Subject: Re: Merrill family - John and Hannah Merrill
Date: Fri, Sep 03, 2004 12:35 am

Question: Sharon Sanford wrote:

Hi, I'm looking for the parent's of John Merrill who married Hannah (Baston)Merrill. They are my 5th g. grandparents, he was born abt 1771. His father's name was John Merrill and was born abt 1751 prob in ME. Their daughter Judith married William Presson 18 Aug 1814 in Industry, ME. I'm! hoping you can help me follow my line back to some of these wonderful Merrill's! I will be so grateful if you can help me. I'm looking forward to hearing from you at your convenience. Sincerely, Sharon Sanford

Answer: Sharon:

Your John m. Hannah Baston 1793 Dec 18 in Cumberland, ME.  John was b. 1772 Apr 21 in  ME, but we are not sure who his parents were. All their children are listed in the Freeman ME vital records, as are John and Hannah's b. dates. They are listed in Freeman, Somerset, ME census in 1810, but the only John in ME in 1800 with the right mix of children is in Freeport, Cumberland, ME, so we suspect the early children were b. Freeport, then moved to Freeman and the whole family group was reported in Freeman. Hannah Baston [b. 1774 Sep 1] was the d/o Winthrop and Hannah (Weare) Baston.

You say John's father was also a John, b. ca 1751.  We have info on several Johns b. ca 1751, but none of them seem to be good candidates for John's father. We are sorry, but we don't know  your John' lineage. Do you have other info on either John?

In 1850, John, 78, and Hannah, 75, were in Brooklyn, Schuyler, IL with son Rufus.  In 1860, John, 88, was in Cole Creek, Sebastian, AR with son Ammi Baston and family.  We don't have d. dates or locations for either John or Hannah.

We are trying to database the Merrill/Merrell surname nationwide from the original immigrants right down to the present day for all the immigrant lines. So far we have over 60,000 Merrill males, plus their wives and daughters in our database, but we estimate that there are well over 100,000 so we have a long way to go, and we need and appreciate all the help we can get, particularly with the later generations. We use this database strictly to try and help folks trace their Merrill roots. Be assured that no info on living individuals will become internet accessible.

We write the query column for the MERRILL NEWSLETTER published by Lil Hall Welch. Check out the Newsletter homepage at <www.merrill.org/genealogy/tmn>

Sorry we could not be more help,

Howard and Jean Merrill

Subject: Re: Merrill family William Philip Merrill
Date: Mon, Sep 27, 2004 2:06 pm

Question: Drew Merrill Handlon wrote:

My father is Edward Oscar Merrill 1921-2002, his father Charles Oscar Merrill 1883-1970 wife Mary Sluss, his father Charles Franklin 1848-? his wife Frances Burton, his father William Merrill 1807_? his wife Francenia Holtzman, and his fathre Philip Merrill who married Monica Truman 1798! . I don't seem to be able to find more info. Any information would be great. I am new at the genealogy search. Thank you, Drew Merrill Handlon

Answer: Drew:

You are correct that the father of William Philip, 1807, who m. Francina Holtzman, is Philip, but we believe you have the wrong wife for that Philip. We do not know the name of the wife of that Philip. Your Philip is listed in the census in Allegany Co MD in 1800, 1810, 1820, and 1830 and in Preston Co VA [now WV] in 1840 and his widow, Margaret [2nd wife] and son Joseph were in Preston Co in 1850.  In 1800, this Philip had 2m, 2f [under 10] and 1m,1f [10-16] indicating he was m. well before Monica Trueman's m. in 1798.

There is another Philip in MD, bapt. 1762 Oct 22 in St Andrews Parish, St Mary's Co, MD, s/o Joshua and Mary. We believe this is the Philip who m. 1798 Feb 10 Monica Trueman in Prince George Co, MD. That m. was also recorded in St Mary's Co, Philip's home Co. This Philip is listed in the census in 1810 and 1820 in Prince George's Co, at the same time that your Philip is listed in Allegany Co.  We think this Philip, s/o Joshua, is probably the grand s/o Philip (3) [but he could be the grand son of Philip (3)'s brother Luke (3)].  Philip (3) and  Luke (3) are sons of William (2), Richard (1), immigrant to Staten Island in 1680.  William (2) after an apparent disagreement with his father, left Staten Island, moved to St Mary's Co MD, m. Ann Angel and had several children, including Philip and Luke and d. there in 1712.

Getting back to your Philip of Allegany Co, we believe him to be Philip (4), b. ca 1762 in Somerset Co NJ, s/o Nicholas (3) and Lidea.  Nicholas (3) was the s/o Philip (2) [and Elizabeth Baker], who was the s/o immigrant Richard (1) and Susannah Wells.  Philip (4)'s brother Andrew (4), bapt 1757 May 8, served in the NJ line in the Rev. War and ended up in Clark Co KY.  Andrew's pension application gives a very detailed account of his wanderings back and forth across northern VA, western MD, and what is now west VA, before settling in KY.  At the same time a Nicholas [and a Matthias, another of Philip's brothers] appears in Loudon Co VA and your Philip in what is now Allegany Co MD. Both Andrew and your Philip named a son Nicholas.  It seems all of Nicholas (3)'s family moved to Western MD and northern VA.  If our assumption are correct, your lineage would be Richard (1), Philip (2), Nicholas (3), Philip (4), William P (5), Charles F (6), Charles O (7), Edward O (8), Drew (9). More details are available.

We got a b. date of 1884 Oct 5 for Charles Oscar from one of our correspondents, but we recently got access to the 1880 census which shows Charles Franklin in Frostburg, MD. the record is pasted below.
    Census Place:    Frostburg, Allegany, Maryland
    Source:    FHL Film 1254493  National Archives Film T9-0493     Page 260B    
    Relation    Sex    Marr    Race    Age    Birthplace
Chas. MERRILL    Self    M    M    W    31    MD    Occ:    Miner    Fa: MD    Mo: MD
Frances MERRILL    Wife    F    M    W    27    MD    Occ:    Keeping House    Fa: VA    Mo: MD
Wm. Phil. MERRILL    Other    M    S    W    7    MD            Fa: MD    Mo: MD
Julia Estell MERRILL    Dau    F    S    W    5    MD            Fa: MD    Mo: MD
D. E. MERRILL    Dau    F    S    W    3    MD            Fa: MD    Mo: MD
Jno. W. MERRILL    Son    M    S    W    2    MD            Fa: MD    Mo: MD
Chas. Oscar MERRILL    Son    M    S    W    4M    MD            Fa: MD    Mo: MD

This record indicates that Charles Oscar [4 months old, as of Apr 1 1880] was b. ca Dec 1879, rather than Oct 1884.

We are trying to database the Merrill/Merrell surname nationwide from the original immigrants right down to the present day for all the immigrant lines. So far we have over 60,000 Merrill males, plus their wives and daughters in our database, but we estimate that there are well over 100,000 so we have a long way to go, and we need and appreciate all the help we can get, particularly with the later generations. We use this database strictly to try and help folks trace their Merrill roots. Be assured that no info on living individuals will become internet accessible. We would be interested in any info you have on the Merrill surname descendants of Charles Franklin down to the present.

We write the query column for the MERRILL NEWSLETTER published by Lil Hall Welch. Check out the Newsletter homepage at <www.merrill.org/genealogy/tmn>

Howard and Jean Merrill