_Luther BALIS ________+
| (1774 - 1824) m 1797
_Abiah Palmer BALIS _|
| (1802 - 1857) |
| |_Patience HORTON _____
| (1770 - 1836) m 1797
|
|--Caroline BALIS
| (1839 - ....)
| _Hendrick CLAUW ______
| |
|_Maria H. CLOUGH ____|
(1800 - 1881) |
|_Polly MCNEAL MCLEAN _
__
|
_John CARTER ________|
| (1616 - 1692) m 1642|
| |__
|
|
|--Abigail CARTER
| (1648 - 1718)
| __
| |
|_Elizabeth KENDALL __|
(1613 - 1691) m 1642|
|__
_____________________
|
_____________________|
| |
| |_____________________
|
|
|--Humphrey DE BOHUN
| (1220 - ....)
| _____________________
| |
|_Maud DE LUSIGNAN ___|
(1208 - ....) |
|_Alice D'EU _________+
(1180 - ....)
_Ephraim DERRICK ____+
| (1756 - 1832) m 1786
_Bybie Luke DERRICK _|
| (1795 - 1865) m 1820|
| |_Elizabeth GUSTIN ___+
| (1760 - 1845) m 1786
|
|--Delia E. DERRICK
| (1821 - ....)
| _____________________
| |
|_Statira FELTON _____|
(1803 - 1884) m 1820|
|_____________________
_Ephraim DERRICK ____+
| (1756 - 1832) m 1786
_Rodolphus Donaldus DERRICK _|
| (1793 - 1860) m 1817 |
| |_Elizabeth GUSTIN ___+
| (1760 - 1845) m 1786
|
|--Franklin H. DERRICK
| (1824 - 1905)
| _William SHELDON ____+
| | (1766 - 1841) m 1784
|_Lorinda SHELDON ____________|
(1797 - 1874) m 1817 |
|_Diadama SAXTON _____+
(1767 - 1838) m 1784
[1359]
!1880 census lists Frank, Mary Ann, "Peter", and a farm worker, Albert Baxter, age 20.
!From Ida Klumb article
"Cows were pastured in the wild woods and it was the duty of the boys to find them and bring them home for milking in the evening. Many times it would be dark before they could be found, sometimes several miles from home."
!from Bell Ten Eyck:
"Jacob Ten Eyck, my grandfather, came from Canada and bought 540 acres of Rudolphus Derrick. He built a house just west of the Clarence bridge on the south side of the road.
!From Ida Klumb: "His son, Franklyn Derrick, father of Frank Derrick, built the house on the hill."
!From the 1884 History of Green County:
"Franklin H. who owns the homestead was born in Erie Co. NY Jan 1824 and was in his sixteenth year when he came to Green County. In 1850 he went to California, by overland route returning by Nicaragua Route, after residence of two years in the land of gold.
!He was sheriff of Green County from 1873 to 1875, during which time he lived in Monroe the county seat. Til his removal to Brodhead in Sept 1888, except two years in California and his two years in Monroe, he had been a constant resident of the Homestead farm since his fatrher's settlement there in 1841."
!From Wayne Olsen:
From "History of Green County", by Helen M. Bingham, Milwaukee; Burdickand Armitage, 1877:
As of 1876, F.H. Derrick listed as one of largest farmers in Spring Grove with 207 acres.
Was also listed as town official for 3 years between 1849 and1877.
!Additional source: LDS IGI - 2 entries for birth (SLAKE and ALBERtemples): BA: 8107107 84 So: 1260850 and Ba: 7611707 50 So: 1058390
!Listed in LDS Ancestral File: ID (1J42-ZS)
!1850 WI census for Spring Grove lists F.H. Derrick age 27, occupation farmer, although not owning land. Also living with them was Harriet's mother Mary Boslaw, age 53, and listed as owner of 1000 acres.
Franklin H. Derrick
1824 – 1905
Clarence Hollow, New York – Brodhead, Wisconsin
November 22, 2009
Dear children,
Tonight I'm going to tell you the story of your great great great great grandfather, Franklin H. Derrick. I don't know what the H. stood for. He was Mary L. Derrick's father. She's the one you're never never to forget (!) Like his father before him Franklin H. was an industrious, bright, highly respected member of his community. We'll get to that part in a minute.
