Manuel Herrick

Manuel Herrick
Herrick in 1930
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Oklahoma's 8th district
In office
March 4, 1921 – March 3, 1923
Preceded byCharles Swindall
Succeeded byMilton C. Garber
Personal details
Born
Immanuel Herrick

(1876-09-20)September 20, 1876
Perry Township, Tuscarawas County, Ohio, U.S.
Diedc. January 11, 1952 (disappeared and likely died that same day)
Quincy, California, U.S.
Political partyRepublican

Manuel Herrick, nicknamed the "Okie Jesus Congressman" (September 20, 1876 – c. January 11, 1952) was a United States Representative from Oklahoma for one term, from March 4, 1921 to March 3, 1923.

Early life

Born Immanuel Herrick in Perry Township, Tuscarawas County, Ohio on September 20, 1876, he moved with his parents, John Emanuel Herrick and Belinda Kale Herrick, to Greenwood County, Kansas in 1877. Herrick’s mother believed her son was Jesus Christ reincarnated, leading Herrick himself to believe so as well. Herrick was self-educated and engaged in agricultural pursuits. In 1893, he settled in the Cherokee Strip in Oklahoma Territory.[1]

On June 29, 1893, Herrick attempted to rob a train, but was arrested by the conductor. He was deemed insane and sent to Oak Lawn Retreat, a private asylum in Jacksonville, Illinois, founded by Andrew McFarland.[2] Afterwards, Herrick moved to Perry and became interested in agriculture and stock raising.[3]

In 1907 prior to statehood, he was a justice of the peace in Noble County.[4] After statehood, he unsuccessfully ran for several county offices in Noble County.[5]His mother died on December 9, 1911.[6] In 1914, his father sold him the family farm near Perry, before dying on December 12, 1918.[7] In 1918, he made his first run for the U.S. House of Representatives, receiving 56 votes.[8]

Congressional career

At the age of forty-two, Herrick was elected as a Republican to the Sixty-seventh Congress. Herrick won the Republican nomination after the popular incumbent Republican congressman, Dick T. Morgan, died unexpectedly on the last day of filing, allowing Herrick to take the nomination unopposed.[3] Herrick was elected in November 1920 based on the strength of Warren G. Harding's showing in his district.[9] Herrick served from March 4, 1921 to March 3, 1923. He unsuccessfully ran for reelection in 1922, losing in the Republican primary.[1]

Herrick was also notable for his prowess as a barnstorming aviator,[10] and for his Jesus reincarnation claims, leading him to be nicknamed the “Okie Jesus Congressman”.[11] He intended to campaign for reelection using a plane in 1922, but it crashed in Hamlin, Arkansas, with Herrick sustaining minor injuries.[12] He lost his 1924 reelection campaign to fellow Republican Milton C. Garber.[13]

Beauty pageants, a failed marriage proposal, and losing the farm

As a Congressman, Herrick was one of the more colorful members of that body. During his one-and-only term, Herrick introduced legislation to ban beauty pageants.[14] In order to illustrate the immorality of the pageants, he sent letters to several former beauty pageant contestants in Washington D.C., inviting them to participate in a pageant. Several of the tricked former pageant contestants threatened to sue Herrick and claimed he used the contest as a pretext to solicit marriage proposals.[15]

While in office he had an affair with his secretary, Ethelyn Chrane.[16] In May 1923, he was arrested for disorderly conduct for yelling at Chrane on a public street and the next month he filed a breach of promise suit for $50,000 arguing she had broken off a marriage proposal.[17] Herrick won the suit, and was awarded one cent by the court. After the suit, Chrane brought suit for $100,000 "for statements made in the case."[18] Chrane won her lawsuit and was awarded $6,000, however Herrick only had 160-acres of farmland in Oklahoma worth $3,200 with $6,327 in mortgages on the property.[19] The farm was sold at a foreclosure auction in 1934.[20] The property sold for $1,500 at auction.[21]

Later life and death

In 1925, Herrick was arrested for moonshining and claimed to be an undercover agent for the Internal Revenue Service.

In 1930, he was convicted for the unlawful manufacturing and possession of alcohol.[1]

After leaving Congress, Herrick moved to California in 1933.[3] He would settle in Plumas County, California in 1937[1] He worked as a gold miner and frequently recounted his time in Congress.[22] He pretended to be blind to receive an $85 a month pension.[23]

He ran for Congress again in 1948, on both the Democratic and Republican ticket against incumbent Clair Engle. He campaigned on a conspiracy theory American traitors were involved in the bombing of Pearl Harbor, denouncement of the Taft-Hartley Act, and criticism of President Harry Truman.[24] He received 85 votes.[25]

In 1949, there was an attempt to commit Herrick to a mental institution.[26] He was declared not insane by the Superior Court in Plumas County.[27]

