The FE Herrick House 1888
A 1900 insurance plat map showing that the garage had an address of 1237-1/2 and included a water tank and windmill (lower right of city block 156 in image)
The Herrick name led me to his 1904 biography and a collection of his work at Humboldt State Library. He was an accomplished man.
Biographical Information
From: History of the State of California and Biographical Record of Coast Counties, California, by Prof. J.M. Guinn, A.M., 1904 (p.500).FRANK E. HERRICK. One of the most active, able and progressive young men of Humboldt county is Frank E. Herrick, surveyor and city engineer of Eureka. Conspicuous for his keen intelligence, good judgment and business acumen, he is prominently identified with the leading improvements of city and county, and is held in high esteem as a citizen of value and worth. A native of Humboldt county, he was born February 10, 1861, on Mad river, on a ranch lying about four miles from Arcata. His father, Rufus F. Herrick, a record of whose life may be found elsewhere in this work, entered the government service as first lieutenant of a company and was promoted to a captaincy and as Indian agent in 1861, serving four years. He afterward engaged in farming and contracting in Ferndale, on Eel river. In 1872 he assumed the office of county surveyor and served fourteen consecutive years, in the meantime making his home in Eureka.Coming to Eureka with his parents when a lad of eleven years, Frank E. Herrick subsequently attended the public schools five or six years, and then studied for a time under a private tutor. At the age of eighteen years he entered the employ of the United States government on coast survey, geodetic and harbor improvement, and served four years. Prior to this time he had worked, during his vacation, with his father and other competent engineers, thereby acquiring a practical education in surveying and engineering. Settling in Eureka, he worked as a civil engineer until 1889, when he was elected county surveyor on the Republican ticket, a position to which he was re-elected in 1891. The following term Mr. Herrick was not elected to the office, but in 1895 he was again elected county surveyor, and in 1897 was re-elected. At the expiration of his term of service in 1899 he accepted the position of chief engineer of the California and Northwestern Railway, and served for two years. In 1901, at the urgent solicitation of the citizens of Eureka, Mr. Herrick became city engineer, and superintended the construction of the sewer system, making all plans and specifications used in said work. The city was bonded for $115,000 for improvements of sewers and schools, and has now the best sewerage system in the state. In 1903 Mr. Herrick was re-elected to the same position, his labors having been fully appreciated. He was appointed in 1903, for a term of four years, deputy United States mineral surveyor for the state of California. For several years past he has done most of the engineering for the railways of the county, and has carried on a substantial general business as surveyor and civil engineer. Wideawake and ever quick to take advantage of opportunities for acquiring property, he has made several judicious investments, and is now owner of six hundred acres of valuable redwood timber land, of two hundred acres of marsh land lying near Eureka, and of a fourth of a block of city property. He is also interested to a considerable extent in the Clover Flat gold mine, in the northern part of the county.Mr. Herrick married Emma J. Gist, of San Jose, Cal. Her mother was one of those who started with the Donner party, and her first husband, whose name was Glover, went to the relief of that party. Mr. and Mrs. Herrick have three children, namely: Ralph, Frank Leslie and Gladys. Politically Mr. Herrick affiliates with the Republican party, and takes an active part in city, county and state affairs. He is a charter member of Humboldt Parlor, No. 14, Native Sons of the Golden West, and also belongs to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks.
HON. RUFUS F. HERRICK. Frank's Father
With the early history of Indian affairs in Northern California the names of Mr. and Mrs. Herrick are closely linked and their activity during the period of warfare resulted in a quicker return to peaceful conditions than would otherwise have been possible. Substantial and patriotic traits would be expected of Mr. Herrick, for he is not only of Revolutionary stock, but has the further honor of claiming descent from Leif Ericsson, the Norseman, who established the first settlements in Rhode Island and on Martha's Vineyard, Mass., in the year 1000. The progenitor of the American branch of the family was Henry, Heneric, Hericke, or Herrick (there having been several variations in the spelling of the name, dating from the early Norse "Eric". He was the fifth son of Sir William Herrick, and was born at Beau Manor Hall, Leicester county, England, in 1604, and settled first in Massachusetts, and Francis, the grandfather of Rufus F. Herrick, served for forty years in the senate of that state. There were many distinguished members of this family during the early history of the nation, and the late distinguished citizen of Humboldt county inherited many of the splendid qualities of heart and mind that characterized his forbears.
