the museum opened on certain days
of each week for the accommodation of visitors was discussed, and
will be arranged for the balance of the fall.
After a finely executed violin solo by Master Kearney Putnam, Secretary
Heverly called the roll of pioneer families of Herrick, descendents
of the following responding: For Daniel Durand, 3; Charles Squires,
2; William Nesbit, 8; James Lee, 2; Richard Hillis, 2; William Taylor,
7; Silas Titus, 1; Charles Stewart, 5; George Elliott, 1; Hamilton
Morrow, 2; James Gamble, 1; John Fleming, 3; John Foyle, 1; William
McPherson, 3; James Newell, 3; David Nesbit, 2; Hiram W. Camp, 4;
Dr. William Thompson, 3.
The feature of the afternoon was the splendid paper by Mrs. Eugene
Camp Putnam, on Herrick. It took her an hour to deliver her address,
which was a very ingenious presentation, showing vast research and
thoroughness, and holding the rapt attention of the audience from
start to finish. This valuable paper is appended. I. McPherson,
Esq., spoke of the splendid work of the late George Landon, and
its impress upon the town, of the Scotch-Irish who had settled in
Herrick and a most interesting account of the origin of the Scotch-Irish
people. Then short addresses were made by D. T. Fleming, John Taylor,
David Nesbit, Mrs. D . T. Fleming, P. S. Squires and H. W. Durand,
reciting the privations and hardships of the pioneers, and giving
incidents of historical value connected with the history of the
town. During the exercises a number of interesting relics were exhibited
in connection with the different subjects presented.
For her great labor and splendid effort, Mrs. Putnam was tendered
a unanimous vote of thanks by both the society and the citizens
of Herrick.
History Of Herrick
By Mrs. Putnam
Herrick township was organized in February, 1838, from Orwell,
Pike, Wyalusing and Wysox, and named in honor of Hon. Edward Herrick,
then president judge of Bradford county. The surface is a high table
land about 1,100 feet elevation; it is the source of the headwaters
of the Wysox and Rummerfield creeks. It is well adapted for farming
and dairying. At present it has seven schools, one store, one hotel,
four churches - one Presbyterian, two Methodist and one Wesleyan.
Valuation, $315,000; population, 810. The northern and eastern part
of Herrick was originally called "Chaumont land." Count
LeRay De Chamont was one of the "new nobility." His "chateau"
or home in France was bought by his grandfather, who was in favor
with Bonaparte. The town of LeRaysville, Pike township, was named
for Count LeRay. These French people made gunpowder and other ammunitions
for the American government, and afterwards sold the land in large
and small tracts to the early settlers. The southern part of the
township is known as Dupont land, and was owned by the Duponts of
Wilmington, Del., French people employed in making gunpowder. Their
descendants still live in Delaware, and their powder mills are large
and prosperous.
The Indian history of Herrick is closely allied to that of Wyalusing;
it really has none separate from adjoining townships, being too
far from the river. There was a path from Susquehanna county to
Athens that passed through the northern part of Herrick. The particular
one of the Five Nations that claimed possession was the Iroquois,
a warlike tribe; they held the territory about 100 years before
Bradford county was formed. The Mohawks also used it as a hunting
ground. The red shale found in a few places in Herrick belongs to
the Catskill group. The ancient marks of the early glacial slides
are distinctly traceable on some farms. The Chemung formation contains
less sand than the Catskill rock.
There have been at least 14 saw mills at different times in Herrick.
On this account and because it was also one of the last townships
settled, there were fewer log cabins than in the other townships.
Job Camp, a carpenter, built the first saw mill on the Wyalusing
Creek, above Wyalusing. the lumber and split shingles being about
the only product the early settlers could sell or exchange for the
necessities of life. With his oldest son he worked for the French
in Frenchtown to get means to build another mill; which was of a
very primitive kind situated near the mouth of Camp's creek.
Probably the first work done in the limits of Herrick was to make
the present Camp's pond from a swamp, for a reserve of water, when
the creek failed in summer. The motive power of the first mills
was either over-shot or flutter wheel; the saw was in a frame similar
to an ordinary buck-saw, later called the "muley," without
a frame and fastened only at the lower end; sawing lumber was slow.
One man and a boy could attend the mill and saw about 1,500 feet
in a day. The mills were often kept in operation through the night
with a change of men.
Rafting and running the lumber down the river was laborious, but
had variety and excitement as well as dangers. In walking back from
Port Deposit they paid for the fun. The ox was a draught animal
for all purposes, but was gradually superseded by the horse, which
was very inferior to the horse of today. Wood shod sleds was the
only vehicle in use for years.
