Query: Rose Adams of CA wanted us to confirm a proposed lineage found in her mothers papers.
"Here is my mother's line, I just found her book."Nathaniel Merrill & Susannah Wilterton
Dean Abraham Merrill & Abigail Webster
Jonathan Merrill & Mary Brown
Abraham Merrill & Mehitable Stevens
Abraham Merrill & Elizabeth Russ
Thomas Merrill & Susannah Pell
Gilman Merrill & Rebecca Sevier
Hyrum Merrill & Sarah Helen Brim
Claude Merrill & Constance Eva Brown
Lorraine Junella Merrill & Lester Chacey 2nd Brandon E. Kent (my father)Answer:
The first five generations of this proposed lineage are documented much as you have them
[exceptions below] in A Merrill Memorial by Samuel Merrill. However we question if the
Thomas who m. Susannah Pell is Thomas the son of Abraham (5) and Elizabeth Russ.While many references give immigrant Nathaniel (1) wife's name as Susanna Wilterton, it is
currently believed she was the daughter by a prior m. of Susan, the wife Gregory Wilterton,
proprietor of Hartford CT. [See Heritage Quest 24, pg 38 and 25, pg 44, 1989] Since we
don't know Susan's first husband's name, Susanna's maiden name is unknown.Abraham (2)'s title is Deacon -it may have been abbreviated Dea'n - his name is not Dean. He
was bapt. 1637 Apr 9 in Lawford, Essex, England [We saw the baptismal records last summer
in England]. He d. 1722 Nov. 8 in Newbury MA.Abraham (4) m. 1734 June 20 Mehitable Stevens.
Abraham (5) m. 1777 Feb. 13, Elizabeth Russ, d/o Thomas & Sarah Russ.
The one thing we cannot prove is that the Thomas b. 1778 Dec. 28 to Abraham and Elizabeth
Russ is the same Thomas [of Oxford VT ? according to the VT vital records] that m. 1802
Oct. 19 Susannah Pell of Danville VT. In fact, Virginia Merrill in her Merrill in America
states that Thomas (6) [1778] is the Thomas that m. 1811 Mar 11, Sarena Newcomb in
Thetford VT. There is a Thomas listed in Thetford in the 1820, 1830 and 1860 census [where
he is listed as 82, b. NH]. He d. 1864 June 14, age 86, in Thetford. Sarena d. 1858 July 8, age
76 in Thetford.We do know that your Thomas was listed in Hillian, Knox Co, OH in 1820: Thomas, [45+],
Wife, [45+], 2m,3f [10-16], 4f [16-26] (sounds like a lot of girls - maybe a weaving or
dressmaking shop?). This is the only data we have to indicate Thomas's age. It would suggest
that he was b. before 1775. We don't have a death date or cemetery record for Thomas. In
1830 the only Merrill in Knox Co is son Gilman - newly married.In the light of Virginia's data, and the age of Thomas in 1820, we would suggest that your
Thomas is NOT the son of Abraham (5) and Elizabeth Russ. We do not know who his parents
were.Query: Lil Follett-Hall asked: Who is Deborah Merrill, 65, with Truman, 32, schoolteacher, and Catharine, 29, in 1850 Census, Industry, Franklin, ME?
Answer:
Deborah, 66, in the 1850 Industry ME census is Deborah Allen, the widow of Thomas (6) [1776-1824], Ezra (5), Stephen (4,3) Daniel (2) Nathaniel (1). Truman Allen is her
son, b. 1818.
Query: Don W Merrill wrote: I am a twelfth generation New England Merrill. Some of
the information I have differs slightly from the short blurb I got off the internet,. I have five sons
(Nathaniel, John, Abraham, Daniel, and Abel). I have seen the material of another New Hampshire person who has a sixth son, Thomas.? There are discrepancies here and there. Does anyone have information on the ancestral line in England. I have four generations beginning with John born in 1475. A careful look at the dates through the generations suggests that there is a missing generation.
I look forward to hearing from you or someone with definitive answers.Answer:
A Merrill Memorial by Samuel Merrill gives verbatim the wills of three John Merrills in England
that preceded immigrant Nathaniel's parents Nathaniel and Mary Blacksol.
Certainly the latest of these [will 1600] refers to Nathaniel's grandfather. Since both of the
earlier wills [1552 and 1529] named two different sons as John it is difficult to know which one
is which. Some folks claim a Thomas Merryl b. 1444, but we have seen no documentation.
