The Herreshoff Manor: Witness to Tragedy; Part II
Following a failed farm crop in 1816, Herreshoff tries his hand at iron mining in the Adirondacks By Spring 1815, Aaron Threather, a farm hand on his wife’s farm in Providence had driven a quantity of sheep over six weeks to the John Brown Tract where they were sheltered in the 300 by 15-ft. shed that had been built. (Donaldson, Brown)
In 1815, a volcano on the island of Sumbawa would cause the following year to be “the year without a summer,” damaging farming throughout the northeast, especially to Charles Herreshoff’s 1816 crop.
In July 1814, Herreshoff wrote his daughter Sarah that he would “set up a small house early next spring, on a little elevation in view of the river to the south, and sheltered from the N. W. wind by a high hill.”
As he planned, the Manor entered history in September 1815 when Herreshoff proudly informed Sarah that he had built the “very snugg fair house.”
Workers had located lime stone so that, instead of clay, they could use it “to build our chimney and plaster the walls.”
Brown & Walton say that it was a two story house with six rooms.
Returning to the Tract in June 1816, Herreshoff viewed the results of the weather-damaged harvest of 1816.
His request to the family shipping firm for funds to start a nail factory would be denied.
In 1817, Herreshoff began his final venture, an iron industry.
A forge was built, expected to operate by November that year, and he believed he found two sources for ore.
Though Herreshoff would build an iron ore separator which became the subject of a patent dispute twenty years later, his efforts failed and his draws for additional funding were terminated.
His success depended on finding an iron source not requiring a lengthy and labor intensive process for separation ore from soil.
One of his last letters to Francis contained the phrase that “you may rely upon it that if I fail, it will be like a man, in the last trench.” (Brown & Walton)
His final act of desperation occurred on December 19, 1819.
There are two versions of this event which, until Arnold’s murder, would be recalled when travelers viewed the Manor.
One is given by J. H. French (1860) and repeated by Wallace (1889).
On the day before his death, Herreshoff instructed workers to, on the day following, fill a large hole dug in vain for seeking ore.
But one of them returned to the hole in advance to ensure no tools were forgotten and found Herreshoff hiding there, intending to be buried.
Humiliated and under suspicion, Herreshoff shot himself the next day.
The other version is that workmen came to the Manor and informed Herreshoff that flooding caused the collapse of the most recently opened mine shaft.
Dressed well as it was a Sunday, he followed them and viewed it, returned to the Manor, walked to the rear room and shot himself.
Donaldson informs us that this was recorded in a letter from Sophie Post who wrote the Herreshoff family in Providence about the event and that burial arrangements were made, including a stone.
Sophie had kept house in the Manor for Herreshoff.
Her father, John Post, helped with building the road to the tract.
Herreshoff was buried in the “Old Cemetery” located at the foot of Schuyler Street in Boonville until after the Civil War.
In March 1866, the Utica and Black River Railroad began constructing its extension north from Boonville and chose the cemetery location for its new depot.
The contract was given in March 1867 to Dr. G.P. Bridgman for transfer of the remains to the New Cemetery’s location off the present Moose River Road.
Citizen protests were mostly alleviated by Bridgman’s care in placing the remains in labeled, appropriate containers and the covering of expenses by the line’s directors.
The Old Cemetery had also fallen into disrepair. (O’Donnell)
During 1867 year, the vigilant Sophie Post contacted the Herreshoff family in Bristol, Rhode Island and arranged transfer of Herreshoff’s remains.
Herreshoff was reburied next to his wife Sarah in the North Burial Ground in Providence, Rhode Island.
Evidently, Herreshoff’s original tombstone remained and was moved to the new Boonville Cemetery.
A 1985 article indicated that its author had viewed the grave.
Only the stone remains, which reads “Charles Frederick Herreshoff Obit December 19, 1819 AET 50”. Herreshoff was 56.
With the death of Herreshoff, the Manor settlement gradually withdrew.
According to Charles Snyder, Francis hired Silas Thomas as an agent for the Township in 1821 for the purpose of again attracting settlers.
Thomas lived briefly in the Herreshoff Manor. This settlement was abandoned after a few years and for a decade the region was only visited by hunters and trappers.
According to testimony quoted by Jeptha Simms, the Manor premises were leased on May 4, 1830 by agent Caleb Lyon to David and Solomon Maybee who occupied the Manor. On February 26, 1832, they assigned the lease to Nathaniel Foster, a well known trapper and Indian fighter. Foster, his wife Jemima and son David moved into the Herreshoff Manor. Continue reading →