Franklin was the fourth child of Rodolphus Derrick and Lorinda Sheldon. They were both from families whose roots went back to the very early days of the colonies. On Lorinda's side we can trace the roots back from the colonies to English royalty and William the Conqueror himself. When Franklin H. (and I'm referring to him as Franklin H. because he had a very successful son whose name was Franklin R. and I don't want you to get mixed up.) when Franklin H. was 16 he moved with his family from New York, where he was born, to the fertile prairie land of south central Wisconsin, west of what is now Janesville. That was in 1840. Franklin H. and his family helped to build the little town of Clarence, named after the town they came from in New York.
There are several accounts of life in the early days of settlement of Clarence, Wisconsin, near the Sugar River, named for the white sand that could be seen through the water and looked like sugar. This first group of stories I want you to hear were written down by Bell TenEyck Fleming whose grandfather had come as a settler and bought land from Franklin H's father.
“ Before there was a bridge, Grandfather TenEyck built a canoe out of logs in which he brought people across the river that had no other way. Later, a bridge was built, but every winter it would wash out. Derrick (This refers to Franklin R.) says that once when it had gone out they built a raft of logs and had a couple of pulleys in which ropes were run. They would take hold of the rope and pull the raft to their side, then all would get on, the smallest children were made to sit down and the older ones would manage the raft. It would float down with the current as far as it could go, and then they would pull on another rope to bring them to the other side. He says many a morning they went to school that way and as he thinks of it now, he wonders how it happened none of them drowned..”
How would you like to ride a raft like that when you go to school? Here's another story from Bell.
"Grandmother Ten Eyck was an invalid in the latter part of her life. She never tired of relating incidents of the early settlements. Especially of Peter Emel, the Frenchman, and his Indian wife, who often called. They would follow Mrs. Ten Eyck to the chamber, cellar, or garden, when she would supply them with meat or other eatables. She told of the herds of deer that bounded through the brush and thicket that then surrounded the place, and of the wild turkey that came and gobbled near the door, feeding from the corn they found. Kate Taylor said she could remember seeing 30 deer at one time.
“The log house that grandfather built had no doors or windows -only places cut for them and blankets were hung up at the door. (There was no saw mill.) All slept in the loft, or up stairs reached by a ladder, and after all were up, the ladder was drawn up so the wolves could not reach them. Kate (daughter of Jacob TenEyck) said she could see wolves everywhere, their eyes shining in the dark ... Kate was the first white child born in Clarence ...”
Franklin H's father built a sturdier house that you can read about in Rodolphus's story, but I thought you'd like to hear what the neighborhood was like.
Most of the native Americans had been run out of this part of Wisconsin in the Blackhawk War only eight years before Franklin H. arrived with his family, but there were still a few left. The following 2 stories are about those few. The first is also from Bell TenEyck Fleming
"In the spring the Indians camped along the Sugar River. They came to fish and hunt. The men and women walked, their tents and other things were fastened to long poles. One end was held up by the pony and the other dragged on the ground. One winter there was a sickness among them and nothing to eat. Someone came and told Grandfather Ten Eyck and he sent word back for them to bring their ponies and he would help them. They came and he loaded their ponies with meat, vegetables, bread and straw. The children that died, they hung up in the trees down near the bridge where the park is now. They were left there through the winter and the next spring they came for them, but they never came again to camp."
Can you imagine going out to feed the chickens in the morning and seeing dead children up in the trees? Why do you think they did this? I think it was because the ground was so hard frozen they couldn't bury them and they didn't want the wolfs and coyotes to eat them.
And this story is from Helen Beckwith.
“This tree is a burr oak standing south of HWY 81 on land once owned by Charles A. Warner...His son well remembers the Indian chief who twice a year with some members of his tribe camped on the bank of the Sugar River where it flowed through Warner land... When [the son] was a little boy, about 1867, he can remember the Indian chief standing at the door of his father's blacksmith shop, where he had come to get a gun and some other things repaired, and saying, 'You no cut that tree!' and pointing to the burr oak, which still stands alone. The Indian then explained to Mr. Warner that the tree marked for the Indians the point which was one half way between the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes.
