Who
were the parents of Thaddeus MERRILL 1777-1855?
Deane Merrill,
10 May 2008 (version 6)
http://merrill.olm.net/family/merrill/thaddeus_merrill_father.html
INTRODUCTION:
Thaddeus MERRILL 1777-1855 was a prominent resident of
Achsah's ancestry is well documented, but that of Thaddeus, until recently, was
unknown. In various published genealogies, Thaddeus 1777-1855 was
incorrectly identified as a son of Nathaniel(5) b.1731/2, or of Thaddeus(6)
1758-1838. Regarding the parents of Thaddeus 1777-1855, the only known
primary sources are two 1855 death records, which are contradictory.
Ref.7, in the
The two contradictory records were created immediately after Thaddeus' 1855 death. One cannot definitively state which record is correct. It is possible that Thaddeus b.1777 was born to James b.1756 and an unknown wife, and then raised by Nathaniel b.1755 and his wife Anna LONG. But there is no evidence to support this hypothesis.
Nothing is known about James Merrill, beyond the fact that he was born in
The information in the Shelburne record most likely came from Thaddeus' widow
Achsah SEVERANCE, who was living in Shelburne and should have known the name of
her father-in-law. Also, because
Thaddeus married into the prominent SEVERANCE family; it is probable that his
parents were also prominent in Shelburne.
This was the case for Nathaniel MERRILL and his wife Anna LONG.
OUR CONCLUSIONS:
The parents of Thaddeus MERRILL 1777-1855 were:
Nathaniel(6) MERRILL b.1755 Pelham, Hillsborough, NH who m.in Shelburne MA
abt.1776
Ann/Anna LONG b.1758 prob. Staunton, Middlesex, MA, d.1836 Truxton, Cortland,
NY.
This identifies Thaddeus 1777-1855 as
Thaddeus(7) MERRILL [Nathaniel(6),Nathaniel(5),John(4),Nathaniel(3,2,1)].
Thaddeus(7) was a 4th-great-grandson of Nathaniel(1) MERRILL 1601-1654/55, who
emigrated from
Thaddeus' grandfather Nathaniel(5) MERRILL b.1731/2 fought in the American
Revolution. If the present analysis is confirmed, Thaddeus' and Achsah's
descendants can now claim DAR/SAR membership not only through Achsah SEVERANCE,
but also through her husband Thaddeus MERRILL.
PREVIOUS ANALYSIS:
Peggy Dillon Lewis' family group sheets (Ref.1) stated that Thaddeus' mother
was Submit PHIPPS who d.1791. Cutter/Joslyn (Ref.2) stated that Ann/Anna
LONG was a second wife of Nathaniel(6), with a birthdate of 1766 and a marriage
date of 1786. Those statements, which are apparently incorrect, have been copied
into numerous databases and electronic documents.
REVISED ANALYSIS:
There
is no doubt that the Nathaniel MERRILL who m. Anna LONG and had several
children in Rowe was the son of Nathaniel(5) b.1731/2 and Anna BALDWIN
b.1731/2. In the Rowe vital records
(Ref.6) two of the children of Nathaniel Jr. and Anna MERRILL were Simeon
MERRILL b.1782 and Baldwin MERRILL b.1784.
A LONG genealogy (Ref.4) lists the birthdates of the children of David LONG
1724-1784 of
Knowing that Sarah/Sally LONG b.1762 m.John(6) MERRILL b.1764, and knowing that
at least five of Anna's siblings were in Shelburne, we conclude that the
unnamed husband of Sarah's sister Ann LONG b.1758, was John(6)'s brother
Nathaniel(6) MERRILL b.1755.
From Shelburne vital records and other sources it is known that Thaddeus was
born in Shelburne in September 1777. Thaddeus' 1855 death record in
Shelburne (Ref.7) states that his father's name was Nathaniel. But there
are contradictions, most importantly the 1855 death record at NEHGS in
The key to the puzzle is the LONG genealogy (Ref.4) which establishes
Ann/Anna's birthdate as 1758. The 1766
birthdate given by Joslyn is apparently in error. The revision from 1766 to
1758 now makes Ann/Anna LONG old enough to be Thaddeus' mother, and the
contradiction is removed. Most likely Ann/Anna was married to
Nathaniel(6) in Shelburne around 1776, about age 18. After Thaddeus'
birth, Nathaniel and Anna moved to nearby Rowe and had several younger children
beginning in 1780.
No marriage record for Nathaniel(6), nor birth record for Thaddeus(7),
exists. In 1776 and 1777 the Shelburne residents struggled just to stay
alive. In addition to the hardships of
the Revolution, there was a terrible epidemic which killed ten percent of the
Shelburne population in the single year 1777 (Ref.9).
