HERRIMAN - FOREMAN
FAMILY PAGE
Submitted by Peggy Oberbeck
Mary Jane Foreman, the daughter of James T. Foreman and Ruth Russell,
was born November 30, 1839 in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio. She married
John Van Ransellier Herriman on December 9, 1855 in Cleveland, Ohio. He
was born on September 11, 1832 in Boston, Summit Co, Ohio. J.V. Heriman
was a veteran of the Civil War serving with the 2nd Ohio Calvary. They
brought their family of 5 children to Oconto in 1867, settling on a 40-acre
land grant, which became Little River Township. The first child, Lucy was
born in 1856.She married John Livingston and remained in Oconto. Henrietta
was born in 1858. She married Robert Burns Taylor. The third child, Gertrude
was born in 1861. She married William Walter Starkey and remained in Oconto.
James Henry was born in 1867. He married Henrietta Simmons and lived in
Smethport, Pennsylvania. His brother Arthur E. Herriman, was born in 1880
and married Laura A. Shaffer. They lived in Lycoming, Pennsylvania.
My new cousin Jim Herriman provided the family pictures and valuable information
of the Herriman, Foreman and Taylor family. Jim is the grandson of Arthur
Herriman. I will be eternally grateful for the incredible family treasures
he has shared with me. He has filled an empty space in my Family tree,
and my heart!
To
e-mail Jim Herrimann please click
HERE.
The
entire family tree is HERE
George
Foreman with the army fife he saved from the fire.For more information on the Peshtigo Fire please clickHERE.
Blue
Earth City, Faribault County, Minnesota
January
17th, 1872
Dear
Father Mother and Josie.
I wrote to you some four or five weeks ago, stating how sick Linnie
(our
boy) was and that I soon should go back to Wisconsin and leave Lucy
(Loo)
here until spring ect. and hope you receive it. Well, Linnie got
well
and on Christmas morning Lucy's sister Fanny's husband (Ves.
Varton)
and I left here for Oconto, intending to work in the finery all
winter
and was at work to Ranses (John Van Rensalear Herriman), for
$40.00
per month but the first letter I got from Loo, she was sick abed,
and
has not been able to sit up since. It is three weeks ago today
since
she was first confined to her bed. Fanny wrote to me every day
and
Loo got "very" low and some thought dangerous, and of course I got
uneasy,
and on last Thursday I left Oconto and at 9 o'clock the next day
(Friday
night) I was at home, and on Saturday Loo had another hard day,
suffered
a good deal. The Dr. came that night again and from that time
until
this morning she has been gaining slowly, but not able to sit up
yet
only as I prop her up with pillows or lift her up while her bed is
made.
I am in hopes now she will have no more bad spells but before I
go any
farther I will tell you what ails her. She has had the worst form
of intermitant
neuralgis and fever. You will remember how Mrs. Farwell
used
to suffer with her head I suppose. Well Loo has suffered more than
she
did. Dr. says her whole nervous system is prostrated and no wonder
considering
what she has passed through. She has taken a great deal of
morphine
and quinine, besides other medine, is taking one morphine
powder
a day now and the Dr. innjected morphine into her arm twice while
she
was the worst.
I believe I told you before that the old folks had gone east a
visiting.
They are coming home next Saturday. Fanny attended Loo all
the
time until I came home, but had to hire a girl to help them. Fanny
was
about done out when I got here, so you can bet they were glad to see
me.
Linnie is well and getting so cunning, talks considerable, and is
such
a buster for his age. We take lots of comfort with him I tell you.
I am thankful to you both for that $10.00 you sent I got it as
soon
as I got to Oconto, but as you have sickness more or less you need
not
to send us any more. I think if we have no more bad luck we will
get
along. "The whole country" has been sending clothing, bedding ect.
to Oconto
and I have lots of clothes and Lucy has several nice dresses
her
acquaintances gave her in Wisconsin besides quite a supply af calico
dresses
and other garments to make her comfortable, and she says, tell
your
mother how much she "loves" you and would like to see you all and
you
need not send any more of your hard earnings to us, unless we need
it more
than we do at the present, and speaks of you both and Josie too
coming
to live with us when you get old or too sick to work for
yourselves,
and says if we have a bone you shall share it with us and
you
"know of course" I agree with her in it all.