The father of Rufus F. Herrick was Capt. Ephraim Herrick, a native of Massachusetts, who became a pioneer of Ohio, which the son claimed as his native commonwealth, his birth having occurred at Wellington, Lorain county, on June 8, 1828, and his youth was spent in Ohio, where he learned to be a civil engineer, in 1849 helping to survey the line of the Cleveland, Cincinnati & Columbus Railroad, now merged with the Big Four. The discovery of gold attracted him to California, and in 1850 he crossed the plains to Placerville, where he mined for two years, going from there to Alameda county, where he engaged in the manufacture of lumber in the mountains above Redwood City, later following farming near San Leandro. Going from there to Santa Clara county, he carried on a lumbering business in that section for several years. In 1857 he surveyed the wagon road from Los Gatos to Santa Cruz, in Santa Clara valley, also raised a company and built a toll road. Over this road he brought his lumber from the mountains where he purchased a large tract of timber in Jones' redwoods. While going over the trail to view the mountains and locate a place for the road he saw a grizzly bear on the trail coming toward him. He tried to turn his mule back, but the stubborn animal would not turn, so he let it go and when the bear saw the mule it was not more than a hundred feet away. The bear gave one snort and went straight up the mountain, stopping about ever}^ hundred feet to look back and snort. This trail is now a county road. Subsequently he was county surveyor of Humboldt county for eleven years, surveying the overland road out of the county and most of the roads in the county. For fifteen years he was Deputy United States Surveyor, sectioning many townships for the government in the county and engineered the first logging iron track railroads in the county.
While in Santa Clara county Mr. Herrick met and married Martha J. Gist, who was born at South Bend, Ind., December 11, 1842, and was reared in the South. The lineage of her family is traced directly to Baron Von Gist, who was born in Germany in 1584 and in 1634 crossed the ocean to Maryland. The early married life of Rufus F. Herrick and his wife was spent in Humboldt county, Cal., where they ever afterwards made their home. Locating on Mad river in November, 1860, for a year Mr. Herrick cultivated a rented farm, and at this place he made the first cheese for shipment in the county. In 1861 he was appointed by the government to collect the Indians and place them on the Klamath Reservation and left Areata with about two hundred. After completing the task he was appointed by the federal government as farmer on the Klamath Indian Reservation, then in Klamath county. The freshet of 1861-62 destroyed the reservation there and Mr. Herrick was forced to move the Indians to Smith River, Del Norte county. About fifteen hundred Indians were removed under the personal charge of Mr. Herrick and later he had charge of the farming operations on the new ground. However, in 1863 he resigned from a work for which he was eminently qualified, that he might show his patriotic loyalty to the Union by entering the army. After assisting in raising and organizing Company D, First Battalion, California Mountaineers, he was made lieutenant of the same, and at the expiration of thirty days spent in this capacity was given command of the company, its captain being sent on detached duty, and Mr. Herrick was retained in this office thereafter. His previous success in handling the Indians caused him to be given charge of a large company of Indian prisoners, numbering some eight hundred in all, who had been captured on the Trinity river and sent to Fort Humboldt. Before he arrived many of the Indians had escaped, and forty got away on the night of his arrival, the principal cause of trouble being lack of food. Through his efforts, they were given a sufficient ration, also furnished with hooks and lines for fishing, allowed to have occasional dances, and in other ways treated as they desired to be, so defections not only became rare, but in addition two hundred Indians returned to the fort within two months. At the end of two months they were transported by steamer to the Smith River Reservation, accompanied by Lieutenant Herrick himself. Returning to his company, he was in active service until May 21, 1865. During his association with the Indian service he succeeded in having most of the Indians of Humboldt county stationed at Fort Gaston. Both Mr. and Mrs. Herrick were in high favor with the red men, and when Colonel Black attempted to make a treaty with them, they refused to sign until Herrick himself had assured them that the colonel was treating them right and that he had authority to act. Many times the savages had opportunity to shoot Mr. Herrick, but they trusted him as a friend and had no thought of taking his life. On retiring from the Indian service Mr. Herrick bought two hundred forty acres near Ferndale on the Eel river and for four years engaged in ranching there, after which time he sold the property and purchased two thousand acres of marsh land at the foot of Table Bluff, from which he developed a splendid dairy farm, to which he added three hundred acres, which ranch is now the property of his widow. After conducting this immense ranch with splendid success for many years he leased it in 1897, and from that time until his death he lived in quiet retirement, a part of the time on his ranch and a part of the time in San Francisco, death finding him at his Loleta home, May 19, 1914.
