Dwight Stiles Herrick (above image) was born in 1845 in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts from a distinguished New England family. After moving to Peekskill, Herrick taught classes at the Peekskill Military Academy from 1867 to 1870. Herrick then studied law with Edward Wells, a founder of P.M.A. Dwight became a lawyer in 1870, and later a Trustee at the Academy. Herrick's office was located at 936 South Street with his partner Stephen Lent, located on the second floor of the then Griffen and Lent Drug Store. The building is now occupied by Arthur Weeks and Son Jewelers
Dwight married Sarah Frances Simpson in 1871. She had been born in New York City, the daughter of wealthy businessman John Simpson. Mr. Simpson was at one time the owner of the Eagle Hotel on Main Street and built was is now called the Colonial Terrace (a large Victorian mansion now used as a catering establishment) on Oregon Road, just North of Peekskill. John Simpson died in the Herrick House in 1881. His estate was then valued at between $300,000 to $500,000. The Herrick's received interest from a $50,000 trust fund from his will.
Mr. and Mrs. Herrick were organizers and members of the local Handel and Hayden Music Society. During the Centennial Celebration of 1876 in Peekskill, Dwight Herrick led a chorus of 100 voices in the "National Anthem" opening the program. Dwight S. Herrick died in 1908, Mrs. Sarah Frances Herrick passed away a year later in 1909. They both are buried at Hillside Cemetery in Cortlandt.
Children of Dwight Herrick and Sarah Simpson are Bertha Frances Herrick, born 05 October 1873 in Peekskill, Westchester Co., NY, John Rutherford Herrick, born January 1876 in Peekskill, Westchester Co., NY; died January 1876 in Peekskill, Westchester Co., NY. John Rutherford Herrick, born 03 November 1878 in Peekskill, Westchester Co., NY., Ruth Herrick, born June 1887 in New York; died 1936; married Douglas Macduff.
Eldest daughter Bertha married as Mrs. Bertha Herrick Lloyd and is recorded as a widow living in the Herrick House in 1911. She and her mother were active members of the benevolent 'Dorcas Society'.
John R. Herrick is located in Manhattan in 1908. An advertisement in the Peekskill "Evening News" of 1919 indicates "Herrick and Bennett" as members of the New York Stock Exchange.
Ruth was born at 124 Union Avenue & lived there until 1912, . She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Smith College in 1909. In 1910, she married lawyer Douglas Macduff, a graduate of Peekskill Military Academy. Ruth and Douglas had two children: Ruth Nelson Macduff and Dwight Herrick Macduff. Douglas Macduff's wife, Ruth Macduff, passed away in 1936.
Ruth Nelson Macduff, continued to care for her widowed father for his remaining years while they lived on Requa Street So often did they travel throughout the world that their trips were often mentioned in the Peekskill Evening Star, Peekskill's newspaper at that time. Her father, Douglas Macduff passed away in the 1960's. Not until the 1970's did Ruth marry William F. King of Newton, Ma. They were still active in the sport of tennis & eventually settled into William King's home in Chatham, MA. , Then, in the 1980's, due to their age, moved to Newton, MA where William King passed away in 1989 & Ruth in 1991. As a philanthropist, in her last Will & Testament, Ruth requested the Peekskill Community Hospital as it was known then, be renamed the Hudson Valley Hospital Center as it is today. This was approximately in 1991.
Dwight Herrick Macduff, a few years younger than his sister Ruth, was born in Peekskill on March 28, 1917. As his father before him, he also attended & graduated from the Peekskill Military Academy, Dwight graduated from Harvard (B.A.) and Amherst (MA). He then worked for the Coca-Cola and Canada Dry companies as International Advertising Director. He married Isabel Avitia, then with their children, lived in Peekskill until the summer of 1966. Dwight Herrick Macduff retired to Chatham, Massachusetts & was laid to rest Oct 11, 1984.
Herrick's Genealogy
