Samuel Merrill, 1928, reprint 1983

Some Eighteenth Century Migrations - Chapter XI, pp125-152

    In the seventeenth century, after the great migration which brought Nathaniel Merrill and his elder brother from Old England to the infant New England colony, few extended journeys were undertaken by any of the Merrill kin. The chief migration in that time was the journey of John² Merrill to Hartford, which has already been referred to at some length in this Memorial. (See pages 78-94.)

   In the eighteenth century, however, the foundations of many towns were laid, especially in New Hampshire and Maine, by younger sons, or other adventurous spirits, who sought homes where primeval conditions lent attraction. The descendants of Nathaniel¹ Merrill among these pioneers in many cases established branches of the family which have preserved a certain measure of individuality to the present day. It is the purpose of this chapter to tell the part which was played in these communities, in their earliest years, by Merrills who descended from the original Newbury stock.

   Many interesting stories might be told of the era of exploration and settlement in the Great West, but the available data concerning migrations of Merrills into that region are meager, and such facts relate generally to individuals of later generations than those whose lives form the chief subject of this book.

   This chapter, long as it is, is very incomplete. I have been strongly tempted to omit it altogether, but it may serve a useful purpose in aiding someone to connect his own line with the earlier generations of the Merrills in America, and for this reason I give it a place in this Memorial.

Concord, NH

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