In politics Mr. Herrick was a Republican from the organization of the party, and was a leading member of Colonel Whipple Post No. 49, G. A. R., of Eureka. In the early history of California he took an active part, and especially in the welfare of Humboldt county, where he made his home from November, 1860, until his death, the most important work of his life being his services in behalf of the Indians. Since the death of Mr. Herrick his widow has continued to reside on her ranch near Loleta. He leaves two sons : Frank E., for many years county surveyor, and with his wife, formerly Miss Emma Gish of San Jose, Cal., residing at Eureka; and George D., who married Miss Jessie Rolph Nicol and resides in San Francisco. [Excepts from the book History of Humboldt County California History by Leigh H. Irvine 1915
Transcribed and Submitted to Genealogy Trails by BZ - Friends for Free Genealogy]
MRS. MARTHA J. HERRICK.— Frank's Mother
To the pioneer women of California, no less than to the men, are due the honor and respect of the generations that follow, for without their loving sympathy and support, without their faithful devotion and toil, there had been no civilization carved in the wilderness and no homes built in lonely places where Indians and wild beasts prowled by day and night. They have borne their full share in the making of a great commonwealth, and their names are held in loving remembrance in the hearts of the children of the Golden West, and will continue so to be through all generations.
Prominent among the women who did much for the civilization and settlement of California must be named Mrs. Martha J. Herrick, wife of the late Rufus F. Herrick, one of the first men of the state, whose service to the government was of great importance in the settling of early Indian difficulties. In all this he was ably assisted by his young wife, although her name did not appear on commissions or government reports, for she was only aiding her husband in the performance of his duties. Mrs. Herrick has, however, been signally recognized, the brilliancy of her achievements being such that they have attracted much attention. During the World's Fair at Chicago in 1893 she represented Humboldt county, and also exhibited her rare collection of Indian relics, on which she was awarded a medal. In addition, she received gold and silver medals from the Anthropological Societies of the United States and England for her knowledge of the lost arts of the Indians. She is the author of a treatise on the habits and customs of the Indians of Humboldt county (extracts from which were published in the Ethnological Bureau of Smithonian Institution), which is recognized as an authority on Indian sanitation. Another work along this line is now being compiled by her, its publication being eagerly awaited by those interested in Indian lore, Mrs. Herrick being recognized as the best authority on the history of the Indians in the Humboldt district, as well as on the general county history.
