The Merrill Newsletter - Volume 7, Number 2 - August, 2002 - Page 4
QUERIES AND ANSWERS
by Howard and Jean Merrill
Query: Mary Stubbs submitted the following: Benjamin Wolcott and Elizabeth Merrill Wolcott were parents of Emily Wolcott. Emily was born on May 10, 1817. She married Peter Randolph in Litchfield Pa. in 1838. I am trying to find the Randolph side.
Answer: Elizabeth Merrill [1799-1878] was the daughter of Solomon Woodruff (6) Merrill [1770-1844] and Abigail Stoddard. Solomon's lineage Merrill lineage is Eleazer (5), Abraham (4,3), John (2), immigrant Nathaniel (1). More details on this Merrill lineage are available.
We do not, however, follow the Merrill daughters after they marry, so we have nothing on Elizabeth's eleven children, or on the families into which they married. We are concerned strictly with the Merrill surname. With info on over 40,000 Merrill males, plus their wives and daughters, we have neither the time, energy, nor storage space to follow these ancillary lines. Sorry we could not help you on your Randolph line.
Query: John Hanrahan wrote: I'm concerned that I put the most accurate dates in the book I'm preparing for the family; however, of all the sources I've seen, I see many dates that are not the same. Can you help? Here is the line;
1 Thomas Meryell 1444 - 1480 +Unknown (Mrs. Thomas Meryell) 1444 -....
.. 2 John Meryell, Sr. 1475 - 1528/29 +Anne Belcham 1475 - 1528
.... 3 John Meryell 1495 - 1551/52 +Katherine John 1507 - 1551
...... 4 John Merrell, The Younger 1545 - 1599/00 +Prudence Bird 1548 - 1609
........ 5 Nathaniel Merrill 1571 - 1626/27 +Mary Blaxall/Blaxsol 1574 - 1624
........... 6 Nathaniel Merrill 1601 - 1654/55 +Susannah Wolterton 1610 - 1672/73
.............. 7 Nathaniel Merrill 1634 - 1682/83 +Joanna Ninian 1628 - 1717/18
................. 8 John Merrill 1663/64 - 1705 +Lucy Webster 1664 - 1718
................... 9 John Merrill 1696 - 1773 +Lydia Haines 1705 -.???
..................... 10 Thomas Merrill 1723/24 - 1788 +Phebe Abbot 1727 - 1755
......................... 11 Amos Merrill 1753 -.??... +Lois Willey 1755 - ??.....
............................12 Samuel W. Merrill, Sr. 1800 - 1862 +Martha Green 1806 - 1872
..............................13 Silas Merrill 1831 - 1913 +Margaret A. Weaver 1835 --1915
Answer: What particular dates do you have question about? We would be glad to try and clarify. Although we are aware of and have record of the data in England, we have not included it in our database. We start with immigrant Nathaniel and his wife Susannah. Susannah's maiden name is unknown. She is believed to be the daughter by a previous m. of Susan, wife of Gregory Wolterton, proprietor of Hartford CT. Since Susan's first husband's surname is unknown, so also is Susannah's. She would be the stepdaughter of Gregory Wolterton. After Nathaniel's death, his second son, John, still a minor, went to Hartford to live with his grandmother, Susan, and Gregory Wolterton. Since Gregory was childless, John Merrill eventually inherited the bulk of Gregory's estate.
We do have some dates we can add.
Phebe Abbott 1727-1754 Sept 29.
Amos Merrill 1753- 1840 Mar. 13
Lois Wiley d. 1855 Mar 28, age 95-2.
We do not have a death date for Samuel W Merrill, but we question the 1862 date given. He and Martha are still around in Brooklyn, MN in the 1870 census.
Query: Wendy B____ wrote and gave a lot of data on Jones and Timmins families of MS and also this data relating to Merrills.
S. R. Jones Sr. [possibly a Doctor] from Carroll Co, MS, had a daughter Virginia Jones born in 1847 who married John D.M. MERRILL. She had 5 children but the twins died soon after birth. Virginia Jones Merrill died in 8-27-1895 in Hemmingway Mississippi and was buried in the Merrill Cemetery in Carroll County. Dr. S.R. Jones also had a son, Paul Lee Jones, born in 1860. Paul Lee Jones adopted the 2 children of John Merrill after John Merrill dies in 1898. The surviving children were Kate Claire Merrill, and Paul Jones Merrill.
