Subject: Re: Merrill family Meta Merrill
Date: Sun, Aug 1, 2004 11:30 pm

Question: Mia Jones wrote:

Hi there Howard and Jean, I am hitting a dead end on finding a date of death for my great aunt Meta Merrill Wentink. We have corresponded before...her parents were Oliver Wendell Merrill and Clara Smith. I now have info on her husband and children but can't find her in the SSI Death Index, even though she was a teacher in Clifton NJ. She probably died in the late 1950's or early 1960's, I assume in New Jersey. Any ideas? thanks. Note the new email address.

Answer: Mia:

Good to hear from you again. While SS started in 1936, and covered folks were dying from that time forward, not all folks were covered by SS and SS #s were not required for those not covered until the late 50s or early 60s.  Lots of folks are still not covered by SS benefits and don't pay into the system, like govermental employees, senators and representatives - don't get me started on that - its a sore point.  But anyway, the records that are in the computerized SSDI only go back to about 1965, the earlier records have never been entered, and probably won't be - low priority.

Probably your best bet is the NJ State Registrar's office, Department of Health, John Fitch Plaza, P O Box 1540, Trenton NJ 08625.  They maintain b. m. d. records since 1878 to the present. We don't know if they have put some of their records online. Some states have. You might try searching "NJ vital records" or "NJ death records" on Google. I know ME charges $6 for a plain copy of a m. record, $10 for a certified copy. If you order a search for a copy give the as much info as you have on her - it makes for an easier search.

We have Meta's b. date but not her m. date or who she m.  We don't collect the Merrill daughter's children - we stick with the Merrill surname.

Good luck, let us know if you find it,

Howard and Jean

Subject: Re: Merrill family Thomas L Merrill
Date: Thu, Aug 5, 2004 9:31 pm

Question: Cheryl Alleman wrote:

Dear Howard and Jean: I e-mailed you about a Thomas L. Merrill who married Elizabeth Buffington and lived in Bradford County, PA in the mid to late 1800's. My computer died in the middle of the message and I do not know whether or not you received the e-mail. Please e-mail me and let me know if you did receive the e-mail, if you did not I will resubmit my question. Thanks for your time.... Cheryl Alleman

Answer: Cheryl:

We have not recieved anything recently from you. We corresponded with you in 2001 and 2002 regarding Thomas L and Elizabeth Buffington. We corresponded recently with Davida Arnold after she responded to your old Genforum post on Thomas L.  What new info do you have on Thomas L?

When we last corresponded,  you were going to send us information on Floyd's  Merrill surname descendants down to the present. We also asked for the details of the 1900 and 1910 census on Floyd's parents, Benjamin J and Ida Morris in Bradford Co PA.

You had asked prevoiusly about a picture on Joyce Tice's Bradford Co Genealogy home page that looks just like you.  Did you ever find out from Joyce who she was?  You thought it was......na Murrelle.  Thomas L's son, Arthur T had daughter Lena E. b. 1868 Jun 4. In the 1870 census of Warren she was listed as Lovina, 2. In the 1880 census,  in Barton, Tioga, NY, she was listed as Lorena E, 12.  Maybe she is your look-alike.

Howard and Jean

Subject: Re: Merrills in Salem NH, MA line of descent
Date: Sat, Aug 21, 2004 2:46 pm

Question: Sue wrote:

Hi, I understand you are the Merrill experts. :)

Here is my husband's line of descent: Nathaniel Merrill 1601 and Susannah
Nathaniel Merrill 1634 and Joanna
John Merrill 1664 and Lucy Webster
Abel Merill 1690 and Sarah Bodwell
John Merill 1716 and Hannah Dodge
John Merrel 1751 and Elizabeth Tippetts
Nathaniel Merrel 1780 Methuen MA and Nancy ?
Hiram Morrill 1810 Methuen MA and Ann G. MERRILL b. 1821 Salem NH
George Morrill 1844 Woburn MA and Abigail Bates
George Morrill 1877 Springfield MA and Hannah Snow
Marion Morrill 1916 Northampton MA and James Martin
Ann G. Merrill b. 1821 Salem NH m1 10-4-1839 [int. Dracut MA] Hiram Morrill; m2 9-25-1850 MA George Nathaniel Herring

I assume that Ann is also a Nathaniel descendant but I can't connect her until I find her parents. Do you happen to have her in your database? If not, can you maybe tell me what Merrills were in Salem NH? Also, would you know who Nancy was that married Nathaniel 1780 of Methuen? I would be happy to share what information you don't have.

