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Samuel
Merrill, 1928, reprint 1983
Nathaniel1
of Newbury and His Sons - Chapter VII,
pp 66-101
Abraham2
Merrill - pp 85-90
Abraham2
Merrill was admitted a freeman 30 Sept. 1662. (*)
Throughout his long life he was active in many ways in
the town's affairs. He held the office of selectman in
1684 and subsequently; he served in 1686 on a committee
to lay out certain pastures to be held and used by the
townspeople in common; in 1695 he was a member of a committee
to divide the town into two parishes, and the same year
he served on a committee to determine the place for a
ferry over the Merrimack.
In 1677 the General Court ordered that
a tithing-man be appointed for every ten families. They
were a sort of Sunday police. It was their duty to apprehend
Sabbath-breakers and those absent from church, and other
such lawless characters, and in 1679 Deacon Abraham was
chosen by the selectmen as one of fifteen tithing-men
for the town. Under his jurisdiction were three Bartlett
families, two Chase families and four other households.
Several times in later years he filled the same office.
Like most of the early settlers he added a trade to his
work as a farmer, and as a weaver contributed toward supplying
the material needs of the community. But his farm was
productive and well stocked, the tax list of Newbury in
1688 showing that he owned two houses, that he had twelve
acres of land under tillage, besides four acres of meadow,
and he had two horses, a yoke of oxen, five cows, two
two-year-olds, twenty sheep and four swine. (New England
Historical and Genealogical Register, xxxii, 161.)
His
Homestead (See pages 167, 189)
Abraham2 Merrill lived near
the mouth of Artichoke River, on the road leading toward
the east, in what is now Newburyport. He bought land there
as early as 1661, and before his death his farm extended
nearly a mile along the bank of the Merrimack. This farm
remained in the hands of the family for several generations,
being owned and occupied successively by Abraham2,
John3, Henry4, Henry5
and Samuel6. After the death of Samuel6
in 1882 it came into the possession of his daughter, (**)
Martha-Ann7 Merrill, who married Joshua P.
Chase, and her children sold it to Fred S. Moseley, a
Boston broker. The new owner removed all trace of the
original buildings, in the late 90s of the last century,
erecting a fine summer residence, and laying out the grounds
as a private park, with beautiful driveways through the
pine woods. The old well remains, but, with elaborate
stone curbing and covered by an ornamental roof, it is
unrecognizable.
The house of Abraham2 Merrill
was evidently of good size and well built, for, when danger
of attack by the Indians was impending, in March, 1690,
it was ordered that "The committee of Newbury appoint
the house of Mr. Abraham Merrill to be a garrison house
and request him with all convenient speed to fortity his
house." (***)
Abraham Merrill was a leader in carrying
out the measures taken for the protection of the town
(See page 59) from Indian raids, and he was a leader in
his neighborhood in the long-continued contest over the
establishment of an independent religions society in the
western part of the town. He was a member of the committee
appointed in 1695 to divide the town into two parishes,
and nineteen years later he became one of the first church
wardens when the Episcopal church was established on the
border line between the two parishes. (See
pages 61-63.)
His
Grave
The graves of Abraham2 Merrill
and many of his descendants are in the cemetery at Sawyer's
Hill, half a mile southeast from the old homestead. The
earliest family gravestone is that of Abigail Webster,
first wife of Abraham2. It is described as
a rather thick piece of finegrained stone, and apparently
waterworn. It seems as if it may have been used as a mortar
for pounding corn to make hominy, for the back is hollowed
like a dish. The inscription, which is rudely cut, reads:
HERE
LYES THE BO
DY OF ABIGAIL MERRILL
THE WIFE OF DEA
C O N A B R A H A M
MERRILL WHO DIED
AVGVST Ye 12 1712
AGED YERES 70
This is perhaps the earliest Merrill
tombstone in the country. Few earlier gravestones are
found in New England cemeteries. A grave beside this one,
marked by two rough pieces of granite at head and foot,
may be that of Deacon Abraham.
Reminiscences
of William7 Merrill
William7 Merrill (Henry6,5,4,
John3, Abraham2), whose family lived
on this farm for four generations, wrote me at some length
about it in March, 1901. Mr. Merrill was then 83 years
old. He had spent his life in Newburyport and West Newbury,
and was better versed in matters relating to the family
than anyone else in that section. Mr. Merrill said that
Abraham2 doubtless built the first house on
the premises. It stood about half way from the road to
the river. Prior to 1729 a second house was built not
far away, and the positions of both of these are shown
on an old plan of the West Parish of Newbury, made in
that year, which is reproduced in Currier's "Ould
Newbury," page 348.
The older house was occupied by John3
Merrill (Abraham3) and the newer one by his
brother David3. Finally John3 acquired
the whole farm, and lived in the newer house, and here
his descendants spent their lives until comparatively
recent years.
"The
second house I remember well," wrote Mr. Merrill.
"It faced the south, was two stories high in front
and one story in the rear. The barn was nearly a hundred
feet in length. . . . The skins of animals killed on the
place were tanned and made into shoes on the farm; flax
was raised and spun; sheep were kept, and the wool spun
and woven. . . . About 1850 the house was taken down.
