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The Reverend Mr. David Craft Herrick Township |
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HISTORY OF THE TOWNSHIPS
HERRICK TOWNSHIP
Geographically, the township of Herrick is situated between the townships of
Orwell, on the north ; Pike, on the east; Wyalusing, on the south, and Standing
Stone, on the West.
It was organized in December, 1837, and named in honor of Hon. Edward
Herrick, then president judge of the court of common pleas of Bradford County.
The surface is a high table-land, which is the source of the headwaters of the
Wyalusing branches, the Wysox, and the Rummerfield creeks. The township is
well adapted for grazing and dairying, which form the principal occupation of
its inhabitants. The area includes territory about five miles square.
In 1840 the township contained 632 inhabitants; in 1850, 813; in 1860, 1050 ;
and in 1870, 1009. It has nine schools, two stores, one hotel, two
post-offices, three churches, one Presbyterian and one Methodist, and one
Wesleyan,and the Baptist society are now engaged in erecting another.
SETTLEMENT
The first settlers in the town came there previous to the year 1813.
Among them were Zephar Platt and his son Nathaniel, who came from Connecticut.
They settled in what is now known as East Herrick, on what is now the farm of H.
H. Smith, whose new barn stands very near where the old log house stood.
Nathaniel did not locate for himself until the year after he came in. He
married Mabel Hitchcock, and lived near his father. The elder Platt lived
to advanced years, and died on the old homestead. Nathaniel had three
sons, Charles, who was for a time engaged in mercantile pursuits, and
subsequently retired and bought the old homestead, and died thereon, Nathaniel,
who yet lives in Herrick, and Jarvis, who moved west. Nathaniel, the
father of these three last-named persons, was accidentally killed at a general
training at Orwell, about 1831. Ephraim Platt was also a son of Zophar,
and is now dead.
Another of the first settlers was Fredus Reed, who, with his wife, a
daughter of Asa Matson, came in from Simmsbury, Conn., and took up the farm now
owned by Henry Phelps. He was a dish-turner by trade, and was induced to
come to Herrick by the fine timber growing here, which included hemlock,
cucumber, and maple. His turning lathe stood on a little creek below.
He came in during the year 1811.
Asa Matson, father of Mrs. Reed, came to Herrick with his family in 1813,
from the same place in Connecticut. A daughter of Mr. Matson, Mrs. Phelps,
is yet living in the township. She was a tailoress, and found ample
employment in the making of garments for both sexes.
A Mr. Townsend settled in the hollow cast of Herrickville in 1816, but soon
left the country. His was the third house in the town, and was situated on
the present farm of Silas Titus. In the same year Mr. Haywood settled near
Townsend. He was a blacksmith, and afterwards worked at his trade in
Myersburg but still owned the farm at Herrickville. He had one son, John,
and one daughter, Betsy, the wife of Ferris Bennett. Elihu Buttles, a
Methodist preacher and a dish-turner, came from Massachusetts to Herrick in the
early part of 1818, and his accounts of the country were so glowing that his old
neighbors Isaac Park, a cousin of Chester Park, of Athens, came in from
Berkshire Co., Mass., the same year. He began chopping in February, and
moved his family in the October following. He was a tanner by trade, and
was an apprentice of Robinson Bolles, the father of all the Bolles in Herrick
and Pike. Captain Isaac A. Park, the eldest son of Isaac Park, is still a
resident of Herrick. His father and himself were natives of New London,
Conn.; but when the captain was an infant the family moved to Otis, Berkshire
Co., Mass., and from thence to Herrick. The father and mother died on the
old place, the former May 7, 1850, at sixty-six years of age. Another son
resides in White Haven.
The first break in the forest between Mr. Park's place and Camptown was
made on the farm now owned by Hiram Camp. The fallow was cut by Mr. Park
and Robert Depue, in 1821. They carried their rations on their backs from
Wyalusing creek. Depue made a little improvement, and soon after left, and
Hiram Camp succeeded to it.
In 1818, also, James Hines came and settled on the farm now occupied by the
widow Platt. He had two daughters, Minerva and Betsey. In 1820,
Calvin Stone came. He married Betsey Haywood, and settled on the farm now
owned by W. W. Haywood. He was for a time a justice of the peace, and died
on the farm in 1859 or '60. He was a brother of Raphael and Luther Stone.
About I825 Reuben Atwood settled in East Herrick. He is still living
and in good health, though upwards of ninety years of age. In 1822, Charles
Squires, of Connecticut, settled on the farm now occupied by Pembroke, his son.
This year Isaac Camp built the saw-mill near the place where he afterwards
lived. He moved in with his family in 1825. Albert Camp lived on the
next farm to his father, and Lacey Camp made a beginning on the place where
Crawford now lives. Deacon Charles Stevens, Micajah Slocum, and Ezekiel
Mintz came in 1824. Daniel Durand came in 1824 or '25. Adam Overpeck
came in the same year, a short time after Mr. Durand. He was recently
buried, nearly ninety four years of age. He came from Monroe County, and
had three sons with him, took up a large farm, and lived in the same
neighborhood. Nathan B. Whitman came into Herrick in 1828 or '29, and
settled where Ephraim Platt now lives. Henry Wells made a beginning on the
Durand place, clearing a small piece and setting out a few apple trees. He
sold out after two years to James Clark. Durand made a beginning beyond
Wells, a short time before the latter came in.
THE BALLIBAY SETTLEMENT
Was begun in 1826 or '27. The earlier settlers were William Nesbit, Nathaniel Nesbit, Alexander Dougherty, James Lee, James Wood, William Hillis, and Richard Hillis. They were all natives of Ballibay, Ireland, and settled near each other.
FIRST THINGS
The first white child born in the township is supposed to have been a member
of Charles Squire's family. The first death is said to have been that of
Daniel Durand, and the first wedding that of Matthew Wilding and Miss Lydia M.
Camp, about 1829. The first schoolhouse was built about 1829. The
first school taught had 20 pupils in attendance, of whom Mr. Durand sent seven.
The first religious meetings were held at the house of Mr. Durand, who was the
only Baptist then in the town. A great reformation occurred here about
1835, under the preaching of Elder Davis Dimock, a Baptist clergyman, assisted
by J. W. Parker and Smith Bixby, a licentiate, who was afterwards ordained in
the same house. The different religious denominations are about equally
represented in the town.
Hon. George Landon, a resident of Herrick, has represented the
district composed of Bradford, Wyoming, and Susquehanna twice in the State
senate.