September 24th, 1836, there fell a heavy snow; the little patches
of buckwheat here and there had been cradled, but not gathered,
the snow was more than knee deep on the level; it entirely disappeared
in three days; that winter was the nearest approach to famine of
which we have any record. There was also a "big snow,"
which fell Oct. 9. 1844, and covered a larger territory; in fact,
is probably the one still spoken of in Susquehanna County as being
the most remarkable on record for the early fall for breaking limbs
of trees. The depth was between three and four feet, and was followed
so closely by other snow storms that the ground was not bare until
spring, when apples and such other fruit as the pioneers owned were
found to be well preserved on the ground. On the 25th of May (1825
to '30) snow fell after the shearing of sheep. On the last day of
February and the 1st and 2d day of March, 1841, six feet of snow
fell. Superstitious people thought that the snow would turn to oil.
In November, 1833, occurred the meteoric shower, or "falling
stars" yet remembered by a few of Herrick's aged people.
The "State Road" passed through the county from northeast
to southwest. It was provided for by the legislature in 1807. Henry
Donnell and George Haines were commissioners.
Free schools were provided by law of 1834. This law was slow to
find its way to public favor. A county superintendent was not elected
in Bradford county until 1854. From an old account book used for
a tax list and by the secretary of the school board, we find that
in 1841 men teachers were paid from $8 to $14 per month, women teachers
from $1 to $1.75 per week.
The post office was called Wheatland and kept by Isaac Camp; it
was changed to the name of Herrick, Dec. 28, 1837.
At one time the pioneers having suffered so much from the depredations
of bears and wolves not only upon their stock, but their children
being in danger, they decided to have a hunt, which is known as
the "three days' hunt." They were under the leadership
of Captain Wilcox; Calvin Stone and John Haywood were also of the
party. The circle the first day was large enough to reach from Wyalusing,
Standing Stone, Orwell, LeRaysville and towards Stevensville. At
night they built fires between every group of men, and by the next
night the circle was smaller as the men kept coming together. They
only moved forward on the order of horns. At the end of the third
day they had many animals in the circle, but there was so much danger
of shooting each other that the wolves nearly all escaped. Tradition
of the townships seems to be agreed that there 65 deer caught and
several bears, but not as many wolves as they expected, in fact,
the object of the hunt was to kill panthers and wolves instead of
deer, The panthers all got away.
At another time in early history there came a snow that later formed
a hard crust on top, so that men and dogs could run with ease, the
deer having small feet broke through with nearly every step and
were starving. There were many captured alive and put in a barn,
probably for venison through the winter. Elijah Camp felt so sorry
to have them killed, that one night he let the remainder out, much
to the disgust of the other men. Only one deer died from injury
through the chase over the "crust snow." They were caught
by the horns and their feet tied together.
It is on record that once a bear came and looked in a school house
door in Herrick. Also that we have the required number of children
for a school, one boy about three years was pressed into service;
his mother went to school with him In the morning a long distance
in the woods, where occasionally wolves were heard, One day after
returning from the trip she saw him coming back; on questioning
him, he replied that "he forgot to take a posy to the teacher."
The first settlers in the township moved there previous to the
year 1813. Among them were Zophar Platt and his son, Nathaniel,
who came from Connecticut; they settled on what is now the farm
of Mr. H. H. Smith. Nathaniel was accidentally killed at a general
training at Orwell in 1831. Zophar Platt is probably the second
oldest person. Another older settler was Fredus Reed, who came from
Connecticut in 1811; he was a dish-turner by trade, and was induced
to locate in Herrick, on account of the fine timber growing there
for making wooden dishes, the ash and cucumber being in great demand;
his father-in-law, Asa Matson, soon followed; one of his daughters,
a Mrs. Phelps, was the first tailoress of the township.
The last wolf was shot by Charles Stewart (father of the present
Charles Stewart); he received a bounty of $12.
Originally Published in the
Bradford Star,
Thursday, September 7, 1905
By Mrs. Eugene Putnam Camp
Part II
The first death in Herrick was a son, eleven years old, of Daniel
Du- rand, by drowning in Camp's pond. The second a daughter, Mary,
6 months old, from the same family.
The first wedding was that of Matthew Welding to Miss Lydia Camp
about 1829. A descendant was chief gunner on Admiral Dew-ey's battleship
at Manila.
Tradition says that the first religious service was held at Mr.
Durand's and there were 39 present of the population, all, excepting
one old man and one child.
Elder Dimock, a Baptist clergyman, held a great religious revival
about 1835.
In 1824 the families of Stevens, Slocum and Mintz came to Herrick,
followed by Daniel Durand, Adam Overpeck, Nathan Whitmore, Hen-
ry Wells, Squires and Camp.
The Ballibay settlement was begun in 1826 or '27. The earlier set-tlers
were families of Nesbits, Doughertys, Woods, James Lee and Richard
Hillis. Mr. Townsend settled in the hollow east of Herrickville
in 1816 but soon left the country. His house was the third house
in the town and was situated on the present farm of George O'Connor,
who succeeded Silas Titus. In the same year Mr. Hay-wood, a blacksmith,
settled near there and afterwards moved to Myersburg. Elihu Buttles,
a Methodist preacher and also a dish-turner, came in 1818; he was
so pleased with the country that he induced some of his neighbors
from Massachusetts to leave their homes and settle in the new land.
