Individual Details

Abstracts of Land Entries: Rowan Co NC Dec 1778 - Feb 1795
Dr. A. b. Pruitt, 1987
#2079 Transferred to Joseph Haden, from Jos Haden to Davd Woodson 12 Feb 1779 William Merrill enters 640 a in Rowan on head of Hambys Cr, includes widow Trout and Andrew Garron's improvement
#2080 Claim set up by Jacob Rhodes, 12 Feb 1779 William Merrell enters 200a in Rowan Co on waters of Uharn Crk, borders Jacob Rodes' deeded land, his line, county line, his improvement

Timothy, Peggie & Betsy were all baptized on the same day in 1784 at St. James Northam in Goochland Co VA . Had they returned to Virginia for this purpose? It seems her family and his had been in North Carolina for some years.

William Merrill was in the Rowan Co NC Census in 1790, along with Samuel and Elijah Merill, likely two of his brothers. I did not find them in NC in 1800, nor were they on a Kentucky tax list for that year.

On July 28, 1803, William Merrill and wife Sally and his son, Timothy Merrill, let John Burkhart, all of Rowan County, have eighty-seven acres on Swearing Creek, next to Benjamin Merrill and John Clafer. [I don't have any way of knowing is this entry found in an online database has the date the deed was made, or the date it was proved. The same database stated that William Merrill died Jul 1803, in Alabama. This can't be right since Sally testified that William had deserted the family about 1809 [see her notes]

Article by Billy J. Patterson, Posted by Patricia on MURRELL-L@rootsweb.com 16 Oct 2003.
This article seems to be reasonably accurate though no sources are given. Italic notes are my own follow up notes.
Merrell----The Merrells, early Ripley County pioneers, trace their Ancestry back to England. William Merrell (born 1650) came to America in 1680 from Warwickshire. He first settled on Staton Island later moving to Monmouth, then Hopewell,NJ where he died in 1723.
His son ,William Merrell Jr. ( born 1676 in England , died in 1740 at Hopewell), married Penelope Stout Jewell, widow. The Stouts came to America in 1643.

One son was Benjamin Merrell ( Born 1731) He and his wife Jemima Smith moved to Rowan County, NC in the 1740s, where they helped start the Jersey Settlement Baptist Church (still operation south of Lexington, NC. Benjamin was a captain in the local militia, called the Regulators.There was much unrest against the British in this area and the British decided to quell it with force. After the Battle of Alamance,1771, the British hanged Captain Benjamin Merrell and six other Regulators for treason. The family view[ed] the hanging. Four of his sons served as patriots in the America Revolution.

Found in a post to LEWTER@rootsweb.com mail list. William Merrill, born 1754; married Salley Haden 13 April 1778; b. 1758, Goochland, VA.

William Merrell (borned 1755-59 ) married Sally Haden (borned 1754). Her ancestry came from Norwick, England. [This is an error.] William served as a drummer in the 1st. Regiment of Rowan County Militia 1775/1776. They had 2 sons, Timothy and Douglas. In 1803 the Merrells migrated to Warren/Simpson County, Ky. William died along the trail or soon after arriving in Kentucky. [The truth here is that William deserted his family. The Court Case in Tennessee, 1822, when Sally tried to recover slaves that were a gift of her father, stated that William Merril had left the family some ten years prior to the filing of the bill and was never seen again. Sally was head of household by 1810.]
Later Sally lived with son Timothy in Carroll County, TN next to John Patterson, who later moved to Ripley Co. Mo.. After Sally's death in the 1830's Timothy moved to Texas.

1810 Census. Warren Co KY. p.278. Sarah Merrill 1m 10-16, 1f 16-26, 1f +45. Timothy Merrill, 3m under 10, 1m 26-45, 1f 16-26.

1820 Census. Simpson Co KY, Douglas on p.6, Timothy on p.23. Did not find their mother listed separately nor counted with them.
[Timothy Merrill found in the 1830 Carroll Co TN census with a female age 60-70, presumably his mother, living in the household. He was still there in 1840, but there was no older woman. Timothy, age 72, found in the 1850 Census in Fannin Co TX living with Alexander F. Merrill, grandson. Timothy's son Wiley B. Merrill was head of the adjacent household. Timothy's age did agree with that of his birth record from Virginia. Biographies of two of the sons of Wiley B. were found in "Biographical Souvenir of Texas" which gave a great deal more information about Timothy's family.]
Douglas Merrell ( borned 1787 in North Carolina) married Anna Claypool ( born 1790 in North Carolina). He[r] ancestry came from Philadelphia with William Penn, and can be traced back to King John 1 of England In 1824. They moved to the west bank of Current River, then Wayne Co.(Now Ripley Co.) He was an early" county commissioner' credited with constructing a road from Doniphan to the Pratt Community where they lived.Anna died after 1830. Douglas remarried to Elizabeth Wallis (no issue).
1820, Simpson Co KY. Douglas age 26-45 [he was probably age 33] spouse of same age. 3 boys, 3 girls all under age 10.
1830, Wayne Co MO. Douglas Merrell, age 40-50 [age 43]. 1m age 10-15, 1m 15-20, 1f -5, 1f 10-15, 1f 15-20 and 1f age 30-40.
1840, Ripley Co MO. Douglas Merrel, age 50-60 [age 53]. 1f 5-10, 1f 10-15. Would seem his first wife had died between 1830-1840.
1850, Ripley Co MO. Douglass Merrell, age 63, b. NC with Elizabeth age 55, b. KY.
Douglas and Anna's children: Sarah Haden, John Claypool. Lurany, Anna, Nancy Vernetta and Douglas. Sarah married Jacob McCann; John married first Margaret Sandlin,then Sarah Patterson: Lurany married Russell Lowery: Anna married William P Smith: Nancy died young: Douglas died in 1852 and is thought to be buried with his mother in an unmarked grave in the Pratt Cemetery that was on or near Merrell Property.
[This last statement differs from the earlier statement that Timothy went to Texas after the death of his mother, because Timothy and his mother Sarah were living in Carroll Co TN in 1830. Would seem that Sarah Haden Merrill died in Tennessee and never went to Missouri.]

