Subject: Re: Merrill family Merrill-Peterson
Date: Sun, March 04, 2007 23:10

Question: Helen Peterson wrote:

I was in contact with you a number of years ago. Just wanted to know if you want updated info about my branch of the family. My father was Thomas Merrill Aldridge. If I remember, you had contact with his uncle H.H. Merrill. Is there someplace where I can easily track our side of the family for myself and children?

Answer: Helen:

We would be interested in an update on your side of the family if only to update HH Merrill's chart on the descendants of Ezra Foote Merrill.  In our Merrill database we don't usually follow the Merrill daughters after we get them m., but it is nice to keep up with close family members regardless of surname.  And we are not tied so rigidly to the Merrill surname as we once thought.

We have found out a couple of things about our great grandfather, Ezra Foote Merrill, that may be of interest. According to the NH vital records, in 1893 Hermenia Barnes, Ezra's 1st wife, filed for divorce, citing desertion.  We don't know if the divorce ever became final.  None of the family stories that we heard ever mentioned it, or that he may have m. a second time.   Both Ezra F and Hermenia are buried in the same plot in Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn,  he in 1899, she in 1908, but a Certificate from Greenwood Cem. says that a Mrs Isabella Merrill bought the cemetery lot May 9 1899 [two days after Ezra F d., one day before he was buried], and after designating that she be buried in the lot next to Ezra F, she sold the plot to Ezra's three sons, Nathan C, Solomon B, and Emerson C on Nov 9, 1899.   It sure looks like Isabella was Ezra's 2nd wife. We found an Isabella, 40, wid., b. Scotland in Brooklyn in the  1900 census. Hermenia was a widow living with son, Solomon Barnes, in CO in 1900. When Hermenia d. she was buried in the same lot with Ezra so she is actually closer to him than Isabella, who d. in 1910 [probably not what Isabella planned].

The second item relates to a recent project that we have become involved in, DNA as a tool in Genealogical research. DNA associated with the Y chromosome [which only males have] is passed from father to son, to grandson essentially unchanged over many, many generations.  It turns out that descendants of immigrant Nathaniel share a very unusual and very rare DNA pattern. One theory is that this DNA came to England with a Roman Legion made up of men from the Russian Caucuses [the only place in the world where it is prevalent]. We didn't have any examples of a descendant of Nathaniel's youngest son, Abel, and since I had a good paper trail back to Abel, I had my DNA tested.  I got quite a shock when my results showed I was Not a descendant of Nathaniel.  My DNA pattern was very different.  After I got over the shock, I was forced to look critically at each step along the line. The only apparent discrepancy relates to Ezra Foote. I believe we sent you a GEDCOM of the line.  

While the NH vital records say our great grandfather, Ezra Foote Merrill, was the son of Nathaniel C and Joanna Richardson, it turns out that he was b. a month before they were m. We had thought that maybe someone had miscopied a date, or recorded it wrong. While we haven't proved it yet, we suspect Joanna became pregnant by her nephew, Ezra Bartlett Foote, almost her same age, who of course she couldn't marry.  Nathaniel C saved the day by marrying her and accepting the child as his own. Can't find any record of an adoption. All he had to do was say the child was his. The child may have been christened Ezra Foote and he became Ezra Foote Merrill when Nathaniel and Joanna married. Had Nathaniel C made a will, he might have differentiated between Ezra and his subsequent natural sons, but he d. suddenly from a falling pitchfork. And Joanna wouldn't show any partiality since they were all her children. We haven't yet found living male descendants of either Nathaniel C's other sons or of the nephew suspected to be Ezra's natural father. DNA of either would be instructive in showing Nathaniel C's descendancy from Nathaniel, and/or my descendancy from Joanna's nephew, Ezra Bartlett Foote.

While I am kind of disappointed that after 25 years of collecting Merrill info it turns out I am not really a Merrill, but I have to have a lot of respect for Nathaniel C, who accepted Ezra as his own, although he probably knew it wasn't, to save Joanna from an untenable situation [if our hypothesis is correct].  Something that may have influenced his decision is that Nathaniel C's father, Stevens (7) got his deaf and dumb aunt Hannah, almost his age, pregnant and she had a son, True, who Stevens recognized as his son.  Hannah never m. but was recognized as Mrs Hannah. That's how she is listed on her tombstone.