Among them were Isaac Park, father of Captain Park, and Robinson
Bolles.
The first break in the forest between Herrickville and Camptown
was made by Mr. Park and Robert Dupue in 1821; they carried their
rations and tools on their backs from the Wyalusing creek. They
were succeeded in ownership by Hiram W. Camp in 1833, who lived
there until his death in May, 1903; he was past 92 years of age.
He felt the progress of modern times more when the telephone was
put in his house than the building of the railroad long the Susquehanna
in his younger days.
In 1820 Calvin Stone came to live in Herrick; he was a justice
of the peace. About 1825 Reuben Atwood settled in East Herrick.
In 1822 Charles Squires of Connecticut settled on the farm now owned
by Pembroke Squires, his son. Ezekiel Carr was born in New York
and worked for some of the early pioneers but did not live in Herrick
until about 1837; there were not many neighbors even then. He planted
the apple orchard and sold the place afterward where Mr. Blocher
now lives. He then settled at Herrickville, where his daughter,
Mrs. McPherson, now lives. They have a chopping-knife the handle
of which is made of deer's horn. He shot the deer.
The Crawfords came from Ireland, where they were landholders. The
late J. S. Crawford when a young man helped build the brick buildings
of the Welles family of Wyalusing. He married Clarissa Camp and
settled on the place where his brother-in-law, Lacey Camp, began
to clear in 1822. It is still known as the "Crawford"
place, although none of the family live there at present; It is
near Herrick church. When a boy in Ireland in pursuing his studies,
he used a bullrush for a light after the bog fires had gone out
for the night. He was a surveyor and carpenter and was considered
well educated in his day. His sons are successful business men in
the West; all were educated. Dr. J. M. Crawford, a former student
of the Susquehanna Collegiate Institute, also graduate of Lafayette
College, was twice Consul General to St. Petersburg. He translated
several Russian volumes for the World's Fair at Chicago under direction
of the Russian government. He translated Kala Vala, a Finnish epic
poem. It will be remembered that it was so similar to Hiawatha that
much discussion in the literary world was brought forth at the time
as to whether Longfellow borrowed from the original in writing Hiawatha.
Dr. Crawford was particularly adapted for this work as he was a
master of about ten languages.
Philip C. Angle, born 1820 in Northampton county, Pa, moved with
his parents to Herrick in 1823; they were the third family to settle
there. His parents were Holland Dutch; his grandfathers were both
in the Revolutionary war. One son, Mahlon, is a successful farmer
on the homestead; another, the late E. J. Angle, was under the tutorship
of Rev. Darwin Cook, Merryall, Pa., and graduated from Lafayette
college in 1873, after which he was admitted to the bar and practiced
law in Towanda.
Jerre Barnes, great-grandfather of the present generation in Herrick
was a Revolutionary soldier; the musket he carried, a Queen Anne
piece, is still in a fair state of preservation. His son, Jesse
Barnes came from the home in Massachusetts and settled in Orwell
in 1805; He was killed in his 44th year in a saw mill in Wysox;
his son Jeremiah moved to Herrick about 1834 and died in 1880. A
descendant, Mr. Edward Barnes is now a clerk in the Citizens bank.
John Fleming came to this country in 1848 from Donegal, Ireland,
and died from the effects of sun stroke during his first year on
a farm; his son John is a machinist in Washington, D. C.; David
Flem- ing, another son, bought a farm of George C. Atwood in 1862,
and in 1865 sold part of it to J. H. Hurst and bought the land adjoining
the other side of Stewart Harris, where he lives now. He was a prominent
member of Herrick grange.
Once sixteen prisoners were arranged in a circle around a rock,
to be sacrificed by Queen Esther. According to a usage of savage
warfare, it was the right of the Queen to take vengeance upon the
prisoners which had fallen into her hands for the loss of her son.
Armed with hatchet she assumed the office of executioner, according
to the most approved Indian forms. The prisoners, one after another,
were seated upon the rock, held by Indians, while Queen Esther chanted
a savage war-song, and dashed out the brains of her helpless victim
or buried the hatchet in his skull. This was a terrible tragedy,
but there were two men in the circle possessed of strong will, iron
nerve and swiftness of foot. Lebbeus Hammond and Joseph Elliott
were near each other, and their turn about to come. Eleven men had
already been killed, and Hammond's brother the next under the hatchet;
Hammond whispered to Elliott and in an instant both were free and
with a spring they bounded down the bank. Such was the confusion
of the Indians that instead of shooting they started to run after
the two men, who separated and after much hardship met each other
in Wilkes-Barre. Joseph Elliott received a painful shot in the shoulder
while in the Susquehanna river.
In 1832 Rev. George Printz (or Prince) was called to the Merryall
Presbyterian church and soon after began preaching in Herrick once
in four weeks. He preached about ten years and was followed by Rev.
Samuel F. Colt, Rev. Lucius Chapman, Rev. Darwin Cook and the present
minister Rev. Milton Lewis Cook. Among the first elders, if not
the very first were Abel Bolles and Lyman Bronson, later Hiram W.