Herrick mysteriously disappeared during a Sierra blizzard on January 11, 1952, while on a trip to his mining claim eight miles northeast of Quincy, California. A month later, Herrick was found dead in a snowbank two miles from his cabin on February 29, 1952. His remains were cremated and the ashes interred in Quincy Cemetery in Quincy.[3] He is buried in an unmarked grave in the pauper's section.[28]

Electoral history

1918 Oklahoma's 8th congressional district general election[8]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Dick T. Morgan 15,341 56.3%
Democratic C. H. Hyde 10,633 39.0%
Socialist H. L. Branham 1,179 4.3%
Independent Manuel Herrick 56 0.2%
Total votes 27,209 100.0%
Republican hold


1920 Oklahoma's 8th congressional district special election Republican primary[8]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Charles Swindall 4,939 35.9%
Republican Winfield Scott 2,971 21.6%
Republican William H. McKinley 2,350 17.0%
Republican Russell M. Chase 1,184 8.6%
Republican Manuel Herrick 1,062 7.7%
Republican John Gleason 930 6.7%
Republican Frank B. Boorn 305 2.2%
Total votes 13,743 100.0
1920 Oklahoma's 8th congressional district Republican primary election[8]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Manuel Herrick 7,216 100
1920 Oklahoma's 8th congressional district general election[29]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Manuel Herrick 31,337 54.2
Democratic Zach A. Harris 23,218 40.2%
Socialist H. C. Geist 3,243 5.6%
Total votes 57,798 100.0%
Republican hold
1922 Oklahoma's 8th congressional district Republican primary[13]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Milton C. Garber 6,978 38.6%
Republican Charles Swindall 5,360 29.6%
Republican Manuel Herrick 3,446 19.0%
Republican J. E. Smith 1,617 8.9%
Republican W. E. Knopp 699 3.9%
Total votes 18,100 100.0


1924 Oklahoma's 8th congressional district Republican primary[30]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Milton C. Garber 13,505 68.4%
Republican Manuel Herrick 3,205 16.2%
Republican Garth W. Calderhead 3,044 15.4%
Total votes 19,754 100.0
1926 Oklahoma's 8th congressional district Republican primary[30]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Milton C. Garber 8,447 70.9%
Republican Manuel Herrick 1,506 12.6%
Republican H. C. Kirkendall 1,273 10.7%
Republican Frank B. Boorn 689 5.8%
Total votes 11,915 100.0
1928 Oklahoma's 8th congressional district Republican primary[30]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Milton C. Garber 15,817 81.4%
Republican Ray J. Elam 1,811 9.3%
Republican Manuel Herrick 1,795 9.2%
Total votes 19,423 100.0
1930 Oklahoma's 8th congressional district Republican primary[31]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Milton C. Garber 14,294 62.2%
Republican Carl B. Haun 8,050 35.0%
Republican Manuel Herrick 647 2.8%
Total votes 22,991 100.0

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Herrick, Manuel". bioguide.congress.gov. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved August 14, 2025.
  2. ^ Aldrich 1974, pp. 21–29.
  3. ^ a b c d Hanneman, Carolyn G. (January 15, 2010). "Herrick, Manuel (1876–1952)". The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. Retrieved August 14, 2025.
  4. ^ "Didn't Believe Either". The Morrison Sun. February 1, 1907. p. 12. Retrieved August 15, 2025.
  5. ^ Aldrich 1974, p. 46.
  6. ^ Aldrich 1974, p. 48.
  7. ^ Aldrich 1974, p. 81.
  8. ^ a b c d "1918-1920 Results" (PDF). oklahoma.gov. Oklahoma State Election Board. Retrieved August 15, 2025.
  9. ^ Aldrich 1974, p. 124.
  10. ^ Aldrich 1974, pp. 227–231.
  11. ^ Aldrich 1974.
  12. ^ Aldrich 1974, p. 231.
  13. ^ a b Aldrich 1974, pp. 96–97.
  14. ^ Aldrich 1974, p. 203.
  15. ^ Aldrich 1974, pp. 203–206.
  16. ^ Aldrich 1974, p. 216.
  17. ^ Aldrich 1974, pp. 216–217.
  18. ^ Aldrich 1974, p. 218.
  19. ^ Aldrich 1974, pp. 222–223.
  20. ^ Aldrich 1974, p. 225.
  21. ^ Aldrich 1974, p. 227.
  22. ^ Aldrich 1974, p. 234.
  23. ^ Aldrich 1974, p. 241.
  24. ^ Aldrich 1974, p. 242.
  25. ^ Aldrich 1974, p. 243.
  26. ^ Aldrich 1974, p. 250.
  27. ^ Aldrich 1974, p. 254.
  28. ^ Aldrich 1974, p. 268.
  29. ^ Aldrich 1974, p. 95.
  30. ^ a b c Aldrich 1974, p. 97.
  31. ^ Aldrich 1974, p. 98.

Works cited

  • Aldrich, Gene (1974). Okie Jesus Congressman: The Life of Manuel Herrick. Oklahoma City: Times-Journal Publishing Co.
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