David Herrick Homestead Farm

David L. Herrick’s Homestead Farm

At the unpaved end of the Bog Road in Northport lies the land that was the Herrick Bog Farm, (also known as the Joseph Herrick Homestead Farm and the David L. Herrick Homestead Farm) now the farm of Larry Wagner, consisting of some 320 acres. The land is pretty much overgrown, the road is bumpy and the only remains of the farm buildings are the broken stone walls of a cellar hole and a barn foundation. Larry Wagner has plans to bring it back to its original distinction.

The original farm belonged to David Herrick’s father, Joseph. It was his homestead farm and seems to have included about the same amount of land as it does today. Figuring out the land has been difficult as one large lot apparently does not have a recorded deed. I have been using the 1800 map of Northport created by the surveyor John Harkness to determine identifiable lots.

In 1817, Joseph Herrick paid Ralph C. Johnson $63.00 for 14 1/2 acres which appears to be part of Lot L. It was land that had belonged to Samuel Patterson and which he lost to Ralph Johnson in an execution in favor of Johnson. Samuel had originally bought it from John Patterson in in 1811. Joseph Herrick sold it again in 1819. Joseph was born in 1797, so he was

20 years old when he purchased this land and perhaps it was the first land he lived on. The deed does not mention buildings. I was unable to find when Joseph and Ruth Black married so I do not know if he was settling down as a family at this time.

In 1826, Joseph Herrick paid Israel Thorndike, David Sears and William Prescott, land brokers from Boston who had foreclosed on Henry Knox and were selling land in Waldo County, $384.00 for Lot M consisting of 98 acres with an easement for a road. This was a major part of his farm. The road was presumably the current Bog Road, known earlier as the Herrick Bog Road.

However, in the deed it refers to a lot contracted to him at the time and this appears to be Lot Q which is the Bog Lot. There is no deed for this lot and it is not known who Joseph would have purchased it from. It is a large lot but I have been unable to determine whether it was 120 acres or 140. The bog that makes up a great deal of it is still known as the Herrick Bog and the part not owned by Joseph was owned by Shadrach Herrick. (I was unable to trace the relationship but it appears they were probably cousins.) My experience with other “contracted lots”, especially those purchased from Thorndike, Sears and Prescott is that the future owners often lived on them, even building structures, before they actually had the deed so it is possible that Joseph was living on this land when he purchased Lot M in 1826.

In 1829, Abraham Knowlton sold 54 acres of Lot T to Joseph for $100.00. Knowlton reserved the right to cut the hardwood, except for the oak, for the next three years. This was the northern part of Lot L and it had belonged to Phineas Billings and Abraham Knowlton.

At this point we know that Joseph Herrick owned at least 200 acres and it was probably closer to the 320 that exist today. However, the story of the land while it belonged to Joseph appears to be one of financial difficulties and being bailed out by two of his sons, Samuel and David. (Joseph and Ruth Black Herrick had 11 children.)

On 1 January 1856, Jacob Hahn and Benjamin Hardy were awarded 200 acres of the Joseph Herrick Homestead Farm. It was awarded to satisfy an execution in their favor. The value was $1,221.00. Apparently Joseph and his family were allowed to continue living there.

On March 12, 1856, Hahn and Hardy deeded to Weston Hardy, for $1,000.00 this same land described as the Homestead Farm of Joseph Herrick where “he now lives” and which he had improved over 30 years or more. In addition to the 200 acres of land it included 3 barns and a dwelling house and out buildings. This is the farm whose old house cellar hole and one barn foundation, now mainly reduced to rubble, remain on the old Bog Road.

Losing the family farm apparently set off a determined effort by Joseph’s son, David Lewis Herrick, to get the farm back.

On January 20, 1857. David L. Herrick, through an attorney, paid Weston Hardy $1,075 for the property. He must have done this as a way to give his father back his homestead farm. On the same day, Joseph Herrick deeded it to David for $500.00 but I believe he continued to live there.