She was not sure if this Jones was related to her Jones and Timmins families.
Answer: John Dabney McLemore Merrill m. 2nd, 1882 May 10, Virginia Caroline (Jones) Oliver. We don't know the given name of her first husband - Oliver. Her twins and another daughter, Grace Dabney, all d. young.
We find it interesting that Kate Claire and Paul Jones Merrill were raised by Virginia's brother Paul Lee Jones. We have that Paul Jones Merrill m. 1915 Sep. 1, Paullee Jones. We suspect that this was Paul Lee Jones's daughter, Paul Jones Merrill's first cousin. They had Paul Jones jr who d. young [1916 Oct. 13 - !917 Jan. 12] and David Ledrick, b. 1922 Aug. 6. Paul Jones Merrill's dates were 1885 Feb 1 - 1949 July 31. His Merrill lineage was John D M (7), James W S (6), Nicholas D (5), Andrew (4), Nicholas (3), Philip (2), Richard (1), immigrant to Staten Island NY ca 1680.
Query: E.T. (Ted) Hunter said I think we have covered some of this before, but I have some new conjectures! My son-in-law, Daniel F. Merrill is the source of my interest in the Merrill family. His line is: Daniel F. Merrill, Sr. (b. 1935, Allegan, MI); Frank Joseph Merrill, (b. 1891, Danville, IL); Frank Augustus Merrill (b. 1862, Sullivan Co., IN); Joseph L. Merrill (b. about 1809, MD). Now the conjecture. A Joseph Merrill, d. 1783 in MD, left a will. In it are named his wife, Elizabeth, dau. Sarah (md. Henderson), Jesse, William, Arthur and Levi. Levi's son looks like he could also be a Joseph. Now, for my Joseph L. Merrill-- could the L. be Levi, or Levin? Could he be the son or grandson of the above Joseph? Reasonable, but NO proof whatever! Any ideas?
Answer: Last fall we finally got to the MD Hall of Records in Annapolis when they were open [closed Mondays]. Although were only had a day to research, we came away with a bunch of data. We found the will of the Joseph you refer to who d. 1783. It turns out that Joseph's son Levi [we est. b. ca 1745], who we est. m. ca. 1768 Ann (_?_), d. ca. 1784 [Levi's next of kin was listed as brother, Arthur, who was also exec. of his father, Joseph's will]. Widow Ann was named as Levi's Admin'x. The three children [Levi jr, Sarah, Joseph] were ward's of the orphan's Court. There are numerous records in the Orphan's Court, changing guardians, for it seems Ann later m. John Tull, and they wasted Levi's estate. From all the records and the times at which the children reached their majority and received what little was left of their inheritance, we estimate that Levi jr was b. ca 1769; Sarah, b. ca 1774, and Joseph, b. ca Sept 1777. We do not know what became of this 1777 Joseph after he reached majority in 1798. There is no Joseph listed as head of household in Worcester or Somerset Co in 1800, 1810, or 1820 census. We don't know who your Joseph L, b. 1809, parents were. We believe that Levi jr m. Eleanor Townsend and had Levi, 1802 Mar 6; and Harriet, 1810 Mar 9 [and perhaps others]. There was a Levi listed in the 1800 and 1810 Worcester Co census, but we have no way to know if this is Levi jr. His age fits, and he had 2m [under 10] in 1810. Records indicate there were a number of other Levi's in the area at the time. Seems like everybody used the same names for their sons. When you start off with nine sons of the immigrant William, it makes for a lot of confusion at a time when very few records were kept.
Query: Bruce Pusch wrote saying: I am looking for ancestral information for Mary Merrill who was born 9/1/1750 in Stafford, CT. She married Jonathan Alden on 3/30/1769 in Conway, MA.. Jonathan Alden, a descendent of John Alden of the Mayflower, was born on 6/6/1747 also in Stafford, CT. I don't know when or where Mary died or who her parents were.
Answer: Your Mary Merrill, 1750 Sept 1, who m. Jonathan Alden was the daughter of John (5) [1722-1753] and Sarah Fuller. John (5)'s lineage is Nathaniel (4,3,2,1). More details are available. A Merrill Memorial by Samuel Merrill on page 299 states of Mary (6) "m. Jonathan Alden, a descendant in the sixth generation from John and Priscilla Alden who figure in "the Courtship of John Alden"."