Camp, Chester Buck, John S. Crawford and Martin Blocher. The church
was organized in 1849 and granted a charter in January 1857. The
present Presbyterian church was built soon after and dedicated in
1859, Rev. Darwin Cook, pastor; Hiram W. Camp, S.S. superintendent.
There were 35 members at that time
Baptist meetings were held in the old log school house which stood
on the site of the present Camp school house. It is claimed that
this society was organized before 1838. Meetings were sometimes
held at Ballibay. Regular services were held at Daniel Durand's
as early as 1832. The Methodists had preaching services at the log
school house near the spring on the Haney farm, now owned by John
McGovern, at an early date also.
The parents of William Foyle came from Kilkenny, Ireland, in 1832
stopping in Maine over a year and later for six years in New York
where the father was engaged in the construction of the Croton water-
works. They settled in Herrick about 1840; both parents were born
in 1808 and both died in 1878. The son, William, now practicing
lawyer of Towanda, graduated from the Susquehanna Collegiate Institute
and St. Bonaventure's College, New York, before studying law.
Almond Fuller married Adelia Camp and lived in Herrick until about
1856 when he moved to Camptown. He was a natural mechanic and carpenter.
James and Isabella Nesbit Gamble came from Ireland in 1811 and settled
in Wilmot, some of their children married and settled in Herrick,
in later years.
Jacob and Mary Blocher Hammerly were born in Wurtenberg, Germany.
They had eight children; one son A. C. Hammerly was educated in
Switzerland and later married a daughter of David Armstrong and
lived in Herrick before moving to Camptown.
The father and grandfather of R. S. Hankinson came from Sussex
Co., N.J. They came to this county about 1847. Mr. Hankinson was
drafted in Company D, 171 P. V., in October, 1862. He married Harriet,
daughter of William and Caroline Hallock Hillis in 1865 and settled
in Herrick.
William Hillis was born in Ireland in 1823 and came to this county
in 1839. In 1841 he married Caroline, daughter of Peter and Lovina
Hallock, natives of New York. He came to Herrick town- ship and
partly erected a log house; then in company with John Nesbit and
Richard Hillis they went to Laceyville for his wife and household
goods. When they returned there were two feet of snow on the ground,
and the fireplace not completed, neither was there a floor, door
or window in the house; the glass for the window he brought with
him that day from Laceyville. He bought 76 acres of land from the
DuPont tract; he cut lumber that winter and sold it at $2 per thous-
and. His sons, Albert and Wilber, are living in Herrick.
Charles Homet, the grandfather and great-grandfather of the present
families in Homets Ferry, Towanda and Camptown, was among the French
refugees who came to America in 1793; in Paris he had been steward
in the household of Louis XVI, and fled from the city with others
about the time the king made that unfortunate attempt to es- cape
from France. They came in a French warship and were chased three
days on their voyage by an English vessel, but made their es- cape.
Mrs. Homet was born in Strasburg. While none of the Homets really
lived in Herrick, they were interested in the French lands in early
times. A record of Herrick would hardly be complete without mention
of the Homet and Laporte families, as they were closely allied in
business and friendly relations with the pioneers. W. H. Homet,
son of C. S. Homet, married Adelia, youngest daughter of James Mitten
of Herrick.
Dr. John Durand came from France as a refugee Huguenot and settled
in Milford, Conn. Daniel Durand was of the seventh generation, and
the first of the name in Herrick. Chief Justice of Supreme Court
Story was a personal friend and spoke at the funeral of Daniel Durand's
father in Orange county, N. Y. Daniel Durand moved from there to
Camptown with his wife, six children and household goods in one
wagon; he walked all the way, carrying gun and axe for defense and
to cut paths. They lived there four years and went 20 miles to church,
to meet with their religious friends, who were of the Baptist denomina-
tion. They moved to Herrick in 1827, the father and two oldest sons
having partly built their log house. It was by no means finished
the day the wife and younger children came, but the mother said
she felt at home at once upon arrival. Mr. Durand built the first
frame school house in Herrick, where the church now stands, and
hired the first teacher of that school, Aurora Spring. One son,
Joshua, later moved to Missouri, where at the time of the Civil
war he was shot by the Bushwhackers, who waylaid him on his way
home to see his sick child. Another son, the Rev. Silas H. Durand,
a Baptist minister, author of book "Trials of Job" and
other works, is well known not only in Pennsylvania but throughout
the United States and a portion of Canada. The Durands have all
been educationally inclined and have great literary talent. Mr.
Horace Durand has in his possession a bayonet used by his grandfather,
while patrolling "Harlem Heights," now "Central Park,"
New York City, in 1812.
The "Herrick Educational Club and Library" was organized
about 1863, and had for its purpose the training of its members
in essay writing, elocution, music and securing a library. It met
usually every two weeks, and when possible they gave entertainments
to earn money for the purchase of books and papers. It stimulated
many young people to successful careers; in this it was aided by
the heads of families in the vicinity, particularly, the late Rev.