The Indians walking single file, one foot directly in front of the other, had worn the trail down through the sod. The tree was then about the size of a stove pipe. The bark was hacked in many places by Indian tomahawks. One year during an unusual drought nearly all the leaves died. At another time the tree was found one morning stripped of all its leaves by grasshoppers. Mr. Warner promised it should stand and it has. The Indian trail wound from the northeast to the southwest. Mr. Warner, coming home one day, announced that the Indians were quite accurate, as the middle point had been located at Magnolia."
In 1846 when Franklin H. was 22. he married the girl next door, Harriet Boslow. Harriet had come to Wisconsin with her family from Canada in 1845. One of her grandfathers was a famous Canadian circuit rider, the other was a Loyalist soldier that went to Canada at the end of the Revolutionary War. Their first child, Theodore James, was born in 1848, the same year Harriet's father died. Franklin H. and Harriet then lived in the Boslow home with Harriet's mother, called Aunt Polly. Franklin R. was born two years later in May of 1850. Then Franklin H did something very interesting. He took off for the Gold Rush!
You've probably heard of the Gold Rush that began after gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill in California in 1848. Over 300,000 people from all over the world rushed to California to strike it rich mining and panning for gold. Your gggggrandfather, Franklin R. Derrick was one of them. Just like his father before him Franklin left a wife and 2 babies. And just like her mother-in-law Lorinda, Harriet probably wasn't too happy about it. Fortunately for Harriet she was surrounded by a strong
community of friends and family to help her through the two years that her husband was gone. Franklin H.'s father had only taken off for one year. Fanklin H. took two years. It took him five months to travel overland to California. He returned home in 1852, first traveling south to Nicaragua, then sailing to New Orleans, taking a steamer up river to Cincinnati, then on to Wisconsin, perhaps by stagecoach. I don't know how much gold he found. Most of the 300,000 did not strike it rich. However, when his father died in 1860, Franklin H. was able to buy the 400 acre homestead.
Franklin H's brother-in-law, Thomas Condon Boslow, also went to the Gold Rush. It's very likely they went together. After the gold rush, Franklin H. settled down and became a pillar of the community. He and his growing family lived in the original log homstead that Rodolphus Derrick had built. Franklin H. and Harriet had five more babies; Mary in 1853, Levi in 1855, Harriet in1858, Flora in 1859, and Paul in 1862. Flora only lived to the age of two. At some point Franklin H. built a large home on the hill north of the original log home which he sold. His wife Harriet died in 1871 at the age of just 49. A year later Franklin H. married Mary Ann Williams Northrup.
In 1887 after his daughter Mary and her husband, John Balis, had both died, Franklin H. and his wife took ten year old Flora to raise. Flora became your grandfather's (Paul Stevens') grandmother. Flora lived with them until she married Ed Stevens in 1899. At different times in his life Franklin H. had his mother and his mother-in-law living with him. There were few nursing homes. When parents got too old to fend for themselves, they went to live with their children. Or often, as in Franklin H's case, the father would die first and a child would get to live in the family home if they agreed to care for the aging mother. And if a child's parents died, other relatives would agree to raise them. Franklin H. got it from all sides. His father-in-law died and he inherited the care of his mother-in-law for 20 years. His daughter died and he inherited the care of his granddaughter for 12 years. His father died and he inherited the care of his mother for 13 years. Franklin H. Derrick was a good family man!
During his lifetime Franklin H. was also a prosperous farmer, businessman, and civic leader. He was the county Sheriff at one time and served as chairman of the town board a number of times. When he retired from farming in 1883 he helped to establish the first cheese factory in Brodhead, becoming its treasurer.
Franklin H. died the 7th of September 1905, in Brodhead, Wisconsin having lived a very full and satisfying life.
Now I'm going to tell you a little bit about his children.
