Horatio G. Herrick Explained

Horatio Gates Herrick
Birth Date:October 28, 1824
Birth Place:Alfred, Maine
Death Date:April 18, 1904 (aged 79)
Death Place:Lawrence, Massachusetts
Occupation:Lawyer
Sheriff
Politician
Spouse:Isabella Sewell Paine (1848–1857; her death)
Sheriff of Essex County, Massachusetts
Term Start:1866
Term End:1893
Predecessor:James Cary
Successor:Samuel A. Johnson
Allegiance:United States of America
Union
Branch:Union Army
Serviceyears:May 1863 to October 1, 1865
Rank:Provost Marshal
Unit:6th District of MassachusettsAmerican Civil War
Alma Mater:Bowdoin College, A.B. 1844

Horatio Gates Herrick (October 28, 1824 – April 18, 1904) was an American lawyer who served as sheriff of Essex County, Massachusetts.

Early life

Herrick was born on October 28, 1824, in Alfred, Maine, to Benjamin J. and Mary (Conant) Herrick. His uncle was Joshua Herrick.

Legal career

Herrick graduated from Bowdoin College in 1844. In 1847 he was admitted to the bar and began a law practice in North Berwick, Maine. Later that year he moved to Saugus, Massachusetts, and practiced law in Boston.

Civil War

In 1862, Herrick was appointed draft commissioner for Essex County by Governor John Albion Andrew. In May 1863 he was commissioned captain and provost marshal for the Sixth District of Massachusetts by United States Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. He was mustered out on October 15, 1865.

Political career

In November 1865, Herrick was elected sheriff of Essex County. He was reelected to nine consecutive three-year terms. In 1892 Herrick refused renomination. From 1871 to 1873 he was also a member of the Massachusetts Board of Prison Commissioners.

On January 1, 1866, Herrick moved to Lawrence, Massachusetts. There he served as a member of the school board. He was also the founding president of the Industrial School for Boys and a trustee of the Lawrence Savings Bank.

Personal life and death

Herrick married Isabella Sewell Paine, daughter of John Treat Paine and Mary E. Rice (Goodwin) Paine on August 23, 1848. They had three children, Frederick St. Clair Herrick (1850–1884), John St. Clair Herrick (1855–1855), and Alice Bigelow Herrick (1856–1856). Paine died on January 12, 1857, in Saugus at the age of 26.

Herrick was an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and served a president of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Saugus Centre's Sunday school. In Lawrence he was an active member of the Haverhill Street Church.[1]

In his later years, Herrick resided with Isabel J. (Ball) Herrick, the widow of his son, Frederick St. Clair Herrick. He died on April 18, 1904, at their home in Lawrence.

Notes and References

  1. News: A Christian Gentleman. Zion's Herald. April 27, 1904.