Before marriage Mrs. Herrick was Miss Martha Gist, and she is descended from a family of great antiquity and honorable distinction. She is the great-great-granddaughter of Brigadier-General !Mordecai Gist, whose father, Christopher, went with General Washington to make a treaty of peace between the colonies and the French and Indians. The two men became great personal friends. General Washington having said of Mr. Gist that he could not have made the treaty of peace with the Indians had it not been for the confidence the Indians had in Christopher Gist. The latter came from England with Leonard Calvert, a brother of Lord Baltimore, and he surveyed the town of Baltimore, while one of his sons, Christopher, surveyed the coast of Maryland, and was also a major in the Revolution. Gen. Mordecai Gist was complimented by the American Continental Congress for meeting the American army in full retreat and leading them back to victory. The father of Mrs. Herrick was David Gist, and her mother Matilda Fairfax Denton, the father being the son of Independence Gist, the son of Mordecai, before mentioned, who was born in Baltimore, Md., February 22, 1742, and died in Charleston, S. C, August 2, 1792, having distinguished himself in Revolutionary history. Mrs. Herrick herself was born at South Bend, Ind., and attended St. Mary's College at South Bend, to which town her parents had moved in 1830, and where she grew to maturity. On the maternal side Mrs. Herrick is descended from both the Denton and Fairfax families of Scotland, which families were united by the marriage of the last two descendants who thereafter used both crests. In her possession Mrs. Herrick has a plate sent from Scotland as a wedding gift three hundred years ago to her great-grandmother, Elizabeth Fairfax Denton, by that lady's brother, Dallas Fairfax Denton.
It was in November, 1858, that Mrs. Herrick came to California, on account of ill health, to visit a half-brother, making the long journey to San Francisco by way of the Isthmus of Panama, and on April 3, 1859, she was married in San Jose, Cal., to Rufus F. Herrick, an own cousin of Myron T. Herrick, now serving as Ambassador to France. The change was very great for her, a city-bred girl, and everything in the new land filled her with fear until she became accustomed to the new order. Her native poise and common sense came to her aid, and once she had adjusted herself she entered into the life of the country with a wonderful zest. Intensely interested in the work of her husband among the Indians, together they did much for the red men, treating them with kindness and consideration, protecting their rights and at all times according them justice and fair treatment. To this the savages responded, and both the young people were prime favorites with them, and most of the wonderful collection of Indian relics owned by Mrs. Herrick, and now on exhibition at the Eureka Public Library, were gifts to her from her friends among the various tribes.
Mr. and Mrs. Herrick became the parents of two children, both sons, who are well known throughout Humboldt county, where they were born and received their education. The elder, Frank E., was for many years county surveyor, and did much work in that line throughout that part of the state, including the surveying of the Newburg railroad and many other logging railroads. He married Miss Emma Gish of San Jose, and they now reside in Eureka. The other son, George D., is married to Miss Jessie Rolph Nicol, and they make their home in San Francisco, where he is engaged in the real estate business and timber lands, and his wife is prominent in club circles. The death of Mrs. Herrick's husband occurred May 19, 1914, at their Loleta home, where his wife continues to reside.
Mrs. Herrick has always been a woman of many activities, both she and her husband having been particularly interested in the work of the Grand Army. She helped to organize the Major Anderson Circle, Ladies of the Grand Army, in Eureka, and for two years was president of the circle, serving a year as department president of California and Nevada, being elected in Los Angeles, April 5, 1904. While serving in this office she saw that many old soldiers did not take advantage of the soldiers' home because they would not leave their wives ; hence she planned the buying of three acres of land at Sawtelle, Cal., adjoining the soldiers' home. For the purpose of carrying out her plans she called an extra session of the ladies of the G. A. R. to meet in San Francisco, before whom she outlined her plans. The convention received her report with enthusiasm and gave her full power to work out her plan, which she did by buying the land and building thereon a number of houses, accommodating two families each, with rent and water free. The building of these homes, which are the property of the Ladies of the G. A. R., permitted the families of the soldiers to continue unsevered. Both Mr. and Mrs. Herrick were very charitably inclined, and at the time of the San Francisco earthquake she opened her house in that city and fed the sufferers, receiving her supplies from their Humboldt county farm. She has brought up five orphan boys and one girl, giving her time to instructing and guiding them, several of them now occupying honorable official positions, being glad to give her the credit of awakening their ambitions and giving them a start in life. Mrs. Herrick has always been equal to every occasion. In the early days, when it was necessary to teach six months before drawing a salary, she conducted a free school in her own home for that length of time, after which Grant district was formed and she drew her salary from the county. Her teaching was fully appreciated and she was importuned to continue in the public schools, but lack of time prevented her doing so. She has been active in the work of the Woman's Relief Corps of Humboldt county, and at present is a member of the California Club of San Francisco, the National Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution at Washington, the Geographical Association of Washington, the Smithsonian Institution and the Anthropological Association of Washington.
