IlERRICK GENEALOGY ONE LINE OF DESCENT FROM JAMES HERRICK, WHO SETTLED AT SOUTHAMPTON, LONG ISLAND ABOUT 1653, WITI-l PARTICULAR ATTENTION PAID TO THE DESCENDANTS (BOTH MALE AND FE­ MALE) OF REV. CLAUDIUS HERRICK (YALE .1798), OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, AND HIS WIFE HANNAH PIERPONT. BY HERRICK CROSBY BROWN Privately Printed PACIFIC ROTAPRINTING COMPANY Oakland 12, California 1950 PREFACE In 18h6 General Jedediah Herrick prepared and published a f{errick genealogy covering the descendants of Henry Herrick of Salem, Mass., and James Herrick of Squthampton, Long Island, New York. In 1885, this volume was revised, augmented and brought dO"wn to date by Lucius C. Herrick, M. D. No subsequent revision of the Herrick Genealogy appears to have been published. In 1913 appeared a Pierpont Genealogy, compiled by R. Burnham .fu:offat. This covered t}ie Pier­ ponts from early Norman times. Fortunately one Rev. Claudius Herrick married a Hannah Pierpont and thus the Pierpont Genetlogy brought that particular branch of the Herrick family from 1385 to 1913. The aim of this work is to bring that branch of the Herrick and Pierpont families down to 1950 A. D. The writer wishes it were possible to bring the whole Herrick Genealogy of 1885 down-to-date, but finds the small task he has assumed great enough for his available time and energies. The average genealogy is for the most part a hodge podge of names and vital statis­ tics. The writer's aim here has been to add such biographical information as could be-discover­ ed and collected for each individual. Better to introduce to you through tli.ese paces a flesh and blood human being than a mere vital statistic designated by a number. As the work proceeded and researc~ was undertaken, it bec~~e apparent that the Herrick Genealogy of 1885 contained a number of errors and was woefully s~ort of information now within easy reach of the genealobist. Of course, at that time, the town records of Southampton had not yet been brought together, codified and published in compact form. These are now avail?.ble for inspection in the New York Public Library and many other eastern cities and their complete indexes make it fairly simple to pick out the little every day events in tr1e lives of those with whom we are concerned. General Jedediah Herrick would have been hard put to dig these items out for himself in the Southa1TIDton... Hall of Records • And so, this work brings a wealt~ of new material covering the lives of the early Herrick generations in Southampton, adds !Ila.IlY new vital statistics a.nd data on many of the Herric1: wives. Mention was made in the previous paragraph, of several errors in the first ~enealogy. It was stated therein ~hat James Herrick came to Southampton with the original group in 16!11 and that he was one of the original grantees named in the Indian deed of 16hO. This is incor­ rect and will be commented upon in the pages that follow. This James is said to have been the son of Thomas Eyrick, Chamberlain of the city of Leicester,England, and thus a prominent member of the Leicestershire IIerrick family occupying Beau Manor, with a pedigree back to 1250 f.~. D., a cousin of Sir WilJ iam Herrick, Member of Parliament. In the Appendix, we have sh.own that he was probably not the son of Thomas Eyrick,even though some circµmstances and much family tradi­ tion point to a connection with some members of the Herrick families of Leicestershire,England. That this James Herrick had a brother William, living at Newton, Long Island, was not known to the writers of the older Herrick Genealogy. This came to light through research of the early records and helps to refute the Thomas Eyrick ancestry because no William, son of Thomas, ap- pears in the English pedigree. _ lery thanks to 78:9 John Austin Herrick, of Southampton,and his good wife Nancy Ann Euntting Serrick who have been most helpful in their suggestions and in editing those portions having to do with Sout!1ampton history. They have run around at my beck and call to gather material from cemeteries, gravestones and elsewhere,not to mention entertaining_me in their home for two days and driving me all around the scene of this story. Thanks also to 51:9 Henry Champion Brown who has been most helpful in reading, checking and making suggestions on the original manu­ script. No member of the Herrick clan has a keener interest in or better menory for facts and figures of long ago than Uncle Henry, who, at the age of 83, still flies from Honolulu to South Bend, . Indiana to visit his fa.I!'