We hope Father's health is better by that time, and hope to hear
from
you soon as we have never received but the one letter from you
since
the fire, but in order to relieve your minds somewhat I will give
you
an account of the most we have received. First in Oconto and in
Dodge
Co. LeRoy and Mayville where we were married and including your
ten
dollars, we have received $93.57 in cash, as wheat which I sold for
cash,
almost three bbls flour, 9 bushell potatoes over 100 pounds pork
some
tea a little sugar, 2 gallons lard, one square No. 8 cook stove, 2
pillows
eleven (11) bed quilts some quite new, others a little ragged,
but
all very good for now grey army blankets, and two quilts saved makes
us 13
quilts and 4 blankets in all. Loo has had about 12 or more
dresses
four bran new two nice one 50 cents a yard, with velvet and nice
trimming
for one must costs seven or eight dollars, has it made bask
waist
looks real neat and nice a new balmoral new hat, shawl gaitors
some
shimmies and drawers & stockings. Linnie has a lot of woolen
and
cotton
clothes. I have received, I believe 12 coats, 2 fine nice ones
for
sunday one nice "almost" bran new "overcoat" worth at least $12, and
several
"good" ones for every day and one or two ragged ones, but all
will
come good and as near as I can count up now I have eleven pair of
pants
some nice for Sunday some nice for every day and others that
have
a good deal of ware in them or fit to cut up for Linnie. I have
something
less than a dozen vests, two hats & a cap seven pairs of socks
two
pair new "very nice" and "all" good ones, some eight shirts I
believe,
two have made from new cloth and have over 4 yds of nice
flannel
to make another,and the rest are all good ones, some nice
undershirts,
and some 4 pair of drawers, two pair Loo made from an old
woolen
dress given her, but they are good ones, but in coming home (I
forgot
that Ves Varton [John Dillivan Dayton, his brother-in-law] did
not
come back with me) I pawned my flour and potatoes for a certain
lenght
of time to get money to come with. Father gave us 100 lbs pork,
and
I bought the balance of the hog from him for 4 cents per pound, got
about
4 gallons lard out of it and took it all to Oconto with us when I
went,
had about 300 lbs pork in the bbl. It is in Oconto now. I forgot
to say
I got one good bed tick.
Lucy has been very anxious to write you "all" a long letter
concerning
the fire but has not had time nor been able, and has
requested
me to every day since I got home, and I will give you a pretty
good
account, as you have I suppose like many others a good deal that
you
can't understand about the fire. First of all we had a long
drought
very "dry". Where I cut a small piece of wild land on my place
in July,
ankle deep in water, some weeks after I had to dig six foot to
get
water for the cow. This is in a little swamp "always Wet."
The
R.R.
was put though 2 miles east of us, and they burned as they went,
and
having no rain the fires never went out, hanging all summer to old
logs
roots in the ground etc. For weeks we could only see the sun a few
hours
in the middle of the day it was so "very smoky" it fairly made our
eyes
ache (for miles around I mean) then after the frost in the fall the
leaves
fell and my nearest neighbor (that was lost with his wife and 3
girls)
once remarked that if we got no rain before all the leaves were
down
there would be an awful fire. My neighbor had fire around him for
weeks
and it came down the woods and brush fence in front of our house
and
fires were running in the woods in many places was all around Johns
and
Ranse's, [John Barton and John Van Rensselaer Herriman, J. V.
Herriman
was George's brother-in-law and my g-grandfather] and on that
Sunday
fire was running gradually from Rans's towards my place in the
leaves,
and I went away that day some five hours and when I came back I
found
the fire marching a long in the leaves like an army in a line of
battle,
over my place going straight towards the house. Ranse and Mary
[J.V.
Herriman and Mary Jane Foreman Herriman, George's sister] were
there,
and Rans and my neighbor (Mr. Cook) had been pulling some of my
corn
stocks into the field away from the fence as the fire was getting
close
by and would burn the corn when once in the fence. As soon as I
got
home I took the broom and parted the leaves nearly acrost the 40
acres
and checked the fire. I worked hard you bet, but the fire hung
to logs
roots etc., so when about 7 oclock in the evening the wind was
very
stronge and the fire swept acrost the path I had swept and moved on
rapidly.
I tried once more to check it but nearly suffocated and gave
it up,
and went to the house and draged the tool chest out to the well
which
was about 30 foot from the door, also your cousin Hannah's chest
and
our valice. Loo told me to put the watch into the chest which I
did.