In order to get the land back David took out an $800.00 mortgage from Harrison Taber in 1857: $300.00 plus interest unless than a year, $300.00 plus interest in 2 years and $200.00 plus interest in 3 years.

There was also another judgement, on 24 June 1856, against Joseph Herrick. This time it was a two acre parcel surrounded by a wall or fence across from Joseph’s house. It went to John Hanrahan and was appraised at $209.85. On 11 July 1857 Hanrahan sold the parcel to Harrison Taber for $160.00 and on 6 November 1861 he resold it to David Herrick.

On 23 April 1863, Joseph and his wife, Ruth Black Herrick, paid David Herrick and Samuel Herrick, their sons, $100.00 “in consideration of their known interested in the premises leased, for a lifetime lease of the 200 acres of the homestead farm plus a parcel (5 acres) deeded by Rufus Rhodes to David on 12 November 1859 and another (10 1/4 acres) deeded by Harrison Mahoney to David on 24 October 1859. The land would revert to David and Samuel upon the death of Joseph and Ruth. However, also on 23 April Samuel paid David $500.00 for David’s half of the farm.

On 23 October 1873 Ruth and Joseph gave up their life lease and David paid them $800.00 for the farm. And on 28 October, Samuel turned over his half of the property to David for $300.00. This allowed for the mortgage to Harrison Taber to continue as it was not yet paid and would not be until May 1881. It also allowed Joseph to take out another mortgage on the property which he did from Ruby Jameson for $1,029.00 in July 1878. At this time David received $800.00 from Joseph and Ruth but he then took over the mortgage.

On 12 September 1878 David sold 200 acres of the land to to Henry C. Gray who on the same day resold it to Helen Herrick for the same amount of money. This mortgage for this property was paid off to ruby Jameson in June 1880, after both Joseph and Ruth had died. At this time David seems to have owned only the 120 acre Bog Lot while his wife owned the rest and he was responsible for the remaining mortgage on that. That mortgage was paid off to Harrison

Taber in May, 1881.

In 12 October 1910, Helen sold the 200 acres parcel, described as the David L. Herrick Homestead, to Fred A. Abbot. On the same day David sold the 120 acre Bog Lot to Fred A. Abbot. He also sold to Helen a 5 acre piece that he had purchased from Rufus Rhodes in 1859. It is possible that this is where David and Ruth continued to live.

Fred Abbot sold the entire David Herrick Homestead Farm of 320 acres to Fred Wyman for $800.00 in 1911. He, in turn, sold it to Kenneth Wyman in 1917.

Kenneth Wyman sold the farm to Clyde M. Gray and George H. Gray in 1937 and ti remained in their family until 2017. In 1971, George Gray sold one-half interest to Ashley and Adelaide Gray. In 1973, Sadie V. Gray, Hugh R. Gray, Ashley C. Gray and Clyde M. Gray Jr. deeded the land to Ashley C. and Adelaide C. Gray as joint tenants. Adelaide Gray predeceased Ashley Gray and in 2017, Margaret Klotzle was the recipient of the land through the distribution by a personal representative of the Estate of Ashley Clement Gray. On 25 October 2017, Margaret Klotzle sold the David L. Herrick Homestead Farm to W. Laurence Wagner.

Agricultural Census for the Herrick Farm

There is no census for the farm in 1850, but in 1860 and 1870 Joseph’s farm is recorded as is the farm for David in 1880. Each census measures slightly different things but it is possible to make a general comparison of the development of the farm.

In 18860, Joseph records: 150 acres of improved land, 120 unimproved with a cash value for the farm of $1,200. The value of implements and equipment was $100.00. He had 1 horse, 5 Milch cows, no oxen, 8 other cattle, no sheep and 1 swine. The value of livestock was $226.00. He grew 28 bushels of wheat, 5 bushels of Indian corn 4 bushels of dried beans and peas and 10 bushels of Irish potatoes. The value of orchard products was $5.00 and the value of market goods was also $5.00. They produced 500 pounds of butter and 35 tons of hay. The value of home manufactured good was $30.00 and the value of animals slaughtered was also $30.00.

