Subject: Re: Merrill family - Asa W (7) Merrill
Date: Sun, January 2, 2011 10:11a

Question: Cindy Brown wrote:

Hello,

Recently had a breakthrough on a difficult line that may connect my family to the Merrills via Asa W. Merrill of Grafton Co. NH, m. Almira Hutchins (who m. 2nd Reuben Richardson). Tracked down a 3rd cousin who says my ancestor and hers, brother and sister who were children of this couple, used the last name "Darling" after they moved to MA. Would appreciate knowing whether there is material in your DB showing all children of this couple or any additional information, and would be happy to share mine.

Thank you.

Answer: Cindy:

We have the children of Asa W (7) and Almira Hutchens from the 1850, 60 and 70 census:

Unite (male), ca 1838
Lydia, ca 1840
Noah H, ca 1846
Philena, ca 1848
Sarah Emeline, ca 1850
Hannah H, ca 1852
John H, ca 1854. His name was changed to Asa W after his father's death
Charles H, ca 1858
un-named daughter ca 1860, probably d. young [not in 1870 census].

We don't have a d. date for Asa W, but Almira was a widow in 1870. We found an Almira Richardson in Lebanon, NH of about her age in 1880, but she was m. to a Willard, not a Rueben Richardson. None of the above children were with her, but they would all been old enough to be m. We don't have any info on any of these children, who they m. and their descendants. Don't have any info on a name change to Darling.

Asa W (7)'s lineage is William (6), Moses (5), Nathan (4,3), Abel (2), immigrant Nathaniel (1). More details are available.

We would be very interested in what info you have on this family.

Howard and Jean Merrill

Subject: Re: Merrill family - Seth Merrill, 1800
Date: Wed, January 12, 2011 4:44p

Question: Albert Lee Merrill wrote:

Jean & Howard,

I have a problem trying to go back past Jonathan Merrill born 1 Jul 1773 was my GGGGFather, Seth Merrill b. 1800 was my Great Great Grand Father, Jonathan Carlton Merrill b. 1833 was my Great Grand Father, Albert Jonathan Merrill b. 1876 my Grand Father, Lee Parker Merrill my Father. I have my Mothers (Marshall) family back to England.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Answer: Albert:

You have a problem all right, but it is not in who the parents of Jonathan, 1773, were, It is in who the parents of Seth, b. 1800 in Shapliegh [now Acton] ME, were. Seth's parents were Levi (5) and Hannah Bean. Seth (6)'s lineage is Levi (5), James (4), Thomas (3), Abel (2), Nathaniel (1). More details are available.  Levi was listed in Shapleigh in 1790, 1800, 1810 and 1820 census.

Just for the record, the Jonathan, b.1773 July1 in Salem NH, you were looking for is Jonathan (6), John (5), Peter (4,3), Nathaniel (2,1). He was in Salem NH in 1810, and in Tinmouth, VT in 1820 and 1830.

Let us introduce our selves. We are Howard and Jean Merrill.  For thirty years we have been trying to database the Merrill/Merrell family nationwide from the original immigrants down to the present day for all immigrant lines.  So far we have info on over 60,000 Merrill males plus their wives and daughters in our database, but we estimate there have been well over a 100,000 so we have a long way to go, and 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 from us.

While our database is not internet searchable, we will be glad to search it for anybody and share what we find at no cost.  All we ask is that folks share their Merrill data with us so that we can expand our database and do a better job of helping solve Merrill lineage problems.

We have some info on Albert Jonathan from the census and only an approximate b.date for Lee Parker. We would greatly appreciate the details [b., m., d. dates and location, spouses, children] of this line down to the present.

Howard and Jean Merrill

Subject: Re: Merrill family - William (3) Merrill
Date: Mon, January 3, 2011 6:57p

Question: Sam Harris wrote:

Hello!

I am trying to establish that William Merrill was a Patriot during the Rev. War. I have been unable to find much information about his war activities. I would like to prove he acted as a magistrate during the Biggerstaff Old Fields trials after the battle of King's Mountain.

I paid someone at the N.C. State Library to look into this, but came up empty handed. The officers in charge and those that were hanged seem to be known and are published on various sites, but the magistrates are not listed. It seems likely the trial information still exists, but I don't know where to inquire about it.