Theodore James, the 1st child of Franklin H. and Harriet Boslow Derrick, served in the 18th Wisconsin Infantry during the Civil War. He farmed with his father until he and his wife left to homestead in McCracken, Kansas. From there he moved on to Jolly, Texas. Theodore and his wife, Ellen Jones Purdy, had a daughter, Jessie May, who died suddenly at the age of 10. Mary Derrick Balis wrote about her in the poem, “To the Memory of Little Susie, May, and Ina.” Tid, as he was called, and Ellen never had another child of their own, however, after the deaths of Mary and John Balis, they took their six-year-old niece, Mabel. Tid lived to be 80 years old.
Franklin R, the 2nd child of Franklin H. and Harriet Boslow Derrick, grew up to become a lawyer and a dentist. He was very well liked and highly respected in the town of Brodhead where he resided his entire adult life. He was tall and rugged looking that made him the perfect candidate to impersonate Abraham Lincoln and Uncle Sam which he did regularly. He married Arabella Nancy Moore, called Belle. They had one child, Sue, who was the third of three little Derrick girls to die in 1884, celebrated in Mary's poem. Frank and Belle never had another child either. They did help with Mary's six orphans, and tried to take Mabel, but it didn't work out and she went to live with Uncle Tid. Shortly before his death in 1928 Frank was asked to write a piece for the Brodhead Independent Register about the building of the Sugar River covered bridge. I'm copying the full article here.
“F.R.DERRICK TELLS OF BUILDING COVERED BRIDGE Your request that I furnish you a short history of the locally famous "Covered Bridge" that spans Sugar River at a point on State Highway No. 61, three miles southwest of this city, was a very happy guess. As a fifteen-year old boy, I assisted in building it. My father had the contract to supply and drive the heavy piling at each bank upon which the super-structure rests. My immediate business was to keep Old Maje (Old Maje was an old farm horse) going 'round and 'round on the capstan that raised the hammer on the pile driver. "Old Maje" and I completed our part of the job first, as we necessarily had to do. It was in the early fall of 1864 that the bridge was started.
“It was built by a contractor from Racine by the name of Hulburt and was the only bridge built of that exact model. Originally it spanned the full width of the river; about one hundred and fifty feet and had a sixteen foot driveway. It was raised on the ice and the fact that it was an exceptionally fine season for late fall work was a helpful factor. As it was, the early spring weather with its resultant high water forced the contractor to rush the cutting away of the under pinning before he was quite ready to do so. No serious results followed, however.
“Soon the anxious watchfulness of the township supervisors discovered that the tremendously heavy super-structure was slowly settling. The crown of eight inches had settled down to about five as I remember it. They called the contractor up from Racine and although he had been paid in full and the work accepted, he strengthened the work by spiking heavy arches on the inside of each side of the frame. They were made by beveling the ends of two by twelve planks in such a way that it keyed one against the other. Two thicknesses of material were spiked in this way, requiring thousands of feet of lumber. This seemed to be all that was needed for some time. Later, however, it was very evident that it was still settling and the township supervisors still further strengthened it by putting in suspending rods on each side of two inch material, running from the top of each end bent slantwise down through the whole timber works, out to about one quarter of the length of the bridge. The rods were then run along the bottom of the frame-work until they met in the center and were screwed up perfectly tight; thus forming two great iron slings within which the bridge rested.
“It was left in this way for several years, but the crown of eight inches almost entirely went out, leaving the floor of the bridge about level. It was at this time that the town decided to do what should have been done in the first place, put a heavy abutment in the middle of the river. This was done many years ago, as were the old piling supports at each end changed for modern concrete ones. It looked to me like a reflection on the work and the engineering that "Old Maje" and I did back there in the sixties but it made a real bridge of it.
“Within a few years after it was built it was enclosed and roofed. It was never painted. It stands there today, a monument of that past that tried the souls and muscles of those old pioneers. Modernism has found the old bridge too narrow and demands that it be torn down and replaced by a wider more elaborate and expensive one. There is a demand for more room on the road today than was needed when that old bridge was built. It is looked upon as a grievance today to be obliged to wait an opportunity to dodge by or over or under another auto.
