Merrill/Merrylls

Name origin: The family originally was domiciled in province of Aisne, France, where the name is perpetuated by the village of Merle. The family was knighted both in France and England. The French signification of the name is a blackbird.

• ______ Merrylls (1525- )
• John Merrill ( -1600)
• Nathaniel Merrill (1571-1626)
• John Merrill (1599-1673)

______ Merrylls

b.abt.1525 England; s/o parents ukn
m.abt.1550; ukn

CHILDREN included:

1. Joan Merrylls b.1557 of Halstead, Essex, England d.March 16, 1617 Elmstead, Essex, England m.Oct. 12, 1578; William Drake

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John Merrill

d.ca.1600; parents ukn
m.Prudence _______
bur. Dec. 22, 1609, Belstead, Suffolk, England

CHILDREN included:

1. John Merrell m.Dec. 29, 1601 Susan Plumley
   CHILD of John and Susan:
   • Mary
2. Michael Merrill bur.Aug. 20, 1616 Belstead, Suffolk m.March 7, 1602/3 Margaret Scrivener
   CHILDREN of Michael and Margaret:
   • Elizabeth
   • Frances
   • Michael
   • John
   • William m.Ann Bond
   • Anna
3. Nathaniel Merrill bur. March 17, 1626/7 m.Feb. 28, 1592/3 Mary Blacksoll
4. Thomas Merrill m.July 15, 1595 Wherstead, Suffolk Rose Pearson
   CHILDREN of Thomas and Rose:
   • Thomas
   • Anne
   • Rose
   • Elizabeth

NOTE: The will of John Merrell, yeoman of Wherstead, dated Dec.2, 34th year of Elizabeth (1600), is recorded at Ipswich, Suffolk, England. In it he names wife Prudence, sons John, Michael, Nathaniel and Thomas, and grandchildren: Marie, Martha, and John Children of Nathaniel; Thomas and Anne children of Thomas. Registers of Wherestead and Belstead, south of Ipswich, confirm that the named children and grandchildren were the only descendants born and living at the date of the will. A copy of the will 1600, the church records are found in A Merrill Memorial by Samual Merrill, 1917-1928, reprinted 1983.

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Nathaniel Merrill

b.1571 Belstead/Wherstead, Suffolk, England; s/o of John and Prudence Merrill
bur.March 17, 1626 Wherstead, Suffolk, England
m.Feb. 27, 1592 Wharstead, Suffolk, England; Mary Blacksoll
b.May 1, 1574 Wherestead, Suffolk, England
d.May 1, 1624 Wherestead Suffolk, England

CHILDREN included:

1. A daughter bur.Jan. 21, 1593/4
2. Mary bapt.Feb. 23, 1594/5
3. Martha Frances bapt.1598 bur.Aug. 1, 1596
4. John Merrill bapt.Aug.16, 1599 d.Sept. 12, 1673 Newbury, MA
5. Nathaniel bapt.May 4, 1601 d.March 16, 1654/5 m.Susanna
6. Michael b.1603

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John Merrill

b.Aug. 16, 1599 Wherstead, Suffolk, England; s/o Nathaniel and Mary (Blacksoll) Merrill
d.Sept. 12, 1673 Newbury, MA
m.(1)Jan. 24, 1628/9 at Wherstead, Suffolk Annis Bishop
m.(2)July 15, 1633 at Little Wenham, Suffolk, England Elizabeth Vincent
d.July 14, 1662 Newbury, MA

CHILDREN of John and Annis included:

1. Hannah Merrill b.1622 Newbury, MA d.Apr. 4, 1662 Newbury, MA m.May 24, 1647 Newbury, MA Stephen Sweet/Swett b.April 18, 1620 s/o John Swett d.Jan. 9, 1592/3

NOTES: John Merrill was admitted as a freeman at Newbury, MA in 1638. At the time of his marriage, John was called "of La[w]ford in the county of Essex Widower." John and his brother Nathaniel arrived in American in the 1630s, residing a year or so at Ipswich, MA prior to moving to Newbury before 1638. Cutter's New York Families, pages 856-857, summarized the descent from Nathaniel Merrill of England to Elizabeth Merrill, wife of Elijah Mason Morey.

From Directory of the Ancestral Heads of New England Families 1620-1700 by Holmes: JOHN, original settler of Newbury, Mass.; freeman 1640.
NATHANIEL, brother of preceding, b.Wiltshire, Eng., 1610, came in 1635 to Newbury, Mass.

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