Answer: Susan:

We do not know who your Susan G Merrill's parents were, but we are fairly sure that she does not belong to Nathaniel (7) [1780 Sep 7-1830 Sep 21] and Nancy Bixby [d. 1853 Oct 29, age 79].  In the 1830 Methuen census, when your Ann would be nine years old, Nathaniel is [40-50], his wife is [40-50], and they have with them 1m [15-20] and 1m,1f [30-30], but no girl [5-10].  All their known children from the Methuen vr were b. 1801-1815.

You state that Ann was b. Salem NH in 1821. In the 1820 census there are 10 Merrill families in Salem, in 1830 there are 8, but a lot of the old ones are gone and new ones have appeared  In these early census before 1850, only the head of household is listed by name, and all the others are listed by sex in a given age bracket. So it is difficult to know for sure that you have identified the correct individual.  It's a matter of trying to match the known families with the proper mix of children in the census. In Salem we think we we have correctly identified the families listed. Really the only ones that should be of particular interest to you are the three that have daughters [5-10] in 1830.  John Johnson (7) [1792-1877] (and Betsey Eaton) are listed with 1f [5-10] and they have an Elizabeth Eaton, b. 1824 who m. Samuel Huse. That eliminates him.

 John C (7) [1788 - before 1870] (and Sarah R Wheeler) also has 1f [5-10]. This family had (according to one correspondent) 10 children, but we only have names for 8, and not for a girl b. 1820-25.  So he could be a possible parent for your Ann. The only problem with this is that one of this John C's children is John Thorndike and in 1870 he gave his age as 39, making him b. ca 1821. Of course, not only women lie about their age, there was no male listed [5-10].  And Ann could have been a twin. The lineage of John C (7) is Joseph (6), Nathaniel (5), Peter (4,3), Nathaniel (2,1).

The third Merrill in Salem in 1830 with 1f [5-10] is Thomas (7) [ca 1787-1858] (and wife Elizabeth). We have deaths of three children for this couple from the Salem death at the NH State Library, but no names for the three other girls indicated by the 1830 and 40 census.  In 1840, the girl is now [15-20], and there is a young man [20-30] in the family group who was not there in 1830. We would interpret from this that the girl is now m. and living with her parents.  The girl [under 5] in 1840 may be this teenager's daughter, rather than her mother's. There is no [10-15] girl with the parents in 1850 and no d. for a child of Thomas of this age in the Salem records.  What do you know about Ann G and Hiram's family. When did they m.?  Did they have a daughter before 1840?  This looks like a good candidate for Ann G's parents, but we are hypothesizing from very little data.  Thomas (7)'s lineage is Daniel P (6), Nathaniel (5), Peter (4,3), Nathaniel (2,1).  Thomas (7) and John C (7) mentioned above would be 1st cousins.  More details are available.

We have copied the Merrill pages of the town records from "The History of Salem". None of Thomas's children are listed,  neither b. nor d.  Your Ann G's m. is listed, 1839 Dec 5, to Hiram MErrill, not MOrrill. That's an easy error to make in transcribing these handwritten records.  We don't have the Morrill pages from this history, so we can't tell if Hiram had a daughter in 1840, but at least we know Ann G m. before the 1840 census, lending credence to our hypothesis that it is Ann G and her husband living with Thomas and Elizabeth in 1840.

Following up on the Hiram Merrill vs Morrill, we don't have a Hiram Merrill in this time period and area that could have m. Ann G.  Nathaniel (7) and Nancy Bixby, whose lineage you outlined, did have a Hiram, b. 1810 Mar 11 in Methuen, but he d. 1827 Jan 27, before Ann's m.

Sorry we can't be more definitive,

Howard and Jean Merrill

Subject: Re: Merrill family Thomas Abbott Merrill
Date: Wed, Aug 25, 2004 9:06 am

Question: Lucy Alice Merrill wrote:

I am a direct descendent of John Merrill, Nathaniel Merrill (d. 1626). I live in Middlebury, Vermont where the Rev. Thomas Abbott Merrill was 2nd pastor of Middlebury Congregational Church (ordained 1805). I have information on Merrill family living today. I am also looking for relatives living today. I have a Merrill family Bible. Can we make a connection? Are you related to me? Thank you.