Darwin Cook, Hon. George Landon and Daniel Durand. At that time
Herrick was overflowing with young people, and many through the
training of this "club" became students and teachers,
others following professions of law and medicine.
Tradition tells us that there was an "underground railroad"
in ope- ration before Herrick was settled, with a stopping place
between Me- shoppen and Owego. The negroes were covered with straw
or some- times skins, any way to smuggle them through during the
night.
Ira Jennings came from New Jersey, and later moved to Michigan
and died there; his son, Richard, lived in Standing Stone, and grandson,
Charles E., was reared in Herrick, later attending school in Camptown;
he was married in Canton in 1881 to Isadore, daughter of Gilbert
and Adaline Cronk Lathrop, natives of Wyalusing. Mrs. Jen-nings'
grandfather Lawrence, was a soldier in the War of 1812. Geo. Jennings
was in the war of the Rebellion, and was shot through the right
lung in the battle of the Wilderness; he lay on the battlefield
nine days, then was carried 12 miles in an ambulance, a portion
of the road being corduroy, and survived, although in poor health
afterwards.
C. S. Lafferty, merchant of Camptown, ranks among Bradford county's
most successful business men. He was born in New Jersey in 1832;
his parents moved to Herrick when he was about two years old. His
father, John Lafferty, was born in County Antrim, Ireland, and when
a boy came to New Jersey, where later he married Jane Little. He
died in 1890, after living on his farm in Herrick more than half
a century.
John Lee was born in Scotland in 1823, son of Robert and Sarah
Boyd Lee; he came to Herrick when about 15 years old, where he lived
about 30 years; he was in Company A, 141 st P. V. I., and later
moved to Franklindale. Joseph P. Lee, blacksmith, of Wyalusing was
born in Herrick; his father was born in Ireland in the year 1801.
The father was a clothier and the mother, Jane Dougherty Lee, a
tailoress; they came to New York City in 1829 and lived there about
eight years; they then moved to New Milford, Susquehanna county,
and later to Herrick. Thomas A. Lee, farmer and stock raiser, was
born in Herrick in 1835. When about 20 years old he went to Nebraska,
then to Wisconsin, returning to Herrick in 1857, where he lived
until his death in 1891. Two of his brothers, H. J. and William
Lee, went from Herrick when boys, and are now prosperous business
men in Nebraska. His wife was Catherine, daughter of John and Jane
Little Lafferty. His son, John Cornell Lee, graduated at Baltimore
Medical College in 1897, and is at present a practicing physician
in Herrick.
Originally Published in the
Bradford Star, Thursday, September
14 1905
By Mrs. Eugene Camp Putnam
Part III
Reuben Atwood was born in 1782 and died in 1878; he came from Connecticut
in 1832 traveling all the way in an ox cart and located on the farm
now owned by P. J. McCauley. George C. Atwood, youngest of five
children, was married in 1852 to Henrietta, daughter of Aaron and
Armanda Watson Taylor from Connecticut.
Isaiah McPherson, Esq., of Towanda, was born in Herrick, his parents,
William and Mary Kennedy McPherson, came from Ireland about 1840.
He was a student of Susquehanna Collegiate Institute and Lafayette
College, later studying law with Hon. I. D. Morrow, and was admitted
to the bar in 1872. He was married in 1879 to Bernice, daughter
of Hiram and Emily Sweet McGill.
Newton J. Morrow was born in Herrick in 1848, his father Hamil-ton
Morrow was born in County Monaghan, Ireland, in 1812 and came to
this country when fourteen years old. In 1839 he married Jane, daughter
of Thomas and Catherine Walsh Walker. He was a successful farmer
and lumberman. Newton married in 1872 Adeline, daughter of John
and Mary Fee Nesbit.
Hon. George Moscrip was born in Scotland in 1840. His father, Andrew
Moscrip, came to America when a young man, then returned to Scotland.
His mother, Fanny White Moscrip, was a direct descendent of Peregrine
White (of the Pilgrim stock) who was the first male child born in
the Plymouth colony. The paternal grandfather was a graduate of
the University of Edinburgh, was a pastor of a Scotch Presbyterian
church in Scotland forty years. He was an educated man but chose
a trade in preference to a profession; returning to America he settled
in Herrick in 1840 and died at the age of 63 years. The son George
was elected to the State Legislature in 1874. He married Harriet
Pease in 1870; after her death he married in 1878 Sarah Loomis of
Windham. In the Civil War Mr. Moscrip served in the commissary department
of the Second Army Corps.
John D. Squires was the first white child born in Herrick town-ship
south of the State Road, in 1821, son of Charles and Mary Webb Squires,
natives of Connecticut; the father, a blacksmith, born in 1787,
came to Asylum in 1815; in 1820 removed to Herrick when the county
was almost an unbroken wilderness; he crossed the river on the ice,
and cut a road through the woods nearly two miles; his first log-house
was 20x30 feet and contained two rooms, with a window in each room,
a fire place at each end and a Dutch oven built in the house. The
first winter the chimneys were built only to the joist and an aperture
left in the roof for the escape of the smoke; the house was made
almost without nails, the rafters were of ash poles split and fastened
with iron nails made at his forge, the roof was of split white pine
boards, fastened with poles. The first night after moving into this
house the whole roof was broken in by snow. This was a primitive
log cabin; the bedstead was of white pine split from the log and
nailed together with nails of his own making.