Even after moving to Rowe, Nathaniel(6) and Ann/Anna maintained a presence in
the Congregational Church in Shelburne (Ref.8). In 1779 an Anna Merrill
was admitted by profession into the church, and in 1783 an unnamed wife of
Nathaniel Merrill was admitted. These were most likely Nathaniel(6)'s
mother Anna BALDWIN Merrill b.1731/2 and his wife Anna LONG Merrill b.1758, but
which Anna was admitted first cannot be determined. Then in 1801 in
Shelburne, Nathaniel's oldest son Thaddeus(7) married Achsah SEVERANCE,
daughter of one of Shelburne's most prominent citizens. Thaddeus and
Achsah built a home in Shelburne and had 13 children there.
Our new hypothesis regarding Thaddeus(7)'s parents is simpler than the earlier
one. It is consistent with all known sources except for the NEHGS death
record in Ref.10, the wife Submit Phipps mentioned in Ref.1, and the spurious
dates in Ref.2. Those sources are believed to be erroneous, for the
reasons given above.
The MERRILL, LONG and SEVERANCE families were large and well-established
families in Shelburne. They were of the same social class and attended
the same church in Shelburne, and there were several intermarriages among those
families. It is expected that additional research into the related
families will uncover further evidence to support the conclusions described above.
The author will appreciate corrections and comments, especially related source
documents.
REFERENCES:
Ref.1: Peggy Dillon Lewis, Family Group Sheets sent 4/15/1992 to Howard and
Jean Merrill:
"child of Lt. Nathaniel Merrill and Anna Baldwin is Nathaniel Merrill b.3
Mar 1755 in Pelham, Hillsborough, NH, m. in 1775 Submit Phipps, who
d.Apr.1781." The author of the Family Group Sheets is unknown.
I contacted Peggy Lewis prior to her death in 2004 and she could not remember
where she got them. The reference to Submit Phipps is unsubstantiated and
probably incorrect.
Ref.2: Joslyn, Roger D., The Children and Grandchildren of Nathaniel Merrill
and his son Benjamin Merrill (1990, unpublished): "Nathaniel Jr. (6)
MERRILL b. 9 March 1755; bp. in Pelham [NH] 6 July 1755 [Pelham Church Records
and Pelham Vital Records]; living in Northampton, Montgomery (now Fulton) Co.,
NY, in 1810 [1810 US Census] but probably d.[eparted] before 1820, when his
name is no longer found in the census; m. in Shelburne in 1786, ANN/ANNA LONG,
b.1766, d. in Truxton, N.Y., 1836. [William Richard Cutter, ed., Genealogical
and Family History of Central New York, __ vols. (New York, 1912), 1:242.
The marriage of Nathaniel and Anna is not recorded in Shelburne....an Anna Merrill
was received into the First Congregational Church in Shelburne in 1779 by
profession and is probably the Mrs. Nathaniel Merrill who was later dismissed
[Manual of the First Congregational Church, Shelburne, Mass. 1905 (Turners
Falls, Mass., 1905) pg. 19, 21]... but whether this Anna was the wife of
Nathaniel Sr. [b.1732] or Jr. [b.1755] is not clear."
Ref.3: www.ancestry.com,
This is an unpublished electronic document in www.ancestry.com, probably derived from Ref.2 or from Deane
Merrill's online databases in Rootsweb.
Ref.4: The Long Family: The Descendants of John Long who Settled in
"David Long (2B, page 59)
One reference states that David was born in
David was married to Martha Woodward (b. 1722, d. 1791 Mar. 11) on Dec. 17,
1747. He bought land in or near
David was a member of the Fourth Foot Company in
Children of David and Martha:
Martha b. 1750 May 12. m. Timothy Holloway 1774 Apr. 12.
David (3B1) b. 1752 Feb. 16. d. 1816 May 13 in Shelburne.
Stephen (3B2) b. 1754 Mar. 15. d. 1816 May 23 in Shelburne.
William (3B3) b. 1756 Jan. 2. d. 1855 Oct. 11 in Shelburne.
Anna b.1758 m. --- Merrill
Jennie b.1760 m. --- Riddle.
Sarah b.1762 Mar. 17. m. ___ Merrill.
John (3B4) b. 1764 Nov. 29. d. 1849 Dec. 10 in Shelburne."
Ref.5:
Ref.6: Vital Records of Rowe, Mass:
"Births in Nathaniel Jun'r & Ann Merrills Family
Rufus Merrill Born Sept 3d 1780.
Simeon Merrill born January 10, 1782.
Nathaniel, Born Jan'y 16, 1786.
Ann Born, May 26 1789.
Deaths in Nath. Merrill Family:
Ref. 7: Shelburne Death Record in
Ref.8: Manual of the First Congregational Church,
Ref.9: Deaths in
Ref. 10:
Thadeus Merrill, died at Shelburne Aug. 2, 1855; age 75 years, cause of death
Hydro..th..y (illegible); married male, occupation: Stone Mason; born in
Shelburne; names of parents: J. Merrill.
Related link: Who was the father of Joseph MERRILL
who married Lucinda WHITNEY and died in 1844?
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Merrill (1938-)
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