Washington County Biographies



Part of the Wisconsin Biographies Project



Herrick A. Forbes

Herrick A. Forbes, Justice of the Peace, United States Pension Agent and attorney at law, Hartford; is the son of John and Lydia (Sheridan) Forbes; was born in Onondaga Co., N. Y., Aug. 24, 1838; his father died while he was an infant; when 8 years old, May, 1846, he came to Wisconsin with his mother and brothers and settled in the town of Scott, Sheboygan Co.; after receiving the rudiments of his education in the common schools at home, he went to Madison and took a four years' scientific course at the State University, from 1856 to 1860, inclusive; he went south in the spring of 1860, and was engaged in teaching in Missouri, Arkansas and Mississippi; when the war broke out, he was given the choice of being hung or joining the confederate army; of the two evils, he chose the latter, as it afforded better chances of escape; while in this service, he participated in the engagements of Booneville, Wilson's Creek and Carthage; during the latter battle, he made his escape to the North, riding his horse through to his home in Sheboygan Co.; he then assisted in raising Co. I, 1st W. V. I., in which he enlisted in September, 1861; he was mustered in on the re-organization of that regiment after the expiration of its three months' service; he held the rank of Second Sergeant of his company; at the battle of Perryville, Oct. 8, 1862, he received a gunshot wound, which shattered his left leg, near the ankle; he received an honorable discharge the following March, and returned to his home; he soon after was appointed United States Claim Agent, and acted in that capacity for several years; in the fall of 1863, he was elected County Superintendent of Schools of Sheboygan Co., and served one term of two years; was Town Clerk of Lyndon seven years, and Justice of the Peace from 1865 to 1874; served as Chairman of the town of Lyndon in 1871; on the completion of the Milwaukee & Northern Railroad into Sheboygan Co., he appointed station agent at Waldo Station, which position he held one and a half years; having devoted considerable attention to the study of law, he pursued his studies in the law office of Judge William Williams, of Sheboygan Falls, and was admitted to the bar in Sheboygan Co. in November, 1874; was engaged in the practice of his profession in Sheboygan Co. till 1875, when he moved to Hartford; he was elected Justice of the Peace in the spring of 1881, for the town of Hartford. He was married, Dec. 27, 1864, in the town of Ashippun, Dodge Co., to Miss Mariette Sanford, daughter of George and Eliza (Kollock) Sanford. Mrs. Forbes was born in Pewaukee; they have four children-Frank S., Ira L., Herbert A. and May.

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