A really wonderful woman, of marked executive ability and much diplomacy, Mrs. Herrick has endeared herself to the people of California by her noble stand and originality as presiding officer in the Ladies of the G. A. R. In all her undertakings she has been successful, and her late husband ascribed to her the credit of contributing more toward laying the foundation of their fortune than did he himself. [Excepts from the book History of Humboldt County California History by Leigh H. Irvine 1915 Transcribed and Submitted to Genealogy Trails by BZ - Friends for Free Genealogy]
MRS. MARTHA J. HERRICK.— Frank's Mother
To the pioneer women of California, no less than to the men, are due the honor and respect of the generations that follow, for without their loving sympathy and support, without their faithful devotion and toil, there had been no civilization carved in the wilderness and no homes built in lonely places where Indians and wild beasts prowled by day and night. They have borne their full share in the making of a great commonwealth, and their names are held in loving remembrance in the hearts of the children of the Golden West, and will continue so to be through all generations.
Prominent among the women who did much for the civilization and settlement of California must be named Mrs. Martha J. Herrick, wife of the late Rufus F. Herrick, one of the first men of the state, whose service to the government was of great importance in the settling of early Indian difficulties. In all this he was ably assisted by his young wife, although her name did not appear on commissions or government reports, for she was only aiding her husband in the performance of his duties. Mrs. Herrick has, however, been signally recognized, the brilliancy of her achievements being such that they have attracted much attention. During the World's Fair at Chicago in 1893 she represented Humboldt county, and also exhibited her rare collection of Indian relics, on which she was awarded a medal. In addition, she received gold and silver medals from the Anthropological Societies of the United States and England for her knowledge of the lost arts of the Indians. She is the author of a treatise on the habits and customs of the Indians of Humboldt county (extracts from which were published in the Ethnological Bureau of Smithonian Institution), which is recognized as an authority on Indian sanitation. Another work along this line is now being compiled by her, its publication being eagerly awaited by those interested in Indian lore, Mrs. Herrick being recognized as the best authority on the history of the Indians in the Humboldt district, as well as on the general county history.
Before marriage Mrs. Herrick was Miss Martha Gist, and she is descended from a family of great antiquity and honorable distinction. She is the great-great-granddaughter of Brigadier-General !Mordecai Gist, whose father, Christopher, went with General Washington to make a treaty of peace between the colonies and the French and Indians. The two men became great personal friends. General Washington having said of Mr. Gist that he could not have made the treaty of peace with the Indians had it not been for the confidence the Indians had in Christopher Gist. The latter came from England with Leonard Calvert, a brother of Lord Baltimore, and he surveyed the town of Baltimore, while one of his sons, Christopher, surveyed the coast of Maryland, and was also a major in the Revolution. Gen. Mordecai Gist was complimented by the American Continental Congress for meeting the American army in full retreat and leading them back to victory. The father of Mrs. Herrick was David Gist, and her mother Matilda Fairfax Denton, the father being the son of Independence Gist, the son of Mordecai, before mentioned, who was born in Baltimore, Md., February 22, 1742, and died in Charleston, S. C, August 2, 1792, having distinguished himself in Revolutionary history. Mrs. Herrick herself was born at South Bend, Ind., and attended St. Mary's College at South Bend, to which town her parents had moved in 1830, and where she grew to maturity. On the maternal side Mrs. Herrick is descended from both the Denton and Fairfax families of Scotland, which families were united by the marriage of the last two descendants who thereafter used both crests. In her possession Mrs. Herrick has a plate sent from Scotland as a wedding gift three hundred years ago to her great-grandmother, Elizabeth Fairfax Denton, by that lady's brother, Dallas Fairfax Denton.
