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Children of Lavinia (BIGELOW) and Barnabas MYRICK, all born Westport, Essex co, NY:
16164.221 Ira Myrick, b 2 Dec 1820; d 25 Feb 1902 LeSeuer co, MN; m 02 Mar 1843 Peru, NY; Rosaline Amanda BIGELOW (16164.48).
16164.222 Nathan Myrick, b 7 July 1822; d 03 Jun 1903; m 16 Aug 1843 Rebecca Elizabeth ISMON. (Nathan was the founder of LaCrosse, WI).
16164.223 Hiram Myrick, b __ Aug 1823; d 17 July 1824 Westport.
16164.224 Louisa J. Myrick, b 25 Sep 1826; d 02 dec 1896; m 16 nov 1852 Hiram BUCKLAND.
16164.225 Abigail Lucinda Myrick, b 02 Oct 1828; d 18 Feb 1875; m 1849 Stephen GOODHALL; no children.
16164.226 Charles Myrick, b ___ 1829; d 07 Nov 1839 Westport.
16164.227 Andrew Jackson Myrick, b 28 Jun 1832; d ____ Yellow Medicine, MN; m 18 Aug 1862 Wiyan GEWIN (Nancy STONE). (see below)
16164.228 Martin Van Buren Myrick, b __ Mar 1834; d 06 Apr 1834 Westport, Essex co, NY.
16164.229 (possibly another child born here)
16164.22A Frank Carlos Myrick, b 30 May 1843;
Sources:
Bigelow Family Genealogy Volume II page 185-186;
Bigelow Family Genealogy Volume I page 301;
Bigelow Family Genealogy Volume II page 187;
I.G.I.;
censuses 1820 and 1830;
correspondence between Myrick descendant and Bigelow Society;
Forge: The Bigelow Society Quarterly, vol. 22, No. 1; Feb 93; page
47(below);
Barnabas and Lavinia were among the most colorful, prominent and respected citizens of Westport. Barnabas was a successful businessman who owned and operated a sawmill, a woolen mill and a grist mill. He held every town office at one time or another, and was also a representative in the NY State Assembly for several years. They were fairly wealthy and had a large beautiful home on a hill overlooking Lake Champlain, with a magnificent view of the Adirondacks.
Barnabas was seriously ill during the last few years of his life. At the age of 49, he suffered a painful and untimely death which was described as a "public calamity". After their children were married, his widow Lavinia returned to her family home in Brandon, VT. She died there in 1858, and is buried with her husband and several children in Westport. An impressive 10 foot stone monument surrounded by towering elms marks the family plot.
Their two daughters married and remained in Westport, but all three surviving sons went west to Dakota Territory. Nathan MYRICK was the first to leave home. He became a trader, first going to the area where the Black and LaCrosse Rivers join the Mississippi. There in 1841, he founded the town of LaCrosse, WI, and was appointed its first postmaster. Nathan also established many other trading posts in the Dakota Territory, in what later became Wisconsin, Minnesota, and North Dakota.
About 1852, Nathan was joined by his younger brother Andrew, who later ran his trading post at the Lower Sioux Agency, near what is now Morton, MN. The Sioux, placed on reservations where they were not allowed to hunt, were dependent on the traders for food. Congress had allocated money to repay the traders, but the money was not forthcoming. The Indians were starving, and the harried traders, who had been feeding the Indians from their own stores, were caught in the middle. In a meeting of the traders, Andrew MYRICK called "Wacinko"(Hot-Headed) by the Sioux, made his infamous statement, "If the Indians are hungry, let them eat grass!" The next day began the Great Sioux Uprising of 1862. Andrew was among the first to be killed by the Sioux. he was scalped, and his mouth was filled with grass.
Ira MYRICK, older brother of Nathan and Andrew, was the last to leave New York. He settled in Elysian. LeSueur co, MN sometime before 1860. He was a boatman, a carpenter and a lumber dealer. Like his father, he also held several public offices. Ira's wife was Rosaline Amanda BIGELOW.
This article was contributed by Kent D. MYRICK of Phoenix, AZ.
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