Herendeen

The Herendeen surname, with multiple variations, traces back to early settlers in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, including Richard Harnden in Reading and Edward Harnden in Ipswich. Benjamin Herendeen, possibly born in England, was the immigrant ancestor of Rhode Island Herendeens, settling in Providence and marrying Elizabeth White. He purchased land in 1662 and had several children, including Sarah, Alice, and Joseph. After his death in 1687, Elizabeth remarried Richard Pray and conveyed property to their children. Benjamin’s will is lost.

Nathan Herendeen, born in Cumberland, Rhode Island, in 1741, was a descendant of Benjamin Herendeen. He married Huldah Dillingham on April 30, 1764, in Smithfield. While he may have moved to Adams, Massachusetts, around 1769, his daughter Huldah was born in Cumberland in 1772. In 1790, he relocated to Farmington, New York, acquiring land in exchange for his property in Adams. He had several children, including Pennsylvania, Mercy, Philadelphia, and Huldah, with some born in Smithfield and others in Cumberland.

Welcome Herendeen, born on April 18, 1768, in Smithfield, was the son of Nathan Herendeen. He moved to Adams and later to Farmington with his father. Welcome married Elizabeth Durfee in 1794 and later Mercy Gardner in 1806. He had five children with his first wife, including Edward and Gideon, and three children with his second wife, including Elizabeth and Nathan G. Herendeen’s life reflects his family ties and connections within the community.

Lemuel Herendeen, born May 15, 1833, in Farmington, New York, was the son of Gideon Herendeen. He received his education in public schools and at a Friends Boarding School. He married Eliza Newman in 1861, with whom he had three children, but she passed away in 1885. He remarried Anna Peters in 1889. Herendeen moved to Geneva in 1869, establishing a successful nursery business and participating in local governance, serving multiple terms as superintendent of the poor and as village president until his death on February 13, 1897.

Welcome Wilkinson, born on July 10, 1810, in Farmington, was the son of Welcome Herendeen. He received his education in public schools and pursued farming, also serving as captain of the local militia. Wilkinson married Caroline L. Arnold on January 12, 1832; she was born in 1809 and passed on May 8, 1887. They had two children, William R. who died in infancy, and Charles H. He died on December 16, 1892.

Charles H. Herendeen, born June 13, 1840, on the family farm in Farmington, succeeded to the homestead after receiving an education at local schools and Macedon Academy. He served as a sales agent for the Walter A. Wood Company and was a Democratic supervisor for Farmington for thirteen years. A member of several Masonic lodges, he became master of the Canandaigua Lodge. He married Julia M. Newton in 1862 and Caroline M. Mersereau in 1903, with children from both unions.