In 1870, Joseph reported 75 acres of improved land, 30 acres of woodland and 75 acres of other unimproved land for a cash value of the farm of $3,000.00. Farming implements and equipment were valued at $75.00 and wages paid, including board, were $300.00. He had 3 horses, 5 milk cows, 2 working oxen as well as 8 other cattle. There were 12 sheep and 1 swine. The value of all stock was $300.00. He grew 30 bushels of spring wheat, 10 bushels of Indian corn, 4 bushels of dried peas and beans and 300 bushels of Irish potatoes. The sheep produced 100 pounds of wool. The farm produced 550 pounds of butter and 40 tons of hay. Forest products were valued at $80.00 , the value of home manufacturing was $45.00, while the value of animals slaughtered or sold was $135.00. The estimated value of all farm products including betterments and additions to stock was $1,200.

The 1880 Census was in David Herrick’s name and he is listed as the owner of the farm. He reported 40 acres of tilled land, 85 acres of permanent meadows and pastures, 55 acres of woodland and 120 acres of other unimproved lands or old fields (this may have been the bog.) The value of the farm was $2,000.00 while the value of equipment and farm implements was $50.00 and the value of livestock was $250.00. The cost of building and repairs was $8.00, the amount paid for wages of farm labor was $136.00 and the labor was hired for 52 weeks in the year. The estimated value of all farm productions; sold, consumed or on hand was $790.00. There were 32 acres of mown land, 3 not mown and they harvested 40 tons of hay. They had 2 horses, 2 working oxen, 3 Milch cows, 4 other cattle. Three calves were dropped and 3 cows or calves were sold living. They made 300 pounds of butter. They had 26 sheep and 26 lambs dropped. They sold 4 living, slaughtered 2 and 4 died of disease. They had 26 fleeces with a weight of 130 pounds. They had 2 swine and there were 26 poultry in the barnyard giving 200 dozen eggs. They had 2 acres sowed in wheat which produced 26 bushels, 1 acre sowed to potatoes gave 60 bushels and they grew no Indian corn. They grew 2 bushels of dried beans. They had 2 acres in orchards with 50 trees producing 100 bushels of apples. (Do any of these trees still exist? There could be the remains of an old orchard.) The value of forest products was $180.00.

Family

I have been able to find very little information on the Herrick family which is disappointing as there are still Herricks in the area and they have boxes of information on their genealogy. I know one Herrick family member but have not been able to get in touch with him. If I get more information I will write an addendum.

I know very little about Joseph Herrick (1797-1878) and his wife Ruth Black Herrick (1801-1878) other than that they had 11 children. (Samuel was the older brother on David, four years his senior.) Both Joseph and Ruth were born in Sedgewick, Maine. I have not been able to find where they are buried.

David L. Herrick and his wife Helen Gray Herrick are buried in the South Belfast Cemetery. I believe they were childless. I was able to find some miscellaneous information about them.

Helen M. Herrick was born Helen Gray in Penobscot, Maine. Her parents were Ezra and Abbie Herrick Gray. I do not know how may siblings she had but her brother was Henry C. Gray to whom David sold the farm and who then sold it to Helen on the same day. Although I was not able to find information on this I am wondering if the Gray family who bought the farm in 1937 are members of the same Gray family. That would be interesting to know and to know if they were able to keep the land in the family until 2017. Henry Gray was a ship’s carpenter and his and Helen’s father, Ezra, was a Master Mariner. Henry lived in Belfast.

Helen was born in 1840 and died on 11 May 1921 of heart disease. She was living in Belfast at the time.

David Lewis Herrick was born about 1833 and died on 29 September 1914, also in Belfast. His parents as we know were Joseph and Ruth Black Herrick. He died of arteriosclerosis.

I am hoping to find more information on this family and especially to see if the latter Grays who bought the land were related.

Corelyn Senn

December, 2018

catspjs@tidewater.net

207-789-5139