Pembroke S. Squires, another son of Charles Squires, was born in
1829 on his present farm in Herrick; he has been a successful and
enterprising farmer, also County Commissioner. His first wife, Harriet
Lafferty, died in 1886; later he married Margaret, daughter of John
and Mary Fee Nesbit. The grandfather, Amber Squires, was in the
Revolutionary War. His widow drew a pension dating from about 1840
until her death.
William Angle, born in Stroudsburg, 1805, his wife, Margaret Little,
born in 1809 in Pike county, Pa.; they were married in Wyalusing,
and moved to Herrick later. One son, John C. Angle, born in 1830,
married a sister of John and Pembroke Squires. She has in her possession
two silver teaspoons made from silver dollars about the time of
the Revolutionary War and given to her by her grandfather from Connecticut.
They are marked plainly C. W., for Constant Webb.
Dr. A. R. Stephens was born in Pike township in 1835; his people
came from Connecticut and later settled in Herrick. He studied medicine
in Binghamton and Albany. During the Civil War he was appointed
medical cadet, U. S. A. and also assistant surgeon in 1864. He received
a gun shot wound while in service and was in the hospital at Louisville,
Ky., and then transferred to Albany. He settled in Herrick in 1866,
where he began to practice his profession.
Samuel Stethers was born in Herrick in 1848, his father, Francis
Stethers, was born in County Monaghan, Ireland, in 1812. In his
18th year he went to Liverpool, sailing on the "Henry Bell,"
the first steamship built to run between Ireland and Liverpool.
He married Anna, daughter of James and Nancy McCray Hillis in 1857
and came to this country, settling in Herrick. His sister Sarah
and her husband, John Hurst, came to this country soon afterward.
Mr. Stethers built his first log house and barn in 1839. He was
a farmer and also cattle buyer.
Henry L. Phelps was born in Connecticut in 1819. His father died
there in 1822. His grandfather, Asa Matson, took him after his father's
death and came to Wyalusing in 1823, two years after, he settled
in Herrick. The grandfather purchased the title from Col. Kingsbury;
and died in 1833.
Micajah Slocum and his wife, Mary Fairchild, were both of New England
lineage. He was a shoemaker and farmer, John Jay Slocum was born
in Herrick in 1848. He lives on the homestead which was formerly
known as the "Perley Buck farm." Another son, Oscar, is
baggage master for the Lehigh Valley Railroad at Wilkes-Barre.
Dr. Thompson, with his wife and four children came from London,
England, in 1847; they were more than a month at sea on the packet
ship "Prince Albert." Dr. Thompson purchased a tract of
land near Barclay; they went by steamboat from New York to Troy,
then by canal boat and by hiring horses journeyed through Horseheads,
N. Y. to LeRoy, where the family remained until a log house could
be erected on their place. The logs were chinked but not filled
with clay and mud as the ground was frozen; the mother cut up valuable
blankets which they had brought from London to keep the house warm
enough for the small children. Bear, deer, as well as small game
were plentiful at the door, throughout the first year. Dr. Thompson,
with the oldest son, now W. H. Thompson, Esq., went down the Schrader
Branch to Towanda in the spring, fishing for trout and hunting on
the way. At Towanda he met Dr. Houston and Dr. Porter; after talking
with them he decided to practice medicine and rented a house in
Standing Stone of Hon. H. C. Tracy. He went back to Barclay after
his family. Dr. Thompson had studied medicine in London and was
very successful in the treatment of fevers. Later he moved to Herrick,
at one time living near Camp's Pond, before he bought the old James
Beaumont place, where they lived until they moved to Towanda about
1896, where Mrs. Thompson died in 1902. There were in all eleven
children. Mrs. Thompson was educated in the fashionable society
of her time in England. She could play the piano and harp, was recognized
in London art galleries for her paintings in water color and embroidery.
She knew Spanish, French, Italian and German. She had never made
a loaf of bread or taken care of her children, being accustomed
to servants until they sailed to America.
Col. Joseph Kingsbury, a surveyor, was born in Connecticut in 1774;
he came to this county when nineteen years old, his baggage in a
handkerchief. He surveyed and plotted, nearly all the land of this
and adjoining counties. He married a daughter of Gen. Spalding.
Thomas and Mary Conn Mitten came from County Monaghan, Ireland,
in 1839, locating in Herrick. Their son James married a sister of
the late J. S. Crawford; they were attendants of the Presby-terian
church and reared a large family; the youngest daughter, Adelia,
was married to W. H. Homet, descendant of the French refugee Homets.