I put our clothes on one of the beds, and Loo packed up some of
the
dishes. I carried water and threw on to the hay and barley stack,
and
then Loo and I threw water on to the house & all around it. Cook
was
there at 7, went home a few moments, then came back to see how we
were
getting along urged us to go home with him, and as he passed by the
house
he said to Loo, "Come Lucy now and I will save you." She said,
"No,
Ed, I will stay with George and if he dies I will die with him."
And
that is the last that was ever seen of poor Ed Cook. By the time the
wind
was a perfect gale almost. The wind blew the hay up so sparks
blowed
into it and and in a moment the stack was in flames blowing
towards
the house. I was doing something close to the house, forgot
what
now, when Loo hollowed and I ran in and the house was in flames
inside
in the roof. I grabbed the clothing with one quilt off from the
bed
run into the garden with it, and spread the quilt over them and put
a pail
of water on the quilt, and ran back to Loo. She grabbed two
quilts
and threw over her and Linnie and we went to the well, and I had
Loo
stooped down behind the tool chest and I wet the ground all around
her
but it seemed too terrible to stand it there, so I said "let us to
the
Cooks." I took Linnie and one quilt and Loo wet her feet and dress
and
we started but before we had got 50 foot, I saw that we would
suffocate
long before we could get there, and I said, "Come back! Come
back!"
and went back past well and stopped in the garden, and Loo
stooped
down took Linnie and I carried two pails of water and threw over
her,
and by that time I was so full of smoke and heat I said, "My God.
I can
carry no more we must die right here!" Loo said, "No.
Let us go
to the
well." I said, "No. I and never get there." She said,
"Yes. I
can
carry Linnie." We were then probably 30 feet from the well, so I
said,
"Come on" and made a rush for the well. I jumped in and braced my
feet
acrost the well, reached up and took Linnie and then Loo came in
and
down my leg and dropped to the bottom. Then I went down and gave
her
Linnie, and seemed to breathe a little easier for a moment, but as
soon
as I gave the baby to her I rushed up out of the well and tore the
curo
and the covering of the well away and pitched it to one side so it
would
not burn and fell into the well on our heads. Then I jumped down
again,
and O! what a "roaring" like thunder, and how the fire and smoke
blew
down the well. I shall never forget. I threw water on our heads
and
back. The water was about 30 inches deep and cold. One spark
some
where
lit on the baby's nose and he wore a scab for a while and Loo
thought
he was dying in the garden once, undoubtedly would had we not
kept
him covered up. He squealed some when I threw cold water on him,
and
when Loo got into the well she threw the two quilts in, and after an
half
hour or so I had gulped a tremenous amount of wind from y stomach
and
felt better, and I climbed to the top and peeked out and said, "O
Loo
the tool chest is not on fire," and she said, "Take one of these wet
quilts
out of the bottom of the well and spread it over it" and I done
so,
and while up on the ground I saw a small box and our valice and I
threw
them down the well and got Loo on to them so she was out of the
water.
Then I noticed the Hannah chest open and shut it. Then I open
it again
to get something out when about a shovel full of fire blew in
and
things commended to smoke so I emptied the chest right into the
well.
It contained Little Adas clothes presents and the watch and
various
other little things. My army fife was in it. Then I drew up
water
and threw on the bed quilt that was over the tool chest several
times
during a period of ome 4 hours, during which time Loo got very
cold
and after about 4 hours I thought Loo could stand it on land and I
got
her out after considerable hard work she was so exhausted. Then I
got
out the valice which was on the box and not much wet, and Loo's
flannels
were in it, and she changed her clothes by the remains of the
house,
I keeping the sparks off from back while she done so. That is,
she
put on those flannels. Then we took the quilt off from the chest
which
was dry after all the water I had put on it, and spread it on the
ground
and lay there until morning. O! no one knows how we suffered
with
our eyes, nearly smoke out of our heads.
The wind blew strong all night but nothing to what it did when we
went
into the well. Hattie was in the chest and was saved, and all of
Ada's
long clothes and most of what she had before she died. Her moreno
cloak
was lost. I think it blew out of the chest when it blew open,
also
Loo's black silk shawl. We saved the knives and forks & silver
spoons
& butter knife some 8 or 9 tea cups and 4 or five saucers.
I
believe
that is about all.