.ily and to pause in San Francisco for a visit wit11 his nephew, the author of this work. His help and advice were invaluable and rnucri appreciated. And to ~r. Morton Pennypacker, my thanks and appreciation. He is librarian and curator of the Penny­ packer Long Island Collection at the East Hampton Library. He was most helpful i.n suggest ions and the ferreting out of certain missing information, also in telling me briefly what missing information could not be·secured and why. He thus saved me from much needless and time consum­ ing research along blind alleys. Space will not permit the mention of so many others who went out of their way to ferret out ma.terial and statistics for this volume. M.y thanks to you all for your cooperation and prompt responses to rro, rather persistent letters. As a result, there are no blank spaces. Every single des~endant of Claudius and Hannah has been fully accounted for in the pages that follow. The preparation of this volume, although involving many long hours of nigr-t work, has brought its own reward to the writer in the contacts and correspondence with old fami.ly friends and the development of many new friends of whom he had known little or nothing. It is hoped that this book will bring the present generation of the !-Ierrick and Pie·rpont clan closer to­ gether. Herrick Crosby Brown Berkeley, California, August, 1950 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUcrION • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • . 1 GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL ••• • • • • • • • • • . 5 APPENDIX PROBLEM OF THE ENGLISH ANCESTRY ••••••••••• 65 THE NEW HAVEN COLONY AND YALE COLLEGE •••••••• 70 ADDITIONS AND CORREarIONS •••• • • • • • • . • • . 75 BIBLIOGRAPHY • • • • • • • • • • • • • • ~ ••••• 78 INDEX ••••••• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • . 81 INTRODUCTION AN HISTORICAL SETTING OR BACKGROUND The mere reciting of names, dates and places is monotonous and far from inspiring. A brief review therefore of the history and times of those with whom we here treat should help to give us a personal acquaintance with our ancestors,the conditions under which they lived and a.,bc3:ck­ ground knowledge of the villages and the cities they helped to establish and build. It should give us a better appreciation of their true worth and their contribution to civilization and at the same time add color to the recital. For color there is in the romance of these hardy pioneers. They represented an era of transition in world history. Turning their backs on home and family ties in England, the land of their birth and of their ancestors, they embarked on a journey to almost unknown shores, to· carve a niche for themselves and posterity in a new world, to fight want and hunger, clearing forest and swampland, while they ever dodged. the skulking Indian, enduring hardships with a fortitude that is reflected hereditarily in their race after three centuries. It was the flower of Europe in courage and initiative who settled the thirteen American Colonies. Some came to escape political tyranny in England, some seeking a sanctuary where they might worship God in their own peculiar way, whilst others ca.~e because of America's challenge to a new economic freedom for their venturesome spirits, and many came because of a combination of all these pur­ poses. But regardless of the purpose only the hardy anrl the strong-willed made the trip. And havL~g come, only the hardy survived to pass down those qualifications to future generations in America. With such an inheritance, is it any wonder that they and their descendants are re­ sponsible for the greatest nation this world has ever seen? The general pattern of the colonization of New England is familiar to every American. Our story has to do more particularly with Long Island and the southern shores of Connecticut lying on the other side of Long Island Sound~ For a greater appreciation of the story ~hat follows, will you gentle reader open your atlas to this particular region and refer to it as we proceed. Following the founding of the colony at Plymouth in 1620, settlements were made in many other localities,including the coastal regions of what is now Connecticut,such as Branford,New Haven, Milford and Stamford. Is it not probable that these pioneers gazed across t~e Sounq,speculating .as to what greener fields might await them there-? Fer the Sound is only ten or twenty miles across at most places and on clear days, either shore is visible to the other. _They of course navigated the distance and examined the rich soil in the low rolling hills_ and flatlands. The low hills of Long Island are glacial moraine and the flat ou.twash plains of-the southern half of the island, covered for centuries.:with forest mould, offer a rich soil to any husbandman. At the time of the first settlement by the whites, the island was occupied by numerous small tribes of Indians, 'Vlhose former existence is now commemorated by such names as Shinnecock Rills, Speonk, Montauk Point, ilanhasset Bay, ~tc.