Individual Details

Penelope Stout Jewell, was the daughter of James and Elizabeth Stout and widow of Thomas Jewell. Thomas Jewell died in 1727 leaving widow "Nelly," three sons and several daughters, none of them named in the will.

When William Merrill died, Penelope Merrill refused to administer her husband's estate, and her letter to the lawyer is preserved in the New Jersey Archives, reading in part:

I am informed by my brother Benj'n Stout that you desire me to take an inventory of ye estate of Will'm Merrill deceased - which I do refuse to do or concern myself about that Estate which will only be a profitless trouble for me which I am not able to undergo.

She married again to Isaac Herrin of Hopewell, and was widowed for a third time in 1756

William and Penelope Merrill's family of four children is not of record since he died suddenly without a