Another son of Thomas was William, born in 1819, remained on the
farm until 1844, when he enlisted in the U. S. lnfantry (8th Reg.)
stationed at St. Augustine, Fla. He was transferred to Tampa Bay,
then Corpus Christi, Texas. In 1846 the army started on the march
along Rio Grande. He was in the battle of Palo Alto and was with
Gen. Winfield Scott in the campaign against the City of Mexico and
Vera Cruz, also battle of Cerro Gordo, where Santa Anna's wooden
leg was captured. Gen. Longstreet was wounded at the storming of
Chapultapec and was carried to the rear on the back of William Mitten.
One daughter married J. W. Hurst, farmer, of Herrick, afterwards
Register and Recorder of Bradford county. W. Mitten was the first
organizer of training in Herrick.
Wm. Taylor was in the employ of the French people named DuPont,
that came to Wilmington, Delaware, and built a large gun powder
factory and mills. They have sold ammunition to the United States
Government for nearly a century. Mr. Taylor traveled with a three
horse team through Virginia, Maryland and Delaware, carrying the
powder from the factory to various places of deposit or to fill
contracts. Through business relations with Pennsylvania the DuPonts
obtained possession of large tracts of land, some being situated
in the southern part of Herrick. After serving the company faithfully
for many years Mr. Taylor desired to have a farm and home of his
own, and bought a farm in Herrick of DuPont land. He and his wife
were obliged to ford the Susquehanna river three times. They often
had to stop on their journey and cut down trees to make a path for
their load of goods. They built their log house after arriving in
Herrick with the help of neighbors. They came in 1839. There seemed
to be a wolf's den on or near their farm, for they were greatly
harassed by them; the wolves at times being bold enough to come
to the door for scraps to eat that had been thrown out for the dog.
Originally Published in the
Bradford Star, Thursday, September
21, 1905
History Of Herrick Township
By Mrs. Eugene Camp Putnam.
Part IV
John Erskine was born in Ireland in 1827. His father emigrated
to New York in 1829, the mother and children coming the following
year. They were thirteen weeks on the ocean. In 1830 the family
with Mrs. Erskine's brother, Nathaniel Nesbit, settled in the forest
on the place owned by John Erskine, in Herrick, at his death in
1902. The parents attended the Presbyterian church in Merryall,
walking and taking all the children. In 1869 Mr. Erskine married
a grand daughter of justice Lewis, whose sister married Lebbeus
Hammond, who with Joseph Elliot, were the only men of 16 prisoners
to escape Queen Esther in the Wyoming Valley, Mr. Erskine was installed
elder of Herrick church by Rev. Darwin Cook in 1 857.
Mrs. Patrick McGovern was born in New York city, and when a child
played in the street that is now called 5th Avenue. The houses were
separated by farms; during childhood they lived a short time in
Georgia, where her father was a veterinary surgeon. They returned
to New York where the daughter was educated in a convent. When about
seventeen her father, James Clare, and John Donnelly's family came
in an emigrant wagon to Herrick, where the latter married Mr. McGovern.
They reared a large family of good citizens.
Martin Blocher was born in Germany in 1801. He came to Connecticut
where he lived four years with Joel Camp, a relative of the Camps,
who settled in Camptown. He came to Herrick in 1841 and lived on
what is now part of the Landon and part of the Mitten farm. He sold
his land to them in 1854 and bought land near Camp's Pond, where
his sons, H. M. and George Blocher now live. H. M. Blocher has been
superintendent of the Herrick Sunday school for twenty years. He
has interested himself with the careers of young people leaving
Herrick; his work is appreciated by the people.
John Nesbit came of a good Scotch-Irish Presbyterian family for
generations. He was born in Ireland in 1821. The family emigrated
to this country when he was six years old, later in 1830 moved to
Ballibay, where he lived until his death. Mr. Nesbit was chosen
ruling elder and deacon in 1857 and was a faithful officer at the
time of his death He was a kind neighbor and kept "open house"
for all good people. He gave his children a good education and taught
them to be useful citizens. He married Miss Mary Fee in 1850. Her
paternal grandmother was a Jackson and an aunt of Gen. Andrew Jackson,
seventh President of the United States.
James Dewan with his brother, boys of about ten and twelve years,
came alone from Ireland. They were seven weeks crossing the Atlantic;
they arrived in Herrick soon after. Through William Brake, agent
and son-in-law of the DuPonts, he bought a farm where he now lives
.Former owners were Mr. Lacey and Mr. McKenna. Mr. Dewan married
a daughter of Mr. McGovern. They are second to none in Herrick in
the matter of educating their children.
The parents of James and Dr. J. K. Newell came from Ireland and
settled at first in Canada, later moving to New York, where the
oldest child, James was born. In 1859 James went to Pike's Peak
with the "gold seekers," after which he worked about the
furnaces of iron mines near Lake Superior. He then went to New York
city and paid $250 in gold for second cabin passage to San Francisco
via Isthmus of Panama, where they crossed the land. He has probably
seen more "adventures" than any other man from Herrick,
aside from army life. He settled in Herrick in 1866, where he now
lives.