Query: Connie Schachel of Sheboygan, WI said: After many years, I believe I have finally crossed the bridge between the six generations of Merrills in my database and the descendants of Nathanial, Abraham2, David3,4, Winthrop5, John6,7, the latter my GGG Grandfather, John Merrill, and second wife, Sarah Cady, born 1797, and died in 1886, Geneva, Nebraska (Merrill
Memorial says 1866 - an error, I believe). Is there more information available on John7? I have evidence he lived (for a time) in Indiana where he was a land owner and served as postmaster of the Crooked Lake station, before moving on to Nebraska. I am happy to share the information I've gathered. I have no data on first wife, or children of that union. Second wife, Sarah, was 20-years younger than John7. Together they had six surviving children. Where can I go to find info on birthplace for John7, name of first wife, and date of their marriage, names of their children?
Answer: You are certainly correct in saying Merrill Memorial [MM] was in error with John 7's death date. We found him in Liberty twp, Warren Co IA in 1860 and in Madison, Polk Co IA in 1870. We haven't read the 1880 census yet. Glad to have his correct d. date. From the birthplaces given for the children, he certainly moved around a lot. From fgs from a correspondent and from the 1860 and 70 census we have John and Sarah Cady's children as: Phoebe, 1840, IN; William, 1841 July 9, IN; Emory, 1845, IL; Sarah, 1847 June 26, IL; Anna, 1852, IL; Emma, 1855, WI; Oscar C, 1857, WI; Ellen, 1859 ca Oct., WI, but by July 1860 they were in IA. When did they move to NE?
We did not find them in 1850 in IL. MM says his father, John (6) d. 1865 in Freeport, Stephenson Co IL. In 1850 we found John (7)'s brother, Winthrop (7) in Wayne, Stephenson, IL. It looks like we need to go back and look more closely in Stephenson Co - the indexer may have misinterpreted Merrill as something else.
In 1840, we found them in Jackson twp, Steuben Co IN: John, [40-50]; wife, [20-30]; 1f [under 5]; 1m [5-10]; 1m [10-15]; 1m [15-20]; 1m [60-70] (his father?). Probably only the daughter [newborn Phoebe] is Sarah's.
We did not find them in IN in 1830. MM states that John (6) lived in Lebanon NH, Poland, NY; Ashtabula, OH and Freeport, IL. We didn't find either John in Herkimer Co NY or Ashtabula Co OH in either 1820 or 30.
We did find what we believe to be John (6) in Grafton, Grafton Co, NH [about 10 mi east of Lebanon] in both 1800 and 1810. Whether he was there in 1797 when John (7) was born, we don't know, but we would look for his birth either there or in Exeter where John and Abigail were m. in 1791.
What we know of John (6)'s other sons is: -Gilman m. Maria Barrett 1818 in Batavia NY, and was in Butler Co OH in 1820. By 1830 he was in Warren Co PA. He stayed there and he d. there in 1860. Widow Maria was still there in 1870. -William - we don't know where he d. in 1822, or if he m. -Winthrop - was in Stephenson Co IL in 1850 and 60 and d. there 1863.
His daughter was b. in Chautauqua NY in 1833. -George W was in Poland NY in 1850, but according to MM d. 1856 in Freeport IL. -Samuel - nothing known.
HEY! in looking for Winthrop in 1830 and 40, we find in Ellicot, Chautauqua Co, John Jr [30-40]; wife, [20-30]; 1m [under 5]; 1m [5-10]; 2m [20-30] (brothers- Winthrop and perhaps George?). I think we may have found John (7) and his first wife. It certainly is consistent with the children by her that we found in the 1840 IN census. We don't know her name or the name of her three sons.
Query: Debra Hanna stated: Our Merrill connection, as researched by my brother at the Hartford State Library, is Nathaniel Merrill (1618-1683) (wife Susannah not sure of last name), son John Merrill (1635-1712) wife Sarah Watson, son Wilterton Merrill (1675-1755) wives Hannah Waters and Ruth Pratt, son Gideon (?- 1757) wife Mary Bigelow, son Nathaniel (1742-1820) wife Hannah Belton, daughter Hannah Merrill (1806-1873).. Hannah married Ebenezer Spencer (1801-) Their
daughter was Julia Spencer, her daughter was Lucy Perkins (my great, great grandmother) Lucy and Algernon Sydney Harrison Ford had a daughter, Susan Jane Ford, who married Harry Stocking and they had my mom. They lived in Winsted, Ct. Do you have any stories or info on Merrills, or others? My mom is 89 years old and loves stories about her ancestors.