John Claypool Merrell (born 1811 in Kentucky ) married Margaret Sandlin and had Nancy E Merrell who married Daniel Ponder, James Madison Merrell who Married Mary Ponder, and Anna Elizabeth Merrell who Married George Yancy Patterson. After Margaret died in 1835, John C. married Sarah S. Patterson (born 1819 in Tennessee). They had Mary Jane who married John Hart: Douglas Merrell who married Mary Coward: Martha Merrell who married Cameron Moore, then Hillary Morris and third Thomas Spencer. Sarah Merrell who died young: William Haden Merrell Susan Kelly; Mahala Merrell who married John Ferrill Patterson; John C. Merrell died in 1867 and is thought to be buried with his two wives in Pratt Cemetery during the Civil War, troops were camped in and around the cemetery and old grave markers were destroyed
1840, Ripley Co MO Census. John C. Merrel, 1m -5, 1m 5-10, 1m age 20-30, 2f -5, 1f 5-10, and 1f 15-20. 1st wife apparently deceased.
John C. Merrel found in the 1850 Ripley Co MO Census. age 39, b. KY. Sarah age 36, b. TN. Nancy E. age 18, James M. 16, Anna E. age 14, Mary J. age 11, Dugles H. age 8, Martha 6, Sarah 2, and Wm H. age 6 months.
Mahala Merrell ( born 1854 in Ripley Co) married John Ferrill Patterson ( born 1848 in Ripley co ) He was sheriff of Ripley Co from 1892 to 1896. They had two children. Cornelius Russell and George Rufus Patterson. Cornelius married Eliza J Chaney George ( born 1876 - died 1956) Married Etta May Parish (born 1884,died 1941) Both are buried at Cushing ,Ok. Their youngest child is Billy J. Patterson. Mahala died in 1879 and John in 1913: both are buried in Sugar Tree Grove ( Patterson) Cemetery in Ripley Co.

Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2008
Source: PRITCHETT@rootsweb.com
Subject: Re: [PRITCHETT] Wm. Pritchett born abt. 1790 Beaufort Co. N.C.
This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list.
Author: nickyheron
Surnames: Pritchett, Merrill, Haden
Classification: queries
Message Board URL:

Message Board Post:
Hello,
...One of my distant cousins has done the most work on our line and we have a dead end at Peter Pritchett supposedly born in 1793 in France. Died in Pensacola, Fl in 1834 from Yellow Fever. He was married to Seana Merrill, daughter of William Merrill and Sarah "Sally" Haden. William Merrill was the son of Benjamin Merrill, the revolutionary war hero. Seana was born in Rowan County (abt. 1799 and died in Pensacola in 1853) and there is a good deal of information on the Merrills and Hadens. We have not been able to establish the connection to the Pritchetts in the Beaufort area but feel that may be where Peter Pritchett is originally from.

Birth	Abt 1754	Jersey Settlement, Rowan County, North Carolina
Marriage	Bef 1778	Sarah "Sally" Haden

Spouse	Sarah "Sally" Haden (1758 - )
Child	Timothy Merrill (1778 - 1850)
Child	Margaret Haden "Peggie" Merrill (1780 - )
Child	Betsy Smith Merrill (1782 - )
Child	Jenny Merrill ( - )
Child	Mary "Polly" Merrill (1785 - 1856)
Child	Douglas Merrill (1787 - )
Child	Samuel Merrill ( - )
Child	Seana "Sensy" Merrill (1800 - )

Father	Benjamin Merrill (1730 - 1771)
Mother	Jemima Smith ( - 1803)
Sibling	Samuel Merrill (1748 - 1803)
Sibling	John Merrill (1750 - 1838)
Sibling	Andrew Merrill (1752 - 1829)
Sibling	Anna Merrill (1754 - 1828)
Sibling	Nancy Merrill (1756 - 1837)
Sibling	Penelope Merrill (1759 - 1830)
Sibling	Charles Merrill (1761 - 1822)
Sibling	Elijah Merrill (1763 - )
Sibling	Jonathan Merrill (1767 - )