Subject: Re: Merrill family - William Merrill
Date: Sun, December 26, 2010 4:28p

Question: Sam Davis wrote:

Hello!

I am trying to locate the book "Personal Notes" written by Orson Merrill about 1886. Within this book he retells the story of Benjamin Merrill telling of the capturing of his father, William Merrill-1729. C. Phelps Merrill has mentioned this book many times over his lifetime but, I believe Phelps is now deceased. If you know where I can buy or borrow this book or any other that describes the events of that night I would be most grateful.

Thank you! Sam Harris-4 th great grandson of William Merrill lll

Answer: Sam:

We do not know where, if it still exists, the book "Personal Notes" by Orson Merrill is. It was published in 1886 in Portage UT by Orson, a great great grandson of William (3) Merrill and is based entirely on family tradition.  The story of William (3)'s abduction is reproduced in William Ernest Merrill's booklet "Captain Benjamin Merrill and the Merrill Family of NC" and is a direct quote from "Personal Notes".

We checked the BYU Library and the Family History Library in SLC and neither had a copy of "Personal Notes" in their on-line catalog.  We do not know where William Ernest Merrill in NC had access to "Personal Notes" to be ablemake the direct quote" 

While we don't have access to "Personal Notes", we do have a copy of "Captain Benjamin". We can make a copy of that 109 page booklet for copying and mailing costs of $15.

Sorry we can't be more help,

Howard and Jean Merrill

Subject: Re: Merrill family - Robert & Pamela Merrill
Date: Sun, December 26, 2010 6:16p

Question: Alun Merrill wrote:

Hi. I'm Alun.

A quick Google search in curiosity of my own last name has led to this website. I don't have the time or resources for a full investigation of my own, but I was wondering if we, having an uncommon last name, were related. The issue is that my father does not seem to want to know (or want to tell me) much about his family tree - so I come to you with little information. Myself and my brother, Hywel, were born of Robert Merrill and Pamela Avril Merrill (nee. Thomas) and have lived in Neath, South Wales all our lives, our father originally coming from Port Talbot. He had a twin brother who died relatively young - he does not tell us much about him. And his mother, our grandmother, was Nelly (Nellie? I remember only the sound) Merrill - we have no information about our grandfather, and can only assume he carried the family name.

I know it's a bit of a stretch, but do you know anything about Merrills in Wales in the early part of last century, or the century before?

Answer: Dear Alun:

Thank you for writing. You are the first Merrill from Wales that we have heard from.  Our research has been almost entirely in the US.  Our database of US Merrills contains over 60,000 Merrill males plus wives and daughters.Our original immigrant to the US was Nathaniel Merrill who came to Newbury MA in 1639 from Wherstead, Suffolk, England. We know of at least five unrelated Merrill families who came to the US before 1700, probably all from the British isles, but we don't know where. The use of surnames among the common folk didn't start until about 1400 so many unrelated families might choose the same surname, or conversley related families might choose different surnames.

A relatively recent tool in Genealogy is Y-DNA testing. The DNA associated with the male y-chromosome is passed from father to son, to grandson, essentially unchanged over many, many generations [tens or hundreds].  So barring an adoption, a male Merrill today would share the same DNA pattern with that of his 1600 male ancestor and with all of that ancestor's male Merrill descendants. This has been helpful in grouping Merrills into family groups, even when paper documentation is missing, or to focus one's research in the proper direction.  If you are interested, one of several labs that do the testing, FTDNA.com,. has a year-end special [$119 for 37 marker test until Dec 31 - normally $149].  About 100 Merrill males have been tested, about 2/3 are assigned to about six family groups, and the rest don't match anyone else.  The chances that you would fall in this unassigned group are pretty good  since you are our first correspondent from Wales.

We haven't done any research on the Merrills in Wales. Some of that info should be available in the United Kingdom census records.  We have a US subscription to Ancestry.com, but Canada and United Kingdom records are not included, so we have not looked at United Kingdom census records.

Sorry we could not be more help. We doubt that we are related.

Howard and Jean Merrill

Subject: Re: Merrill family - Thomas Merrill
Date: Sun, December 26, 2010 7:34p

Question: Elizabeth Merrill Grasso wrote:

I was fiddling around the internet and found your site. All my papers, photographs, and records are in Virgina. I do not expect a return to Virginia until April. My great grandfather, Thomas Merrill , was from Carmel Maine, he married Marie Benjamin. They had quite a few sons. Thomas Davis Merrill, Dwight Merrill, Cushing Prince (died an infant) and Lizzie Merrill. Thomas Davis Merrill married Elizabeth Musgrave . They resided in Duluth, Minn. Had two daughters. Marie Merrill and Elizabeth Merrill (my

Answer: Elizabeth:

It looks like you didn't finish your query.  But you did give us enough to allow us to identify your family.  Your grandfather is in our database of over 60,000 Merrill males plus their wives and daughters. We use this database strictly to try and help folks trace their Merrill lineage.  The lineage of your grandfather, Thomas Davis (8) is Thomas (7), Davis (6), Daniel (5), Edmond (4), Daniel (3,2) immigrant Nathaniel (1). More details are available.

Howard and Jean Merrill