Answer: Thank you for posting to the Merrill Newsletter homepage. In the lineage you posted, it appears that you left out a generation.
Nathaniel and Hannah Belden [not Belton] did have a daughter Hannah, but her dates are 1765 Jan 9 - 1845 Aug 19 and she m. 1788 Jan 1, Elisha Moses. It is Nathaniel (5)'s son Nathaniel (6) [1762 Oct 5 - 1834 Aug 29] and wife Huldah Hurlbert [m. 1789 July 2 in Goshen, CT] whose daughter, Hannah, was b. 1806 and d. 1873. We did not have record of her m. to Ebenezer Spencer. Do you have a date and place for this m.? The Genealogy and Biography of Ancient Wethersfield indicates that Nathaniel (6) and Huldah had eight children - we only have record of three: Mariah, Hannah and Nathaniel. Do you have any information about the other five?
With regard to the original immigrant, Nathaniel; the dates you posted are incorrect. Nathaniel was baptized 1601 May 1, in Wherstead, Suffolk, England and d. Newbury MA 1654/5 Mar. 16. His first four children were baptized in Lawford, Essex, England 1634-1638. When we were in England two years ago we visited both these churches. Pictures of these churches are posted on Steve Merrill's website <http://www.merrill.org/wherstead> (Coincidentally, Steve's article on Wherstead also appears in this issue. Ed.)
Query: Beth Merrill Clymer posted to the Guest Book. Looking to find family roots going back beyond Joshua Russell Merrill, b. in Chilli, Coshocton Co. Ohio, May 21, 1832, married to Syntha DeBerry, b. July 28, 1832. I have a note that his father was William Merrell from Snow Heights, Maryland but no proof. I have pictures of Joshua Russell at his home plus his obituary, and lots of pictures of the family going forward. My ggrandfather was his son, William Jackson Merrill, born 25 Jan 1857, married to Lydia McAllister (maybe Coats) Jan 3, 1886 in Silver Creek, NB. My grandfather was Orville Merrill and my father, William H. Merrill. William Jackson Merrill and Lydia Ann apparently spent most of their lives in Patricksburg, Indiana. I show Lydia was born 28 March 1866 in Patricksburg and died 29 March 1949 in Indianapolis. My father always said that she was half Indian, any knowledge of her origins? Hope you can help.
Answer: Joshua's parents were William Jackson [1780/84 - 1834] and 2nd wife Catherine Russell [m. 1831 Nov. 3 in Coshocton Co OH]. William's first wife, Elizabeth [possibly Greer?] had a dozen children: John, ca 1805; David, ca 1806; Sarah, ca 1808; Greer, ca 1809; James, ca 1812; Elizabeth, ca 1814; Joseph, ca 1816?; Abijah, 1818; Margaret, ca 1820; Henry Melville, ca 1822; Mary, ca 1823; William, ca 1827.
William is listed in Mill Creek, Coshocton Co OH in the 1830 census and in Franklin, Fayette Co, PA in 1810 and 1820. In
1810: William [26-45]; wife [26-45]; 3m,1f [under 10]. In 1820: William [26-45]; wife [26-45]; 4m,2f [under 10]; 2m,1f
[10-16]. In 1830: William [40-50]; wife [40-50]; 1m [under 5]; 1f [5-10]; 1m,2f [10-15]; 1m [15-20]; 4m,1f [20-30].
Also in Franklin Twp, Fayette Co, PA in 1810 is Abijah Merril and wife [both 45+]. In 1800, also in Franklin twp is Bija
Merrit [believed to be Abijah Merrill], both [45+], and a son [16-26]. Based on William Jackson naming a son Abijah, we believe William Jackson is the son of Abijah. Based on family tradition - no hard data - William Jackson and Abijah are said to have come from Snow Hill MD. We have no record of an Abijah b. in Somerset or Worcester Co, MD, but if they came from
Snow Hill, they are undoubtedly descended from William, b. ca 1645, who came to Somerset Co MD in 1668 as an indentured servant, worked off his servitude, m. Elizabeth (_?_) and left nine sons and four daughters when he d. in 1710. With so many sons and they all seemed to give their sons the same given names, following the lineages in this family is difficult, and few lines have been documented with certainty. It seems likely that Joshua Russell is descended from immigrant William of Somerset Co MD.