At the very least I would like to show that William paid taxes during the war years, but I need to know where to inquire about documents proving taxes paid. The library could not find any information showing William to have been a magistrate. Any help would be most helpful. I am descended from William through his daughter, Rachael. In 1985, Tony Early wrote an article for the Forest City, NC. "Daily Courier" entitled "The Hanging Tree." He related the story by an old man, Forrest Lyda, who said that after the nine Loyalists were hung at Biggerstaff's Old Fields following the Battle of Kings Mountain" William Mills, son of Col. Ambrose Mills- one of those hung, came after William Merrill. He and his party captured William and brought him back to the hanging tree and hung him." It seems that Ambrose Mills had turned Benjamin Merrill over to Gov. Tyron for his part in the Regulator Movement. We know that Benjamin was brutally treated. The story was that William Merrill played a part in the hanging of Col. Mills, so William Mills retaliated by seeing to it that William Merrill was hung from the same tree. To validated this information the names of the magistrates of the trial of the Loyalists needs to be found. Of which William Merrill was one. Chivous Bradley, Rutherford County NC Historian: Trial by North Carolina Magistrates (While it has sometimes been called a court-martial, it was in fact a trial under NC law). Col. Benjamin Cleveland took the lead in the action, other American officers including Maj. Joseph McDowell, Col. Andrew Hampton, Col. Isaac Shelby and Col. John Sevier brought the complaint that some of the Tory prisoners from the Battle of Kings Mountain were robbers, house burners, parole breakers, and assassins. The Carolina field officers and captains sat as magistrates to conduct a court under North Carolina law. Some thirty-two of the prisoners were tried, convicted, and condemned to hang. Nine were actually executed by hanging that evening. They included Col. Ambrose Mills, Capt. Robert Wilson, Capt. James Chitwood, Capt. Arthur(?) Grimes, Capt. Walter Gilkey, Capt. John McFall, Lt. Thomas Lafferty, Lt. John Bibby, and Lt. Augustine Hobbs. .. The officers united in presenting a complaint to Colonel Campbell, who was in command since the departure of Charles McDowell on October 5th to carry the officer's letter to Horatio Gates. The officers complained that the prisoners included house burners, parole breakers, and assassins. Isaac Shelby had the North Carolina statutes brought from Gilbert Town. He formed a court from the North Carolina magistrates present to try the prisoners under North Carolina law, not by court martial. Their were six hundred prisoners taken at the battle of Kings Mountain on 7 October 1780. On the return trip, the Overmountain men marched to Kings Mountain by way of Gilbertown, arriving at Biggerstaff Old Field with Colonel William Campbell where they stopped and camped on the site 14 October 1780. With the hangings Fergusons army initiated in South Carolina, the Overmountain men complained about the fact that these prisoners were parole breakers, robbers, house burners, and assasins. With Cambell's soldiers not having food and clothing, they were not in the best mood. The soldiers demanded that he hold court and the prisoners to be tried for their crimes. Court was called to order and thirty-nine soldiers were tried and sentenced to be hanged. A huge oak tree was selected for the hanging. After nine soldiers were hung there, the proceedings were stopped by Colonel Issac Shelby. Seven of the hanged men were buried on the site with Martha Biggerstaff, widow of Aaron Biggerstaff who was hanged on the site. She buried her husband at the Biggerstaff family cemetery. Surnames of the men hanged beside Biggerstaff were: Mells, McFall, Chitwood, Wilson, Gilkey, Grimes, Biddy and Hopps.

Thank you, Sam Harris

Answer: Sam:

Sorry for the delay in answering - we have both been under the weather.

You have presented more than we ever knew about William (3).  Most of what we have on William come from a chapter on him in William Ernest Merrill's book ".Captain Benjamin Merrill and the Merrill Family of NC" From that he was carried away by British soldiers.  "He was never heard of afterwards and it is supposed he was hanged"  If He was known to be hanged at Biggerstaff's "hanging tree', then his place of death is known if not the date. Prompted by your query we had to do some reading up about the Battle of Kings Mountain.

We do not know where to find whether he paid taxes. We would assume Rowan Co.We know he was assessed for taxes in 1779 for 345 acres of land, 100 acres of which was improved."On 1782 Oct 23 the state granted him 200 acres of land."  "in Feb 1783, his eldest son Benjamin deeded off the #45 acre home place to his youngest Brother, Daniel."  More than likely this transaction took place soon after the father's death.

Sorry we couldn't be more help,

Howard and Jean Merrill

Subject: Re: Merrill family - Theodore Murrell
Date: Sat, January 22, 2011 11:22a

Question: Donna Petsinger wrote:

George Merrill asked back in Oct the following, Do you have any information on the person listed below? I have been stuck on my third Great Grandpa for a while. We have come to learn that George from my grandfathers, brothers line. I have added to the infomation that he provided in the event that you may find something that will help us. From the 1880 census I gathered the following Name: Theodore Murrell Spouse: Sarah Ann (Mershon)Murrell born about 1838 Children: 8 including Ida Murrell, Theodore Merrill, Ann, John, Mary B., Morris, Carrie and Harrison. Birth: abt 1835 in New Jersey Residence: 1880 in High Bridge, Hunterdon, New Jersey, United States For some reason I listed a possible death of about 1912 but have no notes as to why. It seems that the miss spelling started or was only with the 1880 census, I have found other places where is is spelled correctly as Merrill. Theodore is where our line comes down from he is my great great grandfather (Georges third great grandfather) His son Theodore (Jr?) we believed owned or managed a bar and grill in Kenville NJ. and his first wife was Sarah C. Swick. As George said we are stuck on Theodore (Sr.?). I hope this additional information may lead us to new links.

Answer: Donna:

We have not been able to determine who the parents of Theodore Sr, ca 1835, were.  We found Theodore in 1860, 70, 80 and 1900census, and he consistently spelled the name MUrrell.  We will forward our correspondence with George in a separate email. We do not normally include Morrell or Murrell spelling variations in our database.  We have not located Theodore in the 1850 census when he ought to be still with his parents.  In what other records did you find Theodore spelling his name Merrell?  George has not responded with the details of how he descends from Theodore. Could you supply that info?

Howard and Jean Merrill