Genealogy is a fascinating hobby.  We are always uncovering some facet of people's lives, sometimes that they probably went to great lengths to hide, or at least not talk about.  Sometimes the theories we propose to try and fit the facts are just that, and may bear no relation to the truth, but it is interesting to propose them.  The truth may actually be stranger than our theories.

Howard and Jean Merrill

Subject: Re: Merrill family Emmitt Peter Merrill
Date: Tue, March 14, 2007 8:55 am

Question: Mary Merrill Staples wrote:

I am a descendenat of Emmitt Peter Merrill (1880-1938). He is my great grandfather on my father's side. My grandpa was Archie Enoch Merrill (1911-1983). My Dad is Enoch Allen Merrill (1940-). He was born in Southeast Texas, but I do not know where his dad and granddad were born. He does not remember names, but I was wondering if we are connected to the New England Merrill family. Can you help me? Thank you, Mary Staples Little Elm, Tx

Answer: Mary:

When we received your query, we didn't have anything about your Emmitt Peter. But we did some searching and found in the 1920 census in Hardin Co TX, your Emmet P, 40, b. MS [indexed as Earnest P], wife Edora and 6 kids including Archie E, 8, b. MS [not TX], but younger children were b. TX.

Emmett and Dora were in Forrest Co MS in 1910 [m. 10 years]. After much searching we finally found him in 1900 in Perry Co MS, single, living with his parents, Enoch G, 40, and Sarah R. Emmett was listed as 18, b. Oct 1881.

Going back to the next census, 1880 [the 1890 census burned], we found Enoch G, 20, with his parents William, 58, b. MS, par. b. SC, and Keziah. We had already identified this William as William Putnam (6) whose lineage is Abel (5), Charles (4), Capt. Benjamin (3), William (2,1). More details are available.

Capt. Benjamin of NC was a pre-Revolutionary patriot hung by the Tories for opposing the tyrannical policies of Gov Tyron. Immigrant William (1) came to Staten Island NY ca 1680 and later moved to NJ, his grandsons came to NC.

We are Howard and Jean Merrill. For twenty five years we have been 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 info on 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 very interested in any details on any of the Merrill surname descendants of Emmett Peter down to the present day.

We will be glad to try to help with any Merrill/Merrell genealogical problems you may have, or fill in any blanks in your lineage. While our database is not internet searchable, we will be glad to search it for anybody and share what we find at no cost. All that we ask is that folks share their Merrill data with us, so we can expand the database, and do a better job of helping solve Merrill lineage problems.

Howard and Jean Merrill

Subject: Re: Merrill family Robert Merrill
Date: Sat, March 17, 2007 5:26 pm

Question: Nina Nance wrote:

Robert Merrill b. 1755-60 MD. Married #1 Rebecca Reid b.abt.1760 GA. #2 Frances Stradley in 1816 GA. Have descendants to self but need his father and ancestors. Help, greatly appreciated. Thank you, Nina Nance

Answer: Nina:

We wish we knew who Robert's parents were. We have had several correspondents asking.  We feel fairly confidant that he is a descendant of William of MD who came to Somerset Co MD as an indentured servant in 1666, worked off his servitude, m. Eliza and left nine sons and four daughters when he d. in 1710. The problem is that we don't know the links between William and your Robert.  William's sons and grandsons used many of the same given names in naming their sons. The early records are meager and are compounded by the similarity of names.

This might be an instance where DNA testing could be of real value.  Do you know of any male Merrill descended from Robert?  Several descendants of William of MD have been tested. DNA associated with the Y-chromosome, which only males have, is passed essentially unchanged from father to son to grandson over many generations. If the DNA pattern of a Robert descendant matched the pattern of a known William descendant, then we would know for sure that Robert was also a William descendant. It would not tell us who Robert's parents were, but would tell whether or not to continue trying to find a link between Robert and William.  The DNA test from commercial labs cost about $200 and the results come back in about 3 weeks.  There is, however, a free test, a simple saliva swab, being done by Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation, a non-profit.  You don't get the actual results but they are eventually, maybe a year, posted on their site <smgf.org> and can be compared with other Merrills.  We are urging all Merrill males to at least be tested by  Sorenson so we can build up a typical DNA pattern for descendants of each of the Merrill immigrants.