“It would be almost sacrilegious to think of dismantling the old bridge. It stands on Highway 61 about three miles southwest of Brodhead and is well worth quite a detour to pass through it and listen to the rumbling echoes of that long ago. It is at the extreme point of "Pine Bluff" along whose rugged base the beautiful Sugar River wends its way.
“The immediate surroundings are interesting. East of the bridge about a quarter of a mile, is the deserted site of what was once quite a village; with its store, tavern, blacksmith shops and last but not least - the old stone schoolhouse. The old schoolhouse has been replaced by a very modern one but the ghosts of the old "Clarence Schoolhouse" haunt the memories of the few who, as children, attended school there in those garnered golden years of which we have so many pleasant recollections.
“Sugar River itself is no less famous than the covered bridge that spans it. Back in the eighties, during the fresh-water pearl excitement, it was known as the most promising pearl fishing waters of the west. Hundreds of persons spent days, and some of them months, combing the bottom of the river with pearling rakes, ever hoping to secure the largest pearl that had ever been found. Some very beautiful and very valuable pearls were found.
" 'Pine Bluff' of which the extreme southern point is shown in the photo of the bridge, is also an historic landmark of the region. It derives its name from the score or so of large pine trees that cling to the almost bare sand rock that rises from the river at its base. This bluff was once the gathering place of the native Indians of the region. The writer well remembers the bands of Indians that every spring passed north along the river. They usually divided, part ascending the river by canoes, and part with ponies wending their way along the bank.
“It was usually a self-imposed 'half holiday' when the word was passed around that the Indians were going by. Poor, dirty remnant of a once mighty people; their star had truly set, and in a few years they ceased entirely to follow the old waterways and trails along the banks of the beautiful Sugar River.
“These are the garrulous jottings of one who as a boy crossed the river hundreds of times, both before and after the 'Covered Bridge' was built, a boy who swam and fished and skated on the river, a boy for whom the wintergreen beds of 'Pine Bluff' were familiar spots and Arbutus blossoms of early spring his personal spoils.
“You must pardon me for the length of the communication. It is not I who am guilty of the infliction - it is the reincarnation of that boy - barefooted, excepting 'stone bruises' - naked except for 'Hickory' shirt, 'Denim' overalls, 'Home made galluses' and an old 'chip hat.' Gun on shoulder or fishing rod in hand, he spent a joyous youth shooting wild pigeons on Pine Bluff, or catching monster black bass all through the 'open season' that ran without interference from August first to August first next. Should I ever see that boy, I will charge him with being a criminal deserving of severe punishment; but he has secured quite a start of me and I fear I shall never overtake him.”
Mary Lorinda, the 3rd child of Franklin H. and Harriet Boslow Derrick, is our ancestor. She has her own story.
Levi F., the 4th child of Franklin H. and Harriet Boslow Derrick married Mary Simmons. They homesteaded in McCracken, Kansas with Levi's brother Theodore. Levi and Mary raised a family of two daughters, Harriet and Maud.
Harriet F., the 5th child of Franklin H. and Harriet Boslow Derrick, married Junius Lamson . Harriet and Junius and their family homesteaded in Harlan County, Nebraska about the same time as Mary and John Balis. Junius was the schoolmaster at the Balis children's sod school for awhile.
Flora L., the 6th child of Franklin H. and Harriet Boslow Derrick, died as a two-year-old.
Paul Erwin, the 7th child of Franklin H. and Harriet Boslow Derrick, became rich and famous in the advertising business, making Quaker Oats a household word. He and his wife, Adelaide Bowen, never had children. When they retired they came back to the land of their childhood and built a beautiful brick home in Brodhead which they called Panda Lodge.
So this is the story of your great great great great grandfather, Franklin H. Derrick He came to settle the Wisconsin prairie with his birth family when the last of the Native Americans were still here. He was part of the 1849 Gold Rush. He and his wife raised a large family and cared for numerous other family members for many years. He was a prosperous Wisconsin farmer, and contributed much to his community.