"Nothing
remains except the old milldam. There was a grist mill
on a brook which ran through the farm. . . The banks of
the brook rise considerably, and near the top a ledge
crops out. In this ledge there is a vein softer than the
rest, and the weather has worn this away so that it looks
like the track of a wheel through mud nearly dry. This
was called 'the devil's wheelbarrow track,' that he made
when wheeling a grist to mill. My father, Henry6,
told me that when he was a small boy, and left alone in
the mill, he would look out of the window in terror lest
another such grist should be brought to mill. The singular
vein and the old dam, which has been repaired, are the
only things which remain on the place unchanged."
Settlement
of the Estate
Abraham2 Merrill died intestate,
and no record of administration of his estate is to be
found in the Probate Office at Salem. The reason is to
be found in the Registry of Deeds. Under date of 1 Feb.
1706/7, he conveyed to his son, Abraham3, part
of two freehold lots, numbered 74 and 75, in Newbury,
thirty acres; also a rate lot, twenty acres, and an undivided
half of his salt marsh "below grate pine Island."
Possession was to be given "Imediatly after mine
and my wife Abigall Decease." The consideration for
this conveyance was stated as follows:
"for
and in consideration of my Eldest son Abraham Merrill
paying to my son John Merrill six pounds thirteen shillings
and four pence and to my son Daived merrill the sum of
six pounds thirteen shillings and four pence to be all
paid in good pay as money to my two sonns their heires
or order within one year after mine and my wife Abigalls
Decease and in consideration of my said son Abraham merrill
Dwelling with me untill he was of the age of about thirty
years and did help me to carrey on and manage my buisness
faithfully."
The acknowledgment of this deed was
not taken until 7 April, 1712. It was recorded the following
month, in book 23, leaf 270, of Essex deeds.
March 3, 1706/7, Abraham Merrill gave
a deed to his son David3 covering "all
the westerly end of my home living containing by Estimation
fifteen acres," this being described as bounded on
one side by the Merrimack River; also twenty acres on
"Artechoake River," an undivided quarter of
his salt marsh below Great Pine Island, a half of his
meadow land in Salisbury, a half of his freehold and common
rights and rate rights in Newbury, a half of his wood
lots, and a half of his household goods. Possession, as
before, was contingent on the death of the grantor and
his wife, but the grantee should have immediate possession
in case he delivered to the grantor for life, and to his
widow after his decease, one-quarter part of all the grain,
indian corn and hay raised on the premises. This deed
was made "in consideration of my son David Merrill
paying the sum of thirty one pounds in Good pay as money
to be paid to my three daughters within three years after
mine & my wives Abigails decease viz to my daughter
Abigail Ordway ten pounds and thirteen Shillings and to
my daughter Hannah Long ten Pounds & Eighteen Shillings
& to my daughter Sarah Morss nine pounds & nine
Shillings in Consideration that my son David Merrill hath
dwelt with me and did help me to carry on my business
in the management of my living untill he was of the age
of twenty nine years and also other Good & Lawfull
Considerations me thereunto moving."
This
deed was acknowledged 7 April, 1712, and recorded the
following October, in book 26, leaf 75.
Finally
Abraham2 Merrill gave to his son John3
the easterly end of his "home living," containing
about thirty acres, on the bank of the Merrimack; also
a share equal to that conveyed to David in his salt marsh
and meadow land, in his freehold, common and rate rights,
in his wood lots, and in his household goods. This deed
was dated 7 April, 1707, and it was conditioned on the
grantee "Paying the Sum of Thirty one Pounds in Good
pay as money to be paid to my Son Jonathan Merrill and
my daughter Mary Thurloes children & my daughter Eliza
Emery and to my daughter Prudence Bartlett within three
years after mine and my wives Abigails decease,"
the £ 31 being apportioned as follows: to Jonathan
£ 9, to Mary Thurlow's children £ 10, to Elizabeth
£ 8, to Prudence £ 4. It was further recited
that the grantee had dwelt with the grantor, and assisted
him in his business, until he was thirty-three years old.
As
in the case of the deed to David, immediate possession
was contingent on John3 Merrill delivering
to his father annually one-quarter of the crops. The acknowledgment
of this deed was dated 7 April, 1712, and it was recorded
2 Oct. 1712, in book 26, leaf 76.
<!--[Image
for signature]-->
Abraham
Merrill's signature, shown in the margin, is copied from
a petition to the Governor and Council and the General
Court, dated February, 1709, regarding the erection of
a new meeting house. This petition is on file in the State
archives in Boston.
*
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was organized under a charter
granted to "The Governor and Company of the Massachusetts
Bay in New England." "Freemen" were those
who, having been duly chosen by the General Court, and
having taken the freeman's oath, were entitled to vote
for Governor, Assistants and Deputies to the General Court.
They were, in effect, members of the Company, and they
alone had a voice in its affairs. The election of freemen
ended in 1684 with the abrogation of the charter of the
Colony. "Freeholders," or "proprietors,"
were those who, by grant, purchase or inheritance, were
entitled to share in the common lands. All adult male
inhabitants, including those who were neither freemen
nor freeholders, might vote for town officers and on questions
of taxation.
**
Joshua P. Chase was a son of John Chase, whose father,
Amos Chase of Amesbury, married Eunice6 Merrill
(Richard5, Nathan4,3, Abel2.)
***
Coffin, History of Newbury, p. 153.
DANIEL2
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