Merrill

Merrill Family

George F. Hixon

b. Dec. 8, 1836

Harrison County, Ohio

m. 18 October 1860

Gallia County, Ohio

d. April 25, 1911

Waterloo, Lawrence, Ohio

John Morgan

b. Feb. 16, 1803

Huntingdon County, PA

m. Mar.5, 1833 [?]

Harrison County, OH

d. August 30, 1866

Gallia County, Ohio

Alcinda Morgan

b. March 2, 1843

Harrison County, Ohio

d. April 18, 1934

Symmes, Lawrence, Ohio

Jemima Merrill

b. Dec. 17/18, 1802

Monongalia County [W] VA

d. October 1, 1885

Gallia County, Ohio

Elizabeth Batton

b. between1780 and 1784 based on 1810, 20 and 40 census.

d. I don't see her on the 1880 census.

While no line is easy to trace, my Merrills have certainly presented a challenge. I am where I am today thanks largely to Harold and Jean Merrill, who are very knowledgable concerning the Merrill family in the US and Canada. It is through Howard that I learned of Joseph and Elizabeth, and from there I've been trying to do more research. One thing that he told me that I found fascinating is that Elizabeth Batton was one of triplet daughters of Henry Batton and Elizabeth Little. Her sisters were Jemima and Ellen. All three grew well into adulthood.

To confuse matters Elizabeth married Joseph Merrill, and her sister Jemima married his brother John Merrill. "He [Henry Batton] said he and his wife were aged and not able to cultivate the land and he divided same between his children, all being daughters. Joseph MERRILL, John HAGERMAN, Robert SHEARER, and Jon MERRILL were his sons-in-law." 2 So, if we're all confused, let's just add one more thing -- both sets of siblings had a daughter Jemima. Jemima Merrill Morgan was born in 1802/3 and her cousin was born in 1814. By the way, the same book, as referenced in this paragraph mentions deeds signed by "Henry Batton and his wife Elizabeth." 3 Ellen married Elisha Snodgrass. 4

It is believed that there were three Merrill brothers: Joseph (who married Elizabeth Batton), John (who married Jemima Batton), and Jesse (who married Nancy Hemphill 5), and this will be an important factor in that Jesse is living next door to John and Jemima in the 1850 census.

There is a Joseph Merrell who seems a plausible candidate in Fauquier County, VA, I found him in the 1799 Virginia Tax records. .Fauquier County is just south of Charles Town, and not too far from the Maryland border. It looks as though he may be boarding with a fellow by the name of Noah Glasscock? As it appears as though Mr. Glasscock is the one responsible for the tax. Joseph is a free male above the age of 16, a mark was made for one negro above the age of 16 (but then the mark was crossed out, they had one equine (horse, mare, colt...) What is really interesting is 21 years later there is a Joseph Merrell in Monongalia County court who has summoned Adam Ice for non-payment of a debt due by assumpsit, January 8, 1820. The constable was C. Glasscock. So there's that name Glasscock again. But this is mere speculation at this time.

In 1805 Joseph purchased 135 acres from Henry Batten and his wife Elizabeth. In 1825 he sold the land to his son Burr for $700. The land was in Monongalia County, VA. 6

The first that Joseph and John show up in Monongalia County in the 1810 census (there is no 1800 census). Joseph shows up having 2 male children under 10 (1801-1810), he is listed as being 26-44 years of age (1766-1784), he also has 2 young ladies under the age of 10 and his wife age 26-44. 7

It is difficult to follow the lines on some of the early census, but if I have done it correctly with John, he had 4 male children under the age of 10, one between the ages of 10 and 15, plus himself 26-44 years old. He also had 2 females under the age of 10 plus his wife age 26-44. 8 I pity the wife if she actually had 6 children in 10 years, yikes! I suppose it is possible to have children every other year with one or two sets of twins. Or some of the children could have been nieces and/or nephews who were living with them at the time. But enough speculating.

In 1820 I couldn't find Joseph indexed via Ancestry.com, so I looked and found him on Heritage Quest. Joseph had 2 males age 10 and under (1810-1820), 1 male age 10 and less than 16 (1804-1810), 1 male 16-18 (1802-1804), 1 male 16-26 (1794-1804), and himself 26-45 (1775-1794). In the way of females he had the following: 2 10 and under (1810-1820), 1 10 and less than 16 (1804-1810), 1 16-26 year old (1794-1804), 1 26-45 year old would be Mamma. No one was engaged in agriculture, and one person was engaged in manufacturing.

Here's Joseph's family according to the census.

Joseph Merrill

b. circa 1775 and 1784 based on 1810-1820 census

m. June 4, 1802

Monongalia County, [W] VA 1

d. between 1830 & 1840 census

1775-1794

1794 1804

1794-1804

1802-1804

1804-1810

1810-1820

1766-1784

------------

1801-1810

1. Monongalia County Marriage Records. [I've not actually seen this document, but I've been told it exists] Note Jemima's birth date, oops.

2. Monongalia County, (West) Virginia, Records of the District, Superior, and County Courts, Vol. 11: 1819-1822. Compiled by Melba Pender Zinn.

p. 56 through 60. This book contains quite a bit about Henry Batton and Joseph Merrell. Well worth "searching."

