Subject: Re: Merrill family - Rachel Merrill
Date: Sun, August 2, 2009 2:40p

Question: Carol Andrews wrote:

I believe that my ggggrandmother name was Rachel Merrill and she was married to a Joseph Rogers abt. 1795 NC. They migrated to the State of Georgia, then to White County, Tennessee and into the State of Arkansas. Joseph was born abt. 1773 in Mecklenberg, NC.

Answer: Carol:

We believe we found your Rachel. We have that she was b. ca 1779 in Rowan Co, NC to John (4) and Mary Wiseman and m. an unknown Rogers. John (4) was b. 1750 Dec 11 in Hopewell, Hunterdon NJ to Benjamin (3) [William (2,1)] and Jemima Smith. Captain Benjamin (3) was a pre-revolutionary Patriot hung in 1771 by the Tories for opposing the policies of NC Gov Tyron. John (4) and family also moved from NC to GA before 1792, so we suspect that is where Rachel and Joseph got m. Rachel's brother John moved to western KY, and two younger brothers, James and George, and her father, moved to Monroe Co MS.

Immigrant William (1), and his brother Richard, came to Staten Island NY ca 1680, and William later moved to Hopewell, NJ.

Hope this helps,

Howard and Jean Merrill

Subject: Re: Merrill family - William Washington Merrill autobiography
Date: Sun, August 2, 2009 2:40p

Question: Barbara Rogers wrote:

Do you know what libraries might have a copy of George Washington Merrill's autobiography (1880)? This book is referenced in the book about Captain Benjamin Merrill and the Merrill's of North Carolina.

Answer: Barbara:

We have not seen this autobiography of WILLIAM Washington Merrill, 1880 [not George, the footnote in "Captain Benjamin" , pg. 44 is incorrect as is evident in the text above]. We do not know where the book is located.

In an article in The Merrill Newsletter, vol. 3, issue 1, 1993, "Personal notes of William Washington Merrell" submitted by Bob Davidson, he quotes extensively from that book. I don't know if that is the complete book or not. The Merrill Newsletters are posted on <Merrill.org> where you posted this query, so you can read the article yourself.

We have written Bob Davidson to see if he remembers where he found the book. Will let you know what he has to say.

Howard and Jean Merrill

Subject: Re: Merrill family - Mary E Merrill, ca 1816
Date: Tue, August 18, 2009 11:55a

Question: Valerie Eastman wrote:

Hi,

For years I have been looking for info on Mary E. Merrill, the first of 3 wives of Fayette Columbia Kezer (Keyser, Keezer, Kezar). They were married before 1845, presumably in New Hampshire. Mary was born abt. 1816 in New Hampshire. She died 7 May 1852 in Wentworth, Grafton Co., NH and is buried in the Village Cemetery there.

There are two known children from her marriage to Fayette; Abigail Elizabeth Kezer (1845-1926) who married Charles Jesse Eastman (1840-1874) of Warren, Grafton Co., NH and Hannah E. Kezer (1847-1863) I am unable to find any more info on Mary other than what I just told you. I have loads of info on her husband and descendants though. Any help you can give me would be wonderful!

Thanks!

Valerie Eastman

Answer: Valerie:

Tell us a little about Fayette, dates and where he was b. They obviously lived in Wentworth, which is very close to Warren, NH.

We do not have a record of a Mary E Merrill m. to a Fayette Kezar, but we do have a prime suspect. We have a Mary Merrill, b. 1815 Oct 26 in Warren, NH, about which we know nothing more, other than her parents, Stevens (7) and Hannah Clifford. We don't know if she grew to adulthood, m., or when she d. The 1820 Grafton Co census burned, and in the 1830 census, there is not at a daughter in either the 10-15 or 15-20 age bracket in Stevens (7)'s family when Mary would have been 15. There were, however, 2 daughters in the 20-30 age bracket, and all three of Stevens daughters were under 20 in 1830 [15, 17, and 19], so they may have been fudging a bit on their ages. When we tromped through the Warren cemetery many years ago we didn't find a grave marker for Mary, and we did find stones for most of Stevens's family.

Stevens (7)'s lineage goes back Jonathan (6), Stevens (5), Abel (4,3,2), immigrant Nathaniel (1). More details are available.

Like we said, we don't know if this Mary, daughter of Stevens (7) is your Mary. This Mary was the younger sister of my great great grandfather, Nathaniel C Merrill, b.1808.

Howard and Jean Merrill

Subject: Re: Merrill family - Lawrence from Dover Foxcroft, ME
Date: Tue, August 25, 2009 9:18p

Question: Pat Merrill wrote:

I am just starting my seaarch on Merrill family. My father, Lawrence was from Dover Foxcroft, Maine. His parents were Ruby & Omar. Can you offer any information or suggestions on how I can work my way back from this.

Thanks,

Pat

Answer: Pat:

From the ME vital records we have that your dad, Lawrence Eugene, divorced his first wife Goldena in 1945. Did he m. again or are you a child of Goldena? The only child we have for Goldena is Ona, no dates.

From the Social Security Death Index we found that your dad d. in Staten Island in 2002. To bad you didn't start this search before he d. He probably could have told you things off the top of his head that it would take months to uncover, if ever. How did he happen to get to Staten Island from ME? Did he have other children? Are you Patrick or Patricia?

The ME vital records in Augusta has good records from 1892. Before that very spotty. The US census records are good every 10 years from 1850 to 1930 [the latest that is open], except 1890 which burned. The 1900 is most informative, giving b. month and year for each member of the household. Before 1850 only the head of household was given by name with other members given as how many males & females in varying age brackets.

Your dad Lawrence E (11)'s lineage goes back Omar B (10), Charles A (9), Charles L (8), True (7), Samuel (6,5,4), Moses (3), Daniel (2), immigrant Nathaniel (1). More details are available. We would greatly appreciate any information you can give us on the Merrill surname descendants of your dad and his brothers, Dwight, Omar Jr, and Mark, down to the present day.

Let us introduce our selves. We are Howard and Jean Merrill. For over twenty five 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 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.

Howard and Jean Merrill