Here's how we are related to Franklin H. Derrick. Franklin H. had Mary L. Derrick. Mary L. had Flora Lulu Derrick. Flora had Harold Balis Stevens. Harold had Paul Robert Stevens. Paul had Dawne Irene Stevens. Dawne had ... Sarah, Hannah, Timmy, and Becky.
So Hooray for our ancestor, Franklin H. Derrick!
Love,
Granny
Line 7 Dwelling # 100 Household # 104
F H Derrick age 27 farmer b. NY
Harriet " 29 U Canada
Theodore " 2 WI
Franklin " 1/12 WI
Mary Boslow 53 New Brunswick real estate value $1000
[1363]
Living next door is FHDerricks brother Alonzo Derrick & family.
In the next house is FHDerrick's Uncle Nathaniel B. Condon.
Living with the Condons is FH's Uncle Morris Derrick.
It is recorded that Franklin H. Derrick bought the homestead after his father died in 1860 and that the property was farmed by his sons Theodore and Levi. However, Theodore joined the army in 1865 and Levi moved on to the town of McCracken in Rush County, Kansas. Franklin H. continued to farm in Green County until he retired in 1883, but most likely (to judge from the sale records), it seems that he was probably in a different location than the old Derrick homestead.
Loranda (FH's mother) kept Scott until he became a young man. After this, she went to live with Franklin Derrick who had built a large home on the hill north of the old log home. Loranda resided here until 1872, when Franklin moved to Monroe, Green County. This city was the county seat and Franklin had been elected sheriff.
Quoting from the History of Green County (1901):
Franklin H. Derrick was 14 years of age when he came with his parents to Wisconsin and he has lived continuously in Green County since that time, with the exception of two years which he spent in California engaged in mining. He crossed the plains in 1850, taking five months to make the journey. In 1852 he returned home by way of the isthmus and on a sailing vessel to New Orleans, where he took a steamer for Cincinnati. He farmed until 1883, when he retired. Mr. Derrick attended the district school one winter after coming to the West. He lived at home until his father's death, when he bought the entire homestead of four hundred acres, but has since sold it.
Mr. Derrick and Miss Harriet Boslow were married November 18, 1846. She was the daughter of John and Mary (Condon) Boslow, and became the mother of seven children: Theodore James, Franklin R., Levi F., Mary L., Harriet L., Flora L., and Paul E. Theodore James lives at Jolly, Texas; he married Mrs. Ellen Purdy. Franklin R. lives at Brodhead, and is the husband of Miss Belle Moore. Levi F. married Miss Mary Simmons, and lives at McCracken, Kansas; they have two children, Edna and Maud. Paul E. married Miss Adeline Bowen, and lives in the city of New York. Mary L. married John C. Balis, and both are dead; they were the parents of six children (Franklin T., Robert, Ernest, Mary L, Hattie, and Mabel). Flora L. died at the age of two years. Mrs. Harriet A. Derrick died October 22, 1871, at the age of 49. She was a member of the Methodist Church. Mr. Derrick married Mrs. Mary A. Northrup, September 17, 1872. She was thw widow of Sylvester Northrup and the daughter of Sanford Williams. Mr. and Mrs. Derrick are members of the Methodist Church, where he serves on the board of trustees. He was formerly a Republican, but is now a Prohibitionist. He was sheriff from 1873 to 1875, and a chairman of the town board a number of terms. He was a member of the Brodhead Lodge, I.O.O.F., No. 123, in 1867. He has a good home in Brodhead, and is reckoned among the leading citizens in the town and county.
Since Green County is famous to this day as a great center of cheese production, it is interesting that some of the Derricks were prominent in this business
Since Green County is famous to this day as a great center of cheese production, it is interesting that some of the Derricks were prominent in this business more than a century ago. The first cheese factory in Brodhead was put in operation 20 May 1879 by J. W. Westlake, proprietor. Later, a stock company was organised in 1883 by seventeen stockholders, including Paul and Franklin H. Derrick. The latter was treasuer of the company, whild Paul was the salesman. The factory was located in the northwest corner of Section 11. In its early operations it used 5,000 pounds of milk per day.
