Samuel Merrill, 1928, reprint 1983

John¹ of Newbury - Chapter VIII, pp102-106

   John¹ Merrill, brother of our ancestor Nathaniel¹, had an only child, a daughter. None of us have inherited from him the family name, but nevertheless we naturally feel a great interest in him, and in the part which he played in the little Newbury commonwealth.

   Coffin, in his History of Newbury (p. 287), gives the names of “the most wealthy of the grantees” of the town, as measured by the number of acres of land given them. This measure was in general correct, for the grants from the town were based upon the property brought by the several settlers from England. John¹ Merrill’s name was the thirteenth on this list, and he received ninety-six acres. Some settlers received as little as ten acres. The grants were chiefly of arable land and meadow, the pastures being held by the town for use of the inhabitants in common. The privileges of these common lands were carofully apportioned. In the “stint of the ox and cow common,” 12 March, 1641/2, John Merrill was given a right to the pasturage of four cattle. (Currier, History of Newbury, p. 54.)

   On “this .... of y^e 7^th m^o 1666” Richard Currier of Salisbury sold to John Merrill of “Nubery,” husbandman, for £6, three acres of salt-marsh in Salisbury. This land was “in y^e 2^d division of y^e higgledee pigledee lotts being y^e 44^th in number . . . butting w^th one ende uppon Merimack River.” Early in the previous year John Merrill had purchased from Richard Currier another three-acre parcel, being the twenty-fourth lot in the same higgledy-piggledy division of salt-marsh. Both conveyances are recorded with the Norfolk Deeds (at Salem), book 2, leaf 110. Whether John Merrill was a party to other conveyances, either as grantor or grantee, we cannot say. Many deeds in the time of the earlier generations in this country were never placed on record.

His Civic Activities

   John Merrill was a freeholder in Newbury in 1638, and was admitted a freeman of the Colony in 1640. Some of his activities in the affairs of the community are indicated by entries in the town records. At the time when the removal of the settlement from Parker River northward to the present site of Newburyport was under consideration, John Merrill was the first-named of a committee of four appointed to make an inventory and appraisal of all the (*) stock, land, houses and other improvements of the inhabitants. In 1649 he was appointed a member of a committee to present to the General Court the town’s claims to jurisdiction over the whole of Plum Island. He was chosen a selectman in 1665; the following year he was a member of a committee to lay out a road to connect with the Salisbury ferry, and in 1668 he was chosen one of the surveyors of highways.

   In 1670 John Merrill joined the Newbury church, and he was somewhat active in the controversy of that time (**) over questions of church discipline. He made his will in the same year, and seems soon after to have withdrawn from some of the activities of a husbandman. In his will he describes himself as “being but weake in body,” and the entries in the inventory of his estate mentioning certain live stock as leased to his grandson, John Swett, confirm the impression that his health was seriously impaired. He died 12 Sept. 1673. If he was the John Merrill who was baptised in Wherstead in 1599, he must have been seventy-four years old at his death. (See pages 38, 41.)

His Marriage

   John¹ Merrill was doubtless married in England. His wife’s christian name was Elizabeth, but her family name is not known. She was admitted a member of the Newbury church in 1674. She died 14 July, 1682, in Newbury. Her will was dated 7 Dec. 1680. All her property was given to her grandchild Elizabeth Swett and her son-in-law Stephen Swett, her grandson John Swett, “whoome I have formerly donne well for,” being named as executor.

   The only child of John¹ and Elizabeth Merrill was Hannah, who was born in England, and died 4 (or 14?) April, 1662, in Newbury. She married, 24 May, 1647, Stephen Swett of Newbury, who was born in 1620. Stephen Swett kept an ordinary, later known as the Blue Anchor Tavern, near the training green, 1653-67. (Currier, “Ould Newbury,” pp. 90, 109, 176.)

   The children of Stephen and Hannah Swett were:

        John, b. 20 Oct. 1648; living in 1670.
        Stephen, b. 20 Aug. 1650; d. young.
        Hannah, b. 7 Oct. 1651; m. 20 June, 1685, Joseph Plumer.
        Stephen, b. 28 Jan. 1653/4; living in 1670.
        Elizabeth, b. 17 Jan. 1655/6.
        Joseph, b. 28 Nov. 1657; living in 1670.
        A daughter, b. 25 Apr. 1660.

His Will

   The will of John¹ Merrill is reproduced herewith, line for line as in the original.

<!--Image for John's signature]-->

   This will was proved at Ipswich 30 Sept. 1673.

Line 1: The y in y^t, like the y in y^e, is the survival of the Anglo-Saxon character Ÿ, and should be pronounced as th.

Lines 12, 20: Errable: arable.

Line 18: (***) Norfolke: a county which comprised several towns now included in Essex County, Massachusetts, and Rockingham County, New Hampshire. This county of Norfolk was in existence, as such, from 1643 to 1680.

Line 36: ff was used, as an initial, for the capital F.

   The signature of John Merrill in this will, as given here in facsimile, was crowded in the original for lack of room.

   Henry Sewall, named as one of the overseers, or executors, of this will, and also a witness to John Merrill’s signature, was one of the founders of the Newbury settlement, and a man of some prominence. He was father of Judge Samuel Sewall, the noted diarist.

   Archelaus Woodman came from England in 1635, and spent his life in Newbury. He was deputy to the General Court, and filled other town offices. In the list of passengers on the ship by which he came he is called Hercules Woodman. Savage, in his “Genealogical Dictionary,” questions which name is correct, remarking that “both are equally heathenish.”

   William Chandler was a freeholder in Newbury as early as 1651, and was a selectman at the time when this will was executed. He died in 1701, at the age of eighty-four.

The Inventory

   The Inventory of John Merrill's estate includes the following items:

   Then follow various household utensils and supplies. The inventory showed an estate aggregating £379.12s.

* Currier, History of Newbury, p. 85.

** (See page 61)

*** A map showing the towns of Norfolk County is given to Noyes History of Hapstead p. 454.

Chapter IX

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