We are Howard and Jean Merrill. For twenty five years we have been 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 info on 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 very interested in your Merrill line down to the present day.
 
We will be glad to try to help with any Merrill/Merrell genealogical problems you may have, or fill in any blanks in your lineage.  While our database is not internet searchable, we will be glad to search it for anybody and share what we find at no cost. All that we ask is that folks share their Merrill data with us, so we can expand the database, and do a better job of helping solve Merrill lineage problems.

Howard and Jean Merrill

Subject: Re: Merrill family William Merrill 1866 N.B.
Date: Sun, March 18, 2007 11:20 am

Question: Harvard M Adams wrote:

Dear Howard & Jean, My great grandfather, William Merrill,b 1866,my granfather, John Joseph Merrill,b. 1895 & my Mother, Frances D. Merrill, b.1926; were all born in Stanley, N.B. Canada. The best research availabl led me to a William (?) Merrill who fought for England in the Revolutionary War. After we won the war, he(William)(?) was granted 40 acreas of land in Stanley, N.B., Canada. Do you have any further information? Thank you, Harvard " MERRILL " Adams

Answer: Harvard:

Your William is in our "lineage unknown" file, but we can add some information to your line. Your William, 1866 - 1925, was actually Joseph William, b. 1866 July 29 in Green Hill, York, N.B. to Stephen and Mary E Graves.  Stephen was b. 1832 Aug 4 in N.B.  We found him in the Stanley, York 1881 census:  Stephen, 48; Mary E, 44; Stephen M, 19; Frances M (f), 16; Joseph W, 14; David J, 13; Benjamin E, 12; Ella R, 7; Charles W, 5; also his mom, Abigal, wid., 82, all b. N.B.

We have not tried to look at earlier census, 1851, 61, and 71 to see if we can find out who Stephen's dad [or granddad] was.   Since Abigal was b. ca 1799, her husband was probably b. ca  1795-1800.  If William who fought in the Rev. War was 20 in the war he would have been ca 40 in 1795, so William could be Stephen's grandfather.  If William was considerably older than 20 in the war, he would have to be Stephen's great grandfather.  Did the record on William indicate that he was a brit coming to fight in the colonies, or that he was a colonist that chose to fight on England's side?  There were a lot of New Englanders that were opposed to these revolutionists and moved to the Maritime Provinces.  If he were a Brit, that would make him an immigrant. While we have done little in England, there are a lot of apparently unrelated Merrill families in England, so there lots of possibilities. In New England, however, The vast majority are descended from Nathaniel, 1601 who came to Newbury in 1639.

Let us introduce ourselves. We are Howard and Jean Merrill. For twenty five years we have been 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 info on 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. Hat do you know about your uncles, Ross, Willis, Arden, Charles, Nate and their families?  We follow the Merrill daughters till we get them m., but don't try to follow their children.  We would like to bring your Merrill line down to the present.

Are any of your uncles still living? or do they have male children?  The reason we are asking is that a recent Merrill DNA Project is trying to get as many male Merrills to have their DNA tested in order to build up a database of typical DNA patterns for each of the Merrill immigrants. DNA associated with the Y-chromosome, which only males have, is passed essentially unchanged from father to son to grandson over many generations. To date about 30 Merrills have been tested, about half of which are descended from Nathaniel.  It turns out that Nathaniel descendants share a very rare DNA pattern, possibly brought to England by the Roman Legions, long before surnames became in general use by the common folk. The DNA test, a saliva sample, costs about $200 by commercial labs, but there is also a free test given by Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation, a non-profit <smgf.org>. Testing of one of your male Merrill surname relatives would certainly tell you if you were descended from Nathaniel, or if not, might point to one of the English Merrill lines.

We will be glad to try to help with any Merrill/Merrell genealogical problems you may have, or fill in any blanks in your lineage.  While our database is not internet searchable, we will be glad to search it for anybody and share what we find at no cost. All that we ask is that folks share their Merrill data with us, so we can expand the database, and do a better job of helping solve Merrill lineage problems.

Howard and Jean Merrill