Monroe County History: Herkimers built businesses, church in and near Monroe County

Tom Adamich
·3 min read
Robert H. and Mary Peters Herkimer are shown in a family portrait with some of their 11 children. The Herkimer family ran successful mills, farms and businesses in Monroe County and surrounding areas beginning in the 1830s.
Robert H. and Mary Peters Herkimer are shown in a family portrait with some of their 11 children. The Herkimer family ran successful mills, farms and businesses in Monroe County and surrounding areas beginning in the 1830s.
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Robert Herkimer, born April 9, 1813, could be considered one of Monroe County’s most industrious men. His New York roots are extensive; the family has a county named after it and lineage to the German Palatines who immigrated to the New York colony. According to historian Greg Ketcham, the German Palatines were forced into a form of servitude on patroon estates along the Hudson River. Eventually, they were freed from the bondage and permitted to settle along the Mohawk River Valley corridor.

Thanks to Robert H. Herkimer’s second great grandson, Bill Musgrave of Raisinville Township, I learned more about the Herkimer family and their rich family history in Monroe County.

Like Monroe County, the Mohawk River Valley corridor offered fertile soil and water transportation. Johan Jost Herkimer located there in the mid-1700s and became a successful trader, land speculator and farmer. His son, Nicholas, became Gen. Nicholas Herkimer, a Revolutionary War commander. In 1777, Gen. Herkimer led a band of 800 American colonists, called the Tryon County Militia, on a two-day march to engage the British and their allies at the Battle of Oriskany. As a result of Gen. Herkimer’s heroism and the aforementioned land holdings of Johnan Jost Herkimer, the area became Herkimer County in 1791.

The oil painting titled “Herkimer at the Battle of Oriskany” by Frederick Coffay Yohn (1875-1933) shows a wounded Gen. Nicholas Herkimer at the Battle of Oriskany on Aug. 6, 1777, during the Revolutionary War. Grandsons Robert H. and Henry relocated to Monroe County in the 1830s and built a successful business network of mills and farms.
The oil painting titled “Herkimer at the Battle of Oriskany” by Frederick Coffay Yohn (1875-1933) shows a wounded Gen. Nicholas Herkimer at the Battle of Oriskany on Aug. 6, 1777, during the Revolutionary War. Grandsons Robert H. and Henry relocated to Monroe County in the 1830s and built a successful business network of mills and farms.

When Gen. Herkimer’s grandsons Robert H. and Henry moved to Monroe in the early 1830s, they brought with them a strong work ethic and the Herkimer family’s successful business acumen. According to Bulkley’s "History of Monroe County Michigan," the Herkimer brothers joined brother-in-law Gilbert Palmer (who settled in Monroe County in 1831) and began building grist mills in Ohio and Michigan as well as buying large tracts of government land in Monroe and Wayne counties.

Mills were located on the Detroit River, on the Maumee River in Ohio, a sawmill on Swan Creek in Exeter Township, and one in Flat Rock. The Herkimer brothers collectively owned 820 acres of land in Monroe County. Robert H. Herkimer built his homestead in Exeter Township and married Mary Peters, a native of Ash Township, in 1838. Many identified Mary Herkimer as a “Florence Nightengale” whose nursing skills and willingness to help neighbors throughout the region became noteworthy.

Mary Peters Herkimer, wife of Robert H. Herkimer, was born in Ash Township, Michigan, and was considered one of the area’s first traveling nurses. She died on Nov. 20, 1896.
Mary Peters Herkimer, wife of Robert H. Herkimer, was born in Ash Township, Michigan, and was considered one of the area’s first traveling nurses. She died on Nov. 20, 1896.
Robert H. Herkimer was a native of the county in Upstate New York that bears his family name, born on April 9, 1813. He was a successful landowner, farmer, businessman and elder in the Methodist Episcopal Church. He helped to build the Scofield Methodist Church in Exeter Township in the 1870s.
Robert H. Herkimer was a native of the county in Upstate New York that bears his family name, born on April 9, 1813. He was a successful landowner, farmer, businessman and elder in the Methodist Episcopal Church. He helped to build the Scofield Methodist Church in Exeter Township in the 1870s.

In addition to his business and farming ventures, Robert H. Herkimer became an elder in the Methodist Episcopal (M.E.) Church in 1843. His advocacy and desire to share his faith in his newfound home in Monroe County led to the creation of the Scofield Methodist Church – built with brick from another business Herkimer built in what became the Scofield area of Exeter Township – near the present-day Carleton. Robert H. Herkimer joined fellow parishioners Silas Scofield (who built a sawmill in the area that bears his name) and Henry E. Welch (who owned a stone quarry) to contribute products and help organize the building of the Scofield Methodist Church. Motivated by the M.E. Church starting in the 1860s to build mission churches throughout Michigan, ground was broken for the Scofield Methodist Church in July 1874, as reported in a July 23 issue of the Monroe Commercial newspaper. The Scofield Methodist Church was nearing completion in August 1875 and operational in time for the Easter services in 1876.

Bulkley’s history states that Robert H. and Mary Herkimer had 11 children, including Mary Helen McIntyre; Henry H.; Catherine; Matilda, wife of J.K. Kinckabocker; Lucy, wife of Charles Loudon; Jay J. of Detroit; Lida, wife of George Fulcher; Viola; and Annie D., wife of H.B. Vedder of Exeter Township. Two children died at birth.

The Robert H. Herkimer homestead on South Scofield Road, in what is today Carleton, is pictured. The Herkimers had 11 children and owned a brick manufacturing plant on Stony Creek, among other businesses in the area, including mills and farming operations, beginning in the early 1800s.
The Robert H. Herkimer homestead on South Scofield Road, in what is today Carleton, is pictured. The Herkimers had 11 children and owned a brick manufacturing plant on Stony Creek, among other businesses in the area, including mills and farming operations, beginning in the early 1800s.

Robert H. Herkimer died Oct. 27, 1891 at age 75. Mary Herkimer died on Nov. 20, 1896.

Tom Adamich is president of Visiting Librarian Service, a firm he has operated since 1993. He also is project archivist for the Greening Nursery Co. and Family Archives and the electric vehicle awareness coordinator at Monroe County Community College.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Monroe County History: Herkimers built businesses, church