Others want to trace their lineage back to the time of William the Conqueror. We only claim
the first John [1600 will] where we are certain of the direct lineage.The Thomas that was granted land in Arundel, now Kennebunkport, ME in 1681 for killing an
hostile indian is sometimes attributed to Nathaniel, but he is believed to be the Thomas, son of
Thomas who was baptised in Hartford CT, 1646 Nov. 1. He is sometimes known as Thomas
of Saybrook CT. Many of his descendants resided in Saybrook and Clinton CT and Pittsfield
MA. He was a sea captain and is believed to have lived for a time in what is now
Kennebunkport ME. Although we have no proof, we believe his father may be Nathaniel's
cousin Thomas, b. ca 1696 in Wherstead, Suffolk, England to Thomas and Rose Pearson. He
disappears from English records about the same time as Nathaniel.Query: Celia Schultz wrote asking who Mary Merrill's parents were." I have record of a Mary A. Merrill, b. Nov. 30, 1811, possibly in N. Yarmouth, ME; m. George Everett on March 11, 1830, probably in New Brunswick, Canada; date of burial 2/20/1885 in Manchester, NH."
From an "Everett" genealogy book: "George Everett is a 7th generation Descendant of Richard E of Dedham, MA. His wife, Mary A Merrill was of St. Andrews, NB, he was a farmer and shipwright, lived at Montville, Calais and Camden, ME. In 1869 he was living at Boston, MA."
Answer:
Sorry, on this one we don't have a clue. We have very little data on those who crossed over
into Canada. In N. Yarmouth in 1820 there are nine Merrill families with daughters under 10.
We can eliminate all but two as not having a Mary or whose Mary had the wrong b. date or m.
the wrong person. Those two are both unidentified, in that we do not know who their parents
were and do not know their lineage. For all the other Merrills listed in the 1820 census of
North Yarmouth, we have identified their lineage back to immigrant Nathaniel. Those two are a
Joseph [45+], and a Nathan also [45+].We have no idea what their daughter's [b. 1810-1820]
names were. Neither Joseph nor Nathan were there in 1830.
Query: Liz Tattersall wrote "I am looking for information on Hattie G. Merrill. She married George E. Tattersall & had at least 2 sons, Ivan Leroy & Ernest. George was born in 1877, Orford, NH.
Ivan's birth certificate lists Hattie as being born in Lyme, NH. Hattie is my gg grandmother.Answer:
From The NH vital records, we have a Hattie Grace b. 1884 Jan. 28 in Orford, Grafton Co,
NH to Elijah Noyes (9) and Isabell (Greenough) Deland Merrill. Elijah Noyes's lineage is Cyrus
(8), Jesse (7), Timothy (6), Jesse (5), Stephen (4), Nathaniel (3,2,1).Query: Beverly Merrill wrote:"I am still searching for my husband’s father’s line prior to 1794,
Joseph(?) Merrill was born on August 21, 1794. He married Catharine Berry September 30, 1823, and can be found in census records for about thirty years living in Denmark, Maine; then Lovell, Maine; and in Sebago, Maine, with a daughter, Cynthia Holt, about 1860. Joseph and Catherine had one son who lived to adulthood Stephen(?) who was died in 1865 from wounds suffered in the Battle of Hatcher’s Run, Virginia, in the Civil War. Stephen married Rebecca R. Blake and one of their children was Henry Wilson Merrill of Hiram, Maine, my husband’s grandfather. Anyone have any knowledge of this line, particularly the parentage of Joseph [1794]?"Answer:
Beverly is a longtime correspondent searching for Joseph. We were able to supply her with the
census data, but have been unable to determine Joseph's parents. We hope some subscriber
can provide the missing link.(Editor's Note: The following query was inadvertently left out of the last issue's New Queries section. Mea culpa.)
Query: Patricia Halliday wrote: "My grandfather was Frank Reginald (8) Merrill, Issac D.(7),
Elias(6), Humphrey(5,4), James(3), Abel(2), Nathaniel(1). Issac founded the town of
Bridgeton,
Newaygo Co., MI, and Frank was born there, August 16 or 26, 1867. I have data on his
eight siblings who were born there except for Henry C. Merrill, b.1852-53; he may have died
in his 20's.Oral history has stated that this lineage follows the youngest sons through eight generations; I
have not substantiated this so far. Along with data on generation (8), I have a fair amount of
data on subsequent generations (9) and (10) in MI, OR and CA.Also I need the place of marriage for Frank R. MERRILL and Ella Sophia RAINOUARD, m.
January 13, 1888. She and her family were from Polkton Twp., Ottawa Co. MI. I have not
found the locale in Newaygo, Ottawa, Muskegon Cos. or through MI Vital Stats.Answer:
We can confirm the lineage you presented down to Frank (8) b. ca 1868. Our data on Frank
and his siblings are from the 1850, 60, and 70 census of Newaygo Co MI, so we don't have
exact dates. His brother, Henry C, was still around in 1870.We must discount the oral tradition about "youngest sons for 8 generations".
Abel (2) was the youngest of 5 sons [6 ch]
James (3) was the youngest of 6 sons [8 ch]
Humphrey (4) was the 2nd oldest of 6 sons [11 ch]
Humphrey (5) was the 3rd oldest of 5 sons [8 ch]
Elias (6) was the oldest of 7 sons [11 ch]
Isaac Dimmock (7) was the 2nd oldest of 5 sons [9 ch]
Frank was the youngest of 7 sons [9 ch]We don't have any info on Frank's m. to Ella.