Line 30 Dwelling # 148 Household # 148
Derrick, F.H. age 46 farmer Real Estate = $15,000 b. NY
Harriet 48 Canada
Theodore 22 farmer WI
Frank 20 in school WI
Mary 17 in school WI
Levi 15 in school WI
Harriet 13 in school WI
Peter 8 in school WI
Lorinda 78 NY
From Commemorative Biographical Record of the Counties of Rock, Green, Grant, Iowa and Lafayette Wisconsin, publ. 1901- page 355-356
FRANKLIN H. DERRICK, of Brodhead, Green county, is a retired farmer, and is passing his last days in this beautiful little inland city. He has lived a useful life, worked hard, and is now enjoying a competence for which he has rendered an honest equivalent in brain and brawn.
Mr. DERRICK was born in Erie county, N.Y., Jan. 26, 1824, and is a son of Rodolphus D. and Lorinda (Sheldon) DERRICK, natives of Vermont and New York, respectively. Eight children were born to them, of whom two are now living: Franklin H.; and Elvira, the widow of Levi DERRICK, of Henderson, Neb. The father was a farmer, and during his active years cleared several heavily timbered farms in his native State. He came to the West in 1838 to make his home, though he had already been out two years before and bought land in Green county, Wis. In 1840 he broke land on this farm, and the following year moved his family to it, and made it his home as long as he lived. He died in 1860, at the age of sixty-seven, and his widow died fourteen years later, at the age of seventy-seven, lacking one month. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and in his mature years, a leading man in his community. He was one of the three county commissioners in Green county at an early day, held several town offices, and was on the county board at different times. His father, Ephraim DERRICK, was a native of Vermont, of English lineage. He was a Revolutionary soldier, and drew a pension. He died in New York at the age of seventy-seven. His grandfather, John DERRICK(1), born in England in 1833, came to America in 1674, and died at the age of one hundred and eight years. The maternal grandfather of the subject of this article was William Sheldon. He was a farmer in New York, reared a family of eleven children, and reached the age of seventy-five.
Franklin H. DERRICK was fourteen years of age when he came with his parents to Wisconsin, and he has lived continuously in Green county since that time, with the exception of two years which he spent in California engaged in mining. He crossed the Plains in 1850, taking five months to make the journey. In 1852 he returned home by way of the Isthmus, and on a sailing-vessel to New Orleans, where he took a steamer for Cincinnati. He farmed until 1883, when he retired. Mr. DERRICK attended the district school one winter after coming to the West. He lived at home until his father's death, when he bought the entire homestead of four hundred acres, but has since sold it.
Mr. DERRICK and Miss Harriet A. BOSLOW were married Nov. 18, 1846. She was the daughter of John and Mary (Condon) BOSLOW, and became the mother of seven children, Theodore James, Franklin R., Levi F., Mary L., Harriet L., Flora L., and Paul E. Theodore James lives at Jolly, Texas; he married Mrs. Ellen Purdy. Franklin R. lives at Brodhead and is the husband of Miss Belle Moore. Levi F. married Miss Mary Simmons, and lives at McCracken, Kans.; they have two children, Edna and Maud. Paul E. married Miss Adeline Bowen, and lives in the city of New York. Mary L. married John BALIS, and both are dead; they were the parents of six children, Franklin T., Robert Ernest, Mary L., Hattie and Mabel. Harriet L. married Junius T. LAMSON, and lives at Orleans, Neb.; they have four children. Flora L. died at the age of two years. Mrs. Harriet A. DERRICK died Oct. 22, 1871, at the age of forty-nine. She was a member of the Methodist Church. Mr. DERRICK married Mrs. Mary A. NORTHUP, Sept. 17, 1872. She was the widow of Sylvester Northup, and the daughter of Sanford Williams. Mr. and Mrs. DERRICK are members of the Methodist Church, where he serves on the board of trustees. He was formerly a Republican, but is now a Prohibitionist. He was sheriff from 1873 to 1875, and was chairman of the town board a number of terms. He has a good home in Brodhead, and is reckoned among the leading citizens in the town and county.
[9987] John is co-owner of Miller X-Ray company with his wife Normah.