Answer: Lucy:  

Thank you for contacting us. We would be delighted to share information. We assume that since you mentioned Rev Thomas Abbott (6) Merrill [1780-1855], that you are descended from him. How exciting to have the family bible.

We are trying to database the Merrill/Merrell surname nationwide from the original immigrants right down to the present day for all the immigrant lines. So far we have over 60,000 Merrill males, plus their wives and daughters in our database, but we estimate that there are well over 100,000 so we have a long way to go, and we need and appreciate all the help we can get, particularly with the later generations. We use this database strictly to try and help folks trace their Merrill roots. Be assured that no info on living individuals will become internet accessible. We would be interested in any info you have on the Merrill surname descendants of Thomas Abbott down to the present. If you have any gaps in your lineage, maybe we can help fill them in.

We write the query column for the MERRILL NEWSLETTER published by Lil Hall Welch. Check out the Newsletter homepage at <www.merrill.org/genealogy/tmn>

Howard and Jean Merrill

Subject: Re: Merrill family DNA Testing
Date: Thu, Aug 26, 2004 10:58 am

Question: David Merrell wrote:

Howard, I realize you and Jean are compiling a database of all Merrill families in the U.S. As you certainly have more empirical knowledge than the rest of us on this subject, have you yet found sufficient discrepancies to suggest many bearing the Merrill, Merrell or other such variation in spelling are actually not of common origin? I've been told and am aware of different stories having to do with the Merrill name beginnings. You can probably add more to my short list. I understand in Wales the name was originally Meriel or Meryl. In Ireland the name is said to have originated from Muirgheal, stemming from the Norse term Murigel. Also, the Yorkshire Merrills are said to have derived their name from the early Scandinavian invaders of Ireland, Myrgjol. My own family suggests ours may have originally been Merle or Merles. Does the above conflict or agree with any information you have? For some time, I had believed my family might have been part of the Honington, Warwickshire Merrills. I undoubtedly jumped the gun, however, as one of the Staten Island Merrills recently compared his Y-DNA results with mine and the genetic distance is too great to have had a common ancestor in the last 400 years. Do you know of any other Merrills or Merrells presently having Y-DNA testing done with Family Tree DNA? www.ftdna.com If enough of us could be tested, it would quickly allow us to group ourselves into our proper clans. It might also give us an idea of just how far back it is to our Most Recent Common Ancestor (MRCA) and even if we have a common ancestor. Let me know what you think, okay? David Merrell dave@merrell.net www.merrell.net

Answer: David:

We have been following with interest the info posted by you and William Merrill re DNA testing.  To our knowledge, you two are the only Merrill/Merrells yet to be tested. We even went to the web site to investigate costs. It is our impression that if you are going get it tested, it ought to be the 37 marker test because it will be the most discriminating and provide the most info. The cost is prohibitive for us at this time.  It sure would be nice to have proven members of each of the immigrant lines tested, so those could be used as standards against which those with questions in their lineage could be compared.  I wonder if some kind of a group discount deal could be worked out for maybe 10 or 20 to provide such a database.  

How much can these tests tell us? Can they tell us if we have a common ancestor 5 generations back? or 10? or 15?  15 would put us all back in England or whereever else we came from. The line of Nathaniel of Newbury MA goes back at least to 1444 in the Suffolk area of England.  Thomas of Saybrook CT is believed to be a cousin of Nathaniel and from the same area.  Richard and William of Staten Island come from Warwickshire, and records there indicate at least several prior generations in that area.  We don't know where the William who came to the eastern shore of MD in 1666 came from, but we assume from England. He came as an indentured servant.  These are the known immigrants that were here before 1700.  We have our hands full trying to keep track of the Merrills in the US, and have done little or no research in England. There may be a French connection, but we have found no evidence for such a connection in the MA or Staten Island lines. We relegate these stories to the realm of family myth. The French connection, if there is one, may date back to the era of the Norman invasion in 1066.

We have not found evidence of early Merrill immigrants originating from Wales or Ireland, although lots of Merrills have m. wives coming from those areas. >From my limited knowledge of the DNA tests, the maternal lines should not contribute to the DNA Y markers. Is that correct?

Howard and Jean