3. Ditto, p. 57

4. Thanks to Howard Merrell.

5. Name Hemphill came from Fred Merrill, a direct descendant of Jesse and Nancy.

6. Monongalia County deeds [I've not actually seen this document, but I've been told it exists] thanks to Fred Merrill.

7 Jos. Merril 1810 census Virginia, Monongalia Image Number 45 of 71.

8 Jno Merrel 1810 census Virginia, Monongalia Image Number Number 42 of 71.

1830 census Virginia, Monongalia, Western District, Image number 51 of 90.

9 Monongalia County... p. 56

10 Fayette County, PA Archives Wills... Batton Sr., Thomas February 7, 1785

11. Based on the date his will was written and the date it was probated.

12. I have seen it suggested that Robert Thornton was Elizabeth Batton's husband, so I would assume that Jemima was their daughter?

I do plan on going to Monongalia County sometime before July 2010 to confirm the records above.

Linda Trent

The female born between 1801 and 1810 is most likely Jemima Merrill Morgan, that is, if Joseph is her father, which I'm not tending to doubt much anymore, now knowing that he passed away between the 1830 and 1840 census, and that his widow Elizabeth continues to live with their children and grandchildren.

It's also difficult to tell which children have disappeared off the census when they don't list the household members. For example, in 1820 all of the 1810 children are accounted for, and in 1820 four new ones appear that were born within the previous decade, and one mysterious male age 16-26. The mysterious male disappears by the time of the 1830 census, so it is possible that he was either an apprentice or a hired man, or a nephew or some other relation come to live with them -- I marked him in red to indicate that he's out of the norm with the other census years.

In 1830 one daughter and one son disappeared. The age would be correct for Jemima to have married and left home. One son born between 1800 and 1810 disappeared (probably William), again he could have married, or gone off to serve an apprenticeship, or died.

It has also been shown that Burr purchased land from his father in 1825. He didn't marry until December 15, 1840 in Monongalia County. So, did he live with his parents during the 1830 census? Or, was this another case of a hired boy? One thing to note is that to date I have not found Burr as a head of household, so that may indicate that he was still living at home (or it may be that he was skipped over). One possibility is that since he didn't marry till later that he had no one to cook for him and continued to live with his parents, and maybe rented out the house? Again, all speculation.

Living with Winkley Snodgrass in 1860 is Elisha Snodgrass (age 74) and Ellen (79), Rebecca Evans (11), and Jemima Merrill (79). So as we can see, the triplets had a long and prosperous life. As Elizabeth (78) is living with Austin. Obviously either Elizabeth or her sisters age is off by a year.

One thing that I find really cool is that I found in the book Monongalia County, Virginia Records of the District, Superior and County Courts, a record showing that Henry Batton (Elizabeth's father) owned land as described here: "Answer of Henry Batton to the complaint: On 11 March 1805 and long before, he owned and had title to a tract of land on the west bank of the Monongahela River below Pawpa Creek..." 9

Why is this so important? Because in Fayette County a will was recorded for one Thomas Batton Sr. of Fayette County, PA, and it states that he does "give and Bequeath unto my son Henry Batton a certain Tract of Land Lying on Paw Paw Creek bounded on the Monongahela River..." 10

Thus we now have:

Thomas Batton Sr.

b. ca. 1740

Henry Batton d. bet. Feb. 7, 1785 & Jan. 14, 1787 11

b. ca 1760

Fayette County, PA

Elizabeth Batton

b. 1780-1784

Elizabeth Little

The most important information taken from Thomas' will is: he was a farmer living in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. He lists the following children Thomas, Henry and Joseph, and mentions that he has three daughters of which he mentions only Lydia. What is strange is that he says "to Robert Thornton’s Daughter Jemmima the remainder of the two thirds that remains after to my descease." 12

Joseph

Elizabeth

-------

married?

Burr

unknown

Austin

unknown

Jane

Henry

Eliza

Emily

Harrison

1840 Monongalia VA

Listed in household of son Burr. Monongalia County, West Monongalia District,

Virginia. Age 50 and less than 60. 1780-1790

1850 Marion VA

Picture is of Uncle Jesse Merrill, believed to be the brother of Joseph Merrill ca. 1788-1882. This is the gentleman living next door to John and Jemima in the 1850 census. original image owned by Fred Merrill.

26-44

----------

<10

Joseph

Elizabeth

------------

Jemima

William

Burr

unknown

male

female

-------------

female

male

female

1810 Monongalia VA

Joseph

Elizabeth

unk. male

female

male

female

male

female

male

26-44

16<26

16-18

10<16

<10

------------Jemima

William

Burr

unknown

Austin

unknown

Jane

Henry

1820 Monongalia VA

1770-1780

----------------

male 1800-1810

female 1800-1810

male 1810-1815

female 1815-1820

male 1820-1825

female 1820-1825

female 1825-1830

male 1825-1830

1830 Monongalia VA

1860 Marion VA

Listed in household with son Austin and his wife Jane. Austin is listed as 45, his wife Jane as 41, and Elizabeth as 78.

1870 Marion WV

Listed in household with son Austin and his wife Sarah Jane.

Austin is 55, Sarah J is 52,

Elizabeth is 89 and her son William S. is living with them age 68.

Elizabeth

Eliza

Emily

Harrison