The only fly in the ointment of such a proposed descendancy is an isolated NJ record that states an Abijah [of Morris Co NJ] m. 1763 a Sarah Din of Monmouth. We know of an Andrew of Morris Co NJ, who after the Rev. war, went by way of Loudon Co VA, western MD and WV to Clark Co KY. Relatives were in Allegany Co MD and adjacent PA. We don't know if this Abijah was related to Andrew or not - early NJ records are almost as sparse as those in MD - or if this NJ Abijah
could be the one who later shows up in western PA. These are the only two Abijahs we have record of before 1800. Andrew's lineage is believed to be Nicholas (3), Philip (2), immigrant Richard (1) of Staten Island.
Many years ago, we copied in SLC a family group sheet on Joshua Russell submitted in 1949 by a ggranddaughter, Bertha (Poor) Gerber [thru son George Washington]. It had that your ancestor, William Jackson, m. 1886 Jan 1, Lydia Coats [but no more info on his line]. You have Lydia McAllister. Another tidbit we found interesting on the fgs was that George Washington m. Mary Ann Jones, d/o Hugh William Jones and Mary Elizabeth McAllister - related? We don't have anything on Lydia - we only record the wives' parents if available - we don't try to follow the wife's line or the daughter's children - we have our hands full with just the Merrills.
Query: Gloria Konikoff is searching for the marriage record and death dates for Lucy MERRILL, dau of John & Lucy (Webster) MERRILL, early of Newbury, then Haverhill, Essex Co., MA and her husband Benjamin STANLEY, b. 1673, Topsfield, Essex Co., MA , son of Matthew and Ruth (Andrews) STANLEY. Benj. & Lucy were members of West Parish Church of Haverhill, where their children were baptized. Their children: Ruth, bapt. 17 Sept. 13, 1713 (m. Wm. PETERS;
Joseph, b. 26 Jan., 1718; Matthew, b. 22 June, 1718 (m. Mary PUTNEY of Woburn); Ann, b. 2 Dec., 1720 (m John VARNUM); Elizabeth, bapt. 30 April, 1721 (m. Edward BACON); Rebeccah, b. 18 Mar., 1723 and John, bapt. 24 Sept., 1726. Have found no record for Benjamin & Lucy (Merrill) Stanley after 1745. Will gladly share information. Would appreciate any assist whatsoever.
Answer: The published vital records of Haverhill, MA, state that Lucie and Benj. Stanley were m. in Haverhill before 1716. It does not give an exact date. Obviously with Ruth bapt. 1713, they were m. before that. The Haverhill vital records only record the b. of John (3) [Nathaniel (2,1)] and Lucy Webster's last three sons, Stephen, 1700 Sept. 10; Enoch, 1702 June 23; and Nathan 1704 Apr 15, and these are almost the earliest births recorded there. The Newbury vital records only have the birth of their first son, Nathaniel, 1687 July 27, recorded, but A Merrill Memorial states that they lived in Newbury till 1697 and their first five children [including Lucy] were b. there. So we don't have a firm b. date for Lucy, but have estimated ca 1692 in Newbury. John (3) d. 1705 May 15 in Haverhill.
We only copied the Merrill section of the published vital records, so we don't know if Lucy (Merrill) Stanley is listed in the Haverhill deaths. The NH vital records are far less complete than those of MA and again we copied only the Merrill surname records, so would not have Lucy and Benjamin Stanley's death, even if it were recorded there.
Query: Tom Jennings said " I am looking for the parents of Samuel Robbin Merrill, b. 3/1/1822 in Conesus, New York. He married Elenor Dunning and they had eleven children, one of which was Mortimer Eugene Merrill. He is my great grandfather. Any information would be helpful."
Answer: Samuel R, 28, was in Rising Sun, Ohio, IN in 1850 with wife Elloner [Dunning] and sons Mortimer, 2, and Walter, 11months. In 1860 and 70, he was in Adair Co, MO [still with Elinor] and more kids. Samuel is the s/o Morris [Elijah or Pomeroy] and Rhoda Emma Robbins who was also in Rising Sun in 1850. Morris was b. 1779 in Stephenstown, Rensellaer, NY and d 1872 Dec. 31 in Rising Sun. We do not know who Morris's parents were. We would be greatly interested in any info you have on Samuel Robbin's Merrill surname descendants right down to the present day.
