Henry Herrick

Henry (Henrie) John Herrick (Herick, Hericke, Heyricke)(29)

  • Birth: 8/16/1604 (Beau Manor)
  • Death: 7/20/1671 (Beverly, Massachusetts)

Father: Sir William Herrick (28)
Mother: Joan May

Spouse: Editha (Luskin) Herrick

https://gedbas.genealogy.net/person/show/1170197792
  • Children:
    James (1633-1687)
    Thomas (1634-1665)  (I)
    Zacherie (1636-1695)  (II)
    Ephriam (1638-1693)  (III)
    Henry(30) (1640-1702)  (IV)
    Joseph (1645-1718)  (V) (involved in Salem witch trials)
    Elizabeth (1647-1727)  (VI)
    John (1635-1680)  (VII)
    Benjamin (1652-1671)  (VIII)
  • George (1658-1694) (involved in Salem witch trials)
    Stephan 1669-1773

  • Sex: M

Biography Notes…

Born at Beau Manor, he was named “by command of” (after) Prince Henry, the oldest son of James I, who had knighted his father. His sponsors were Sir David Murray, Sir John Spellman and Lady Astor. He was first cousin of the Reverand Robert Herrick, the poet. He came from Leicestershire England to Salem Mass (Naumkeag) June 24, 1629 on the ship “Lyon” [William Pierce, Master; sailed from Bristol] . Leicester (les’tër) is the city, Leicestershire is the county, famous for long wooled sheep. He was a member of the First Church in Salem in 1629. A yoeman (was free), on 19 October 1630 he requested and then was admitted as a freeman (citizen) in 18 May 1631 and was a proprietor (landowner) by 1635. He was granted a farm of two or three acres on the north side of Massey’s Cove on 25 January 1635 [STR 1:13], then received forty acres in the Salem land grant of 1636 [STR 1:20] and another forty acres “above Mr. Cole”[STR 1:26]. In the Salem land grant of 1637 he received three quarters of an acre with a household of five [STR 1:101]. He served as a juryman on the petit and the grand jury in Essex County from 1648 to1667. He was a member (and founder) of the first church in Beverly in 1667.

Henry Herrick, “yeoman,”* as he is styled in deeds of land in 1668 and at other times [Essex Deeds iii, 37, 134, etc.] came early to Salem, and was one of those persons to whom the General Court gave the honor of freemanship May 18, 1631. He is on the list of proprietors of land in Salem in 1635. His being admitted freeman shows him to have been a member of the church in 1630. He removed to Enon, afterward called Wenham, and still later to Beverly. He married at a time of which no note remains, Edith, daughter of Hugh Laskin, another early settler in Salem, a landholder in 1635, but of whom scarcely anything else is known. The date of his death is unknown; the only clue to it is the time when an inventory of his estate was presented,— March 21, 1658-9; but he had been absent from Salem some time, it is clear, for his daughter Edith, wife of Henry Herrick, testified 28(9)1672 (being then, as she deposed, about 60 years of age) that her father sold certain land “before he went away,” namely “about 25 years” before. The name of Hugh Laskin’s wife is unknown. Edith was a member of the Salem church when the earliest list now extant was made in 1636. The baptism of their son Zechariah Herrick is recorded 25(10)1636, another son (name not recorded) 11(12)1637, Henry, 16(11)1639, Joseph, 6(6)1645, Eliza, 4(5)1647, John, 26(3)1650.

Henry Herrick seems to have lived an inconspicuous life. He was a farmer and brought up his sons to the same occupation. He left no will; indeed the date of his death is only inferred from the day when an inventory of his estate, presented by his son Henry, was said to have been taken,—namely, 15 March, 1670-1. The list mentions certain tracts of land, a number of books, household furnishings, etc.

Source: Paine Ancestry. The Family of Robert Treat Paine, Signer of the Declaration of Independence, Including Maternal Lines, By Sarah Cushing Paine, Charles Henry Pope, page 233.

The following is a copy of the Will of Henry Herrick, which was copied ‘verbatim et literatim’ from the records in the office of the Clerk of the Courts in Essex county, Mass., by Nathaniel J. Herrick, Esq.

I, HENRY HERRICK of the town of Beverley in the county of Essex in New England being in a decaying estate of body but in perfect mynd and memorye through the Lord. mercy do hereby make my last will and testament whereby I committing my body to the earth, and my Soule to the mercy of god in christ Jesus. I dispose of my estate in order following.