During the night several times I whistled and yelled "all right" to
Cook's
folks, thinking to encourage them. You see the fire blew from
our
place to theirs, consequently we all thought it safer at his place
then
at ours. He had an outdoor cellar which they all went into, and
after
daylight Loo urged me to go and see about them, thinking that if
there
were safe he would have been over to see us before that time. So
I groped
my way over, being almost "blind", and I could find no trace of
them,
only I saw the cellar was caved in and I knew at once that they
were
in it. So I returned told Loo and we started south toward John's.
I was
bare headed and in shirt sleeves excepting a part of one of my
blouses
I found next morning. The smoke was mo[s]t awful thick and I
could
hardly follow the road, so much fallen timber and so near blind.
Got
to John Bartons (His nearest neighbor) and found them safe. Soon
after
went to John's and was there until Thursday, when we left for
Dodge
Co. [where Lucy's parents lived]. [I believe "John's", refers to
John
V. Herriman. On the 1870 census the Barton's and Foreman's, and
Herriman's
are on page two of Oconto Township {later Little River},
families
10, 11, and 12 respectively. It does not appear that the fire
hit
the Herriman house, only a small distance away]
Where I put our cloths next morning was a pile of pins and buttons all
that
left of them. Tuesday I cleaned out the well and took care
of the
things
tool chest and other things are safe at Mary's. Out two hogs
suffocared
and were badly burned and never gave out one squeal. Our
poor
little puppy howled just one and was burned up in the house. All
the
chickens perished. Some I saw around the field with not a feather
left
on them, all burned off. Cook's heifer was with our cow and when
the
wind commenced to blow I let them into the clearing, and when we
started
for the well they started back through the fire an dare alive
today.
The cow was badly burned, so I got $5.00 for her. My turnips
and
potatoes were were principally baked in the ground.
I can tell you I was almost gone when we went for the well (it was
13 feet
deep). Loo says she will never forget how I looked. One moment
more
and I should have fallen, and had I done so, Loo & Linnie would
have
died too, for had they got down the well the curb would have burned
and
suffocated them.
You may ask, as others have, why didn't we throw our things down
the
well. If we had and stopped our access to the water we would
surely
have been lost. Some people ask was there no plowed fields in
which
people could save themselves. I know of those that were in the
fields
half a mile from the woods and died there of suffacation. Just
imagine
the whole heavens a dense body of smoke, and "Millions" of
sparks
and coals of fire flying through the air and then think of some
place
to run to, and you have an idea of what it was that night. To be
sure,
many were saved one way and another, while several hundred [1200]
perished.
You may ask what I done with all my money. $40.00 was used for me
to go
to Oconto and back here, and it was while back there I got the
most
of those cloths, so considerable money was spent before some for
medicine
and clothes and some for travling etc.
Loo has not been well since the fire to speak of and the neighbors
here
thought Linnie would never get well but we have the very best kind
of Dr.
here. Linnie was just 7 months old the day of the fire. My
old
English
leather pocket book with those English letters is safe. If you
have
any neighbors who anxious to know more about the fire read this to
them
and write as soon as you get this. Loo sends her love to all, and
I send
same. Address as I headed this letter.
From
your affectionate son
Geo
Foreman
Jan.
18. Loo has had another attack of headache today. O! how she
has
suffered.
The Dr. was here again. She is very weak and sick. I will
write
again soon but you write when you get this. George.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
The preceeding is an exact rendering of the copy
of the "Fire Letter" that my Grandfather, A. E. Herriman, past on to us.
The only conscience difference is that where George underlined a word I
have put the word in parenthesis, due to software.
What follows is the location of the land George was homesteading. It is now located in Marinette Co. Wisconsin.
Patentee Name: Foreman, George
Accession Number: WI1780__.422
State: Wisconsin
Volume: 1780
Page: 422
Document Number: 437
Land Office: Menasha
Aliquot Part Reference: SESE
Section Number: 12
Township: 29 North
Range: 21 East
Meridian/Survey Area: Fourth Principal Meridian
Misc. Document Number: 626
Act/Treaty Authorizing Sale: Homestead Entry
Orig.
Date Signed: May 15, 1876
Acreage: 40.00
The Foreman family survived the Peshtigo Fire. George Foreman took
his family to Blue Earth City, Minnesota after the fire. They eventually
settled in Cisco, Eastland County, Texas. Lucy “Loo” died at the age of
40 in 1886. George died in 1917. He was 75 years old. “Linnie” lived in
Crescent City, California and died at the age of 74 in 1945.
BACK
TO THE OCONTO COUNTY HOME PAGE