Send your queries to The Merrill Newsletter, 28031 Lois Drive, Tavares, FL 32778, or by e-mail to the editor, lilhall@mpinet.net.
Deane11 Whitney Merrill's query:
Mystery #1: Who was the father of Thaddeus Merrill 1777-1855, the husband of Achsah Severance 1784-1872? My best guess is Lt. Nathaniel5 Merrill (b.1731/2) (m. Anna Baldwin), but the evidence is very thin.
If my guess is right, then Joseph Merrill and Thaddeus Merrill, who lived in Shelburne Falls, MA at about the same time, were first cousins. Plausible since Joseph's wife Lucinda Whitney was a first cousin of Thaddeus' wife Achsah Severance.
Mystery #2: Thaddeus populated Franklin County, Mass. with a zillion
Merrill descendants, but they have all left for other parts as far as I
know. I have been unable to unearth a single living descendant of his!