Imps. I give unto my Deare and loving wife Edith the westward-most halfe of my now dwelling house, that is the lower roome and lean too behind it, together with free egress and ingress in and out of it, and also, the use of the cellar, well, yard and houseing and garden, these to have & enioy Dureing her naturall life, further I give to my sd wife four of my best milch cows, & 4 sheepe which she shall choose and all my house-hold stufe, these to be at her absolute free disposl, also I give unto my sd wife the sixt part of the fruits that shall be raysed from the corne lands and orchard wch I leave with my executor Henry and in the possession of my sonn John. Also I give unto my sonn Thomas all my wearing appearell except my best great coat, & that 20 acres of land where his house standeth, with ten pounds to be payed to my sonn John wn my executor seeth need to supplye his wants. And if in case he live and dye a single pson, the lands shall remaine to my sonns Ephraim & Joseph, equally devided & the ten pounds to my son Benjamin, if not make use of to supply him. Also I give my son Zachry one hundred Acres of land lying in Birch plaine wch I bought of Francis & Henry Skerry of Salem with 5 acres of meadow lying in Wenham meadow belonging to it, and 16 acres of land more or lesse wherein his house standeth & fenced in by him. Also I give my sonns Ephraim, Joseph and John- that farme I bought of Mr Allford the 20 acres jinen to Thomas being first measured out to him, the rest to be equally devided betweene them three, yet so that Ephraim and Joseph may inioy what they have improved and fenced, and John what is improved by Henry, so as to pay the sixt part of the p’duce to my wife before expresst. Also I give to my sonn John the two lotts I bought of Henry Rennolds of Salem & Richard Kimball of Wenham. Also my sonn John is to have two acres of meadow in Bounkares meadow. Also the bedding he lyeth upon, and my cart and plow with the chaine thereof. Also I give Ephraim moreover one milch cow and my best great coate and unto Joseph I give moreover two ewe sheep and my timber chain. I give unto my sonn Benjamyn all that pasture land called my english pasture, wch joyneth on the east syde to Andrew Eliott, lyeing betweene the countrye highway & the mill river, I say all that land lying on the southeast syde of the sd country highway the wch pasture land with the appurtenances, my will is shall remaine in the hands of my sonn Henry to improve until Benjamyn be 21 years of age and in case he dye before he be 21 years of age I give the sayd land to my sonn Henry, he paying unto my children Zachry, Ephraim, Joseph & Elizabeth four pounds apeace. Also I give to my daughter Elizabeth forty pounds, viz. 14 lbs. to be payd by my sonn Henry within three months after the confirmation of my will and the rest to be made up in 3 cows & moveables allready in her possesion, And to John the youngest yoke of stears, and whatsoever I give to any of my children heerin mentioned by this my will. I give to them their heires executors administrators & assigns forever And for the rest of my estate not above mentioned I give it all to my sonn Henry, he paying unto his mother the sixt part of the increase of the corne land & orchard during her life, and providing for her the wintering of four milch cows 4 sheepe & her fire wood redy cut for fire at the dore, for all the year long, and liberty to keep 3 swine at the dore. (I give my sonn Ephraim one acre of meadow in buncars Joseph 3 acres of meadow in buncars) And to have the p’per use of the parlour & lean too behind it with free egress & regress to houseing yards for her necessary occasions as is expressed during her life. I say these things premised. I give my sonn Henry my dwelling-house out-houseing orchard &. tillage land meadows pasture &. woodland with my stock &. whatever else wthin dores & wthout, not above excepted making this my sayd sonn Henry my sole executor of this my last will.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have set my hand this 24 November 1670′

In the presents of: }

ROBT. MORGAN,

NEHEMIAH GROVER.

Mr John Hale and Capt. Thomas Lathrop chosen overseers of this will.

Robert Morgan & Nehemiah Grover testified upon oath in Court held at Ipswich the 28 of

March 1671 to be the last will & testament of Henry Herick to the best of their knowledge &

that they know of no other. As Attest, Robert Lord, clerk.

“.. the estate of Henry Herrick totaled 974 pounds 17 shillings; including 804 pounds 10 shillings in real estate; “his dwelling house with orchard & 70 acres of land,” 180 pounds; “the English pasture with the marsh and orchard in it,” 300 pounds; “the farm bought of Mr . Alford containing 200 acres,” 300 pounds; “the farm bought of Henry and francis Skerry, 106 acres,” 160 pounds; “the 16 acres of land which is built on by Zachery Herrick,” 32 pounds; “the 15 acres of land bought of Henry Reinald and Richard Kemball,” 22 pounds 10 shillings; and 6 acres of meadow in the bounds of Topsfield,” 30 pounds [EPR 2:221-222]. A musket, a sword and a rapier” were part of his estate.” This amounted to over 400 acres of land.

He died in Beverly, Essex, Massachusetts. His last name was listed as Herick, Hericke, and Herrick on deeds. (from Knowltons, 1897 and Lord- Locke 1836)

From Gen Herrick:

.. Henry Herrick was a husbandman, in easy circumstances, but undistinguished by wealth, or by civil rank or influence in the colony. He was a very good and honest dissenter from the established church, and the friend of Higginson, who had been a dissenting Minister in Leicester. Mr. Herrick and his wife Editha, were among the thirty who founded the first church in Salem, in 1629; and on the organization of a new parish, on ‘Ryal-Sydc’ 1667, they, with their sons and their sons’ wives, were among the founders of the first church in Beverly, also. But there are reasons to suspect that neither Henry, nor his sons were, at all times, and in all things, quite as submissive to the spiritual powers of their day, as they should have been. On the Court records of Essex County is an entry like this: ‘Henerie Hericke, and Edith his wife, are fined l0s. and l1s. for costs of Court, for aiding and comforting an excommunicated person, contrary to order.’ The sons of Henry Herrick were all farmers, and with the exception, perhaps, of Joseph, were exclusively farmers. He married Editha, daughter of Mr. Hugh Laskin of Salem, (who was born 1614, and living in 1674), and settled at Cape·Ann-Syde, over against Massies. He died 1671. Out of a very numerous family (our traditions say twelve sons and several daughters), seven sons and a daughter, whose names are given below, survived their father and are named in his Will. • • • Of these, Thomas and Benjamin, the oldest and youngest of the sons, died childless. The other five sons and one daughter left issue, and are regarded as the Patriarchs of their respective branches of the posterity of Henry and Editha Herrick.

Notes for Henry Herrick:

“Henerie Hireck – Hericke – Herrick, was the fifth son of Sir  William Herrick, was born at Beau Manor, County Leicester, England., in 1604. He probably came first to Virginia, as it is well known that Sir William Herrick was interested in merchantile adventures to that colony” (The late William Perry-Herrick, Esq., in a letter dated Nov. 11, 1874, communicated the following entry copied from Sir William Herrick’s account book: `Paid by Booker Hicks for my last Adventure to Virginia the 10th July, 1612.”- This was Sir Baptist Hicks, afterwards Lord Campdem, from whom the present Earl of Gainsborough id descended.) 

Henry and Edith Laskin Herrick came to New England in August, 1629 with the GCMB Fleet and Rev. Francis Higginson.  He resided in Salem, petitioned for Freeman status in 1630, was sworn a Freeman on May 5th, 1631, and was admitted to the First Church of Salem in 1636.

 (Winthrop Society)

 He left a will on 11-24-1670.  Henry is refered to as “Henry the Imagrent” .  Some people say that Henry (b. 1604) is not the son of Sir William as claimed by Jedediah & Lucius Carroll Herrick in their Herrick Genealogy.  It is said that their Henry was actually born  cr 1598.  The 1604 Henry was in the VA Colonies…however it is also said that Henry 1604  was in the VA Colonies and then came to the Massachusetts Bay Colonies.

(“The Alleged Ancestry of Henry Herrick” by Meridith Colket published in the October 1937 issue of the American Genealogist, TAG, and an article titled “Henry Herrick”  published by the NEHGS in 1995 in “The Great Migration Begins”)

 “Henry Herrick of Salem was one of seven brothers.  He was a rogue.  He impregnated a servant girl and stole a ‘considerable fortune’ and left for Jamestown.  The servant girl apparently died in passage but no records or references were found to that effect.  He stayed in Jamestown and ‘consumed his fortune on vices’.  Upon his return to England Sir William summarily put him on a ship bound for America with two of his brothers as escorts.  In Salem they paid passage to Jamestown for Henry and returned to England.   Henry used the passage money to buy a plot of land in Beverly instead of returning to Jamestown.  He apparently kept up the appearance that he had gone to Jamestown for many years because Sir William was looking for restitution of the fortune.  The Herrick family was instructed to say ‘no relation’ if they were ever contacted in regard to any Herrick in America.” –(a recollection of a letter from the owner of the Herrick Manor in Leicester to the mother of the author, Herrick J. Johnson)

 “Henry Herrick, who as has been ststed, purchased the Cherry Hill farm of Alford, was the fifth son of Sir William Herrick, of Beau Manor Park, in the Parish of Loughborough, in the County of Leicester, England.  He came first to Virginia, and then to Salem.  He was accompanied to America by another emigrant from Loughborough, named Cleveland.  Herrick became a member of the First Church at Salem in 1629, and his wife Edith about the same time.” (from “Salem Witchcraft” vol. I, p.153 by Charles W. Upham)

 “…It is well known that …Henry of Salem was a puritan, and cared little for the Church and less for the King.”

 “Henry Herrick setled on `Cape-Ann-Syde’ of Bass River, (now Beverly), on which his farm was bounded.  He purchased several farms at Birch Plains and Cherry Hill, on which he settled his sons Zacharie, Ephraim and John.  Joseph resided on Cherry Hill, where he acquired a good estate; Zacharie, Ephraim and John, at Birch Plains; Henry inherited the Homesteading, at lower Beverly, a pleasant and valuable farm, and part of which is now(1846) the property of Mrs. Anna Meacom, a widow lady, aged 93, and a lineal descendant of the fifth remove from Henry, Jr.  With the exception of this small farm, all of the realestate possessed by Henry Herrick, Senior, and his sons, has long since passed out of our name and kindred.  And here it may be remarked that, with the exception of the posterity of Zacharie, and some minor shoots from other branches, all of which have been declining for the last hundred years, the posterity of Henry of Salem have disappeared from the land of their fathers, and have become widely dispersed over the eastern, northern, and western States of the Union, while they are scarcely known or remembered in the neighborhood of their ancient plantations.” (J&L Herrick) 

Next: Henry Herrick (30)