Adam Overpeck was born in Pike county in 1784. Sometime after his
marriage in 1808 he moved to Laporte's at Frenchtown; afterwards
he lived several years on one of the Hollenback farms near Wyalusing.
His oldest child, Samuel, born January 25, 1810, is still living
in Herrick and is the oldest person in the township. In his youth
he has killed wild cats and deer in Herrick and Ballibay. He says
that the farmer cleared one fallow each year; they used to help
each other making "logging bees;" it was not uncommon
to have five a week in a neighborhood in the season. The men and
ox teams would be divided into two groups or squads and there would
be a strife to see which would get their logs finished first. Many
teams of oxen learned the routine so well that the men had to "step
lively" while putting the chain in place to draw a log.
William Gamble, grandfather of Mr. Leander Overpeck, rode a horse
from Herrick to Illinois after he was sixty years old and later
rode the same horse to the gold mines in the excitement of '49.
He married a daughter of Joseph Elliot.
There are few men in Bradford county with more interesting or instructive
careers than the late Hon. George Landon. At an early age he began
to bear his own responsibilities; he educated himself by working
on farms and teaching school. He graduated in college as valedictorian
of his class. He was a noted lecturer and orator at an early age
in Boston, but the strain of this work ruined his voice. He came
to Herrick with his first wife on a visit to her sister, Mrs. H.
W. Camp; he liked the country and bought a farm, which was his home
until his death. He became presiding elder In the Methodist church
and was twice State Senator, where he was a party leader. It was
also during this term of office that David Wilmot was elected United
States Senator to succeed Simon Cameron. Lincoln's Secretary of
War Wilmot had been defeated at the former election, and his election
at this time is generally admitted to have been due to the labors
of Mr. Landon. "A lion has a lion's enemies." Besides
his career in the pulpit and in public service, his generosity towards
helping young men to secure educational advantages are well known.
He was of the first to demand better schools and pay good salaries
for teachers of merit. Men who opposed Mr. Landon bitterly in politics
have gone to his house and although still differing on political
questions have left wondering at the marvelous warmth of welcome
and personal magnatism, which won for him his admirers. He was born
in Wyoming county In 1816 and died in 1904. When he entered college
he had just $10. He graduated from Wesleyan College in Connecticut,
with a class of forty-three, winning the valedictory by reciting
"The Landing of the Pilgrims," by Mrs. Sigourney. At his
death there were only two of his class living. After the destruction
by fire of the first building of Wyoming Seminary in 1853, he took
the financial agency of the school and readily raised twenty-five
thousand dollars, a large sum for that time. Mr. Landon said in
after years that was his first business success.
Captain Joseph H. Hurst was born in England In 1836 and came to
Herrick about 1848. His early struggles to obtain an education were
of the most trying character, but by perseverance he fitted him-self
for teaching. He enlisted in Company A, 141st Penna. Vols. He was
twice wounded, but served until the close of the war, when he was
mustered out a Captain of Volunteers. He was commissioned Second
Lieutenant in the Regular Army in 1867 and was retired as Captain
in 1893, after twenty-nine years of continuous service, twenty of
which was spent on the frontier of New Mexico, Arizona, California,
Montana, Oregon and Dakota. When Chief Joseph and his six hundred
red demons were murdering the defenseless settlers, Captain Hurst
and his command made a forced march of over twelve hundred miles
in pursuit of them. Many and thrilling had been his hair- breadth
escapes. It was fitting that after his long years of faithful service,
he was permitted to return to the scenes of his childhood where
he died at his brother's home in 1896.
David Armstrong was born in 1812 in New York and came to Herrick
in 1834 with his possessions tied in a cotton handkerchief. He is
still living, being next in age to Samuel Overpeck. He chopped trees
two days for Mr. Depue for a small Bible; these he cut where the
Herrick church now stands. He married Sylvia Lyon, who was born
in 1819, and grew up among Quakers in Putman county, New York. She
experienced religion at the age of 15 years while living at Skinner's
Eddy. Her loyalty to church laws was excellent. Mr. Armstrong paid
$3.50 per acre for the greater part of his farm; it was originally
DuPont land which they sold for $2.50 per acre.
The First
School House
EDITOR STAR: As I promised Mrs. Putnam to give you something of
the history of the first school house built in Herrick township--which
we did not have ready Herrick Day--I will now make that promise
good. The first house built for school purposes was the Ballibay
school house, or No. 1, built in the fall of 1836. The first term
taught here was in the winter of 1836 by Philander Camp afterwards
Rev. P. Camp. The house was built by subscription, not taxation.
It was erected on the farm owned then by William Nesbit, now owned
by Wm. J. Nesbit, a grandson. It was built in the woods and the
pupils travelled a distance from 3 to 4 miles through the wilderness.
Not a very pleasant way of getting an education (but we educated
some pretty smart men.) Every patron paid his own school bill as
there was no state appropriation or public moneys as it was then
called.
Very respectfully,
DAVID NESBIT
Camptown, Pa.
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