It was in November, 1858, that Mrs. Herrick came to California, on account of ill health, to visit a half-brother, making the long journey to San Francisco by way of the Isthmus of Panama, and on April 3, 1859, she was married in San Jose, Cal., to Rufus F. Herrick, an own cousin of Myron T. Herrick, now serving as Ambassador to France. The change was very great for her, a city-bred girl, and everything in the new land filled her with fear until she became accustomed to the new order. Her native poise and common sense came to her aid, and once she had adjusted herself she entered into the life of the country with a wonderful zest. Intensely interested in the work of her husband among the Indians, together they did much for the red men, treating them with kindness and consideration, protecting their rights and at all times according them justice and fair treatment. To this the savages responded, and both the young people were prime favorites with them, and most of the wonderful collection of Indian relics owned by Mrs. Herrick, and now on exhibition at the Eureka Public Library, were gifts to her from her friends among the various tribes.
Mr. and Mrs. Herrick became the parents of two children, both sons, who are well known throughout Humboldt county, where they were born and received their education. The elder, Frank E., was for many years county surveyor, and did much work in that line throughout that part of the state, including the surveying of the Newburg railroad and many other logging railroads. He married Miss Emma Gish of San Jose, and they now reside in Eureka. The other son, George D., is married to Miss Jessie Rolph Nicol, and they make their home in San Francisco, where he is engaged in the real estate business and timber lands, and his wife is prominent in club circles. The death of Mrs. Herrick's husband occurred May 19, 1914, at their Loleta home, where his wife continues to reside.
Mrs. Herrick has always been a woman of many activities, both she and her husband having been particularly interested in the work of the Grand Army. She helped to organize the Major Anderson Circle, Ladies of the Grand Army, in Eureka, and for two years was president of the circle, serving a year as department president of California and Nevada, being elected in Los Angeles, April 5, 1904. While serving in this office she saw that many old soldiers did not take advantage of the soldiers' home because they would not leave their wives ; hence she planned the buying of three acres of land at Sawtelle, Cal., adjoining the soldiers' home. For the purpose of carrying out her plans she called an extra session of the ladies of the G. A. R. to meet in San Francisco, before whom she outlined her plans. The convention received her report with enthusiasm and gave her full power to work out her plan, which she did by buying the land and building thereon a number of houses, accommodating two families each, with rent and water free. The building of these homes, which are the property of the Ladies of the G. A. R., permitted the families of the soldiers to continue unsevered. Both Mr. and Mrs. Herrick were very charitably inclined, and at the time of the San Francisco earthquake she opened her house in that city and fed the sufferers, receiving her supplies from their Humboldt county farm. She has brought up five orphan boys and one girl, giving her time to instructing and guiding them, several of them now occupying honorable official positions, being glad to give her the credit of awakening their ambitions and giving them a start in life. Mrs. Herrick has always been equal to every occasion. In the early days, when it was necessary to teach six months before drawing a salary, she conducted a free school in her own home for that length of time, after which Grant district was formed and she drew her salary from the county. Her teaching was fully appreciated and she was importuned to continue in the public schools, but lack of time prevented her doing so. She has been active in the work of the Woman's Relief Corps of Humboldt county, and at present is a member of the California Club of San Francisco, the National Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution at Washington, the Geographical Association of Washington, the Smithsonian Institution and the Anthropological Association of Washington.
A really wonderful woman, of marked executive ability and much diplomacy, Mrs. Herrick has endeared herself to the people of California by her noble stand and originality as presiding officer in the Ladies of the G. A. R. In all her undertakings she has been successful, and her late husband ascribed to her the credit of contributing more toward laying the foundation of their fortune than did he himself. [Excepts from the book History of Humboldt County California History by Leigh H. Irvine 1915 Transcribed and Submitted to Genealogy Trails by BZ - Friends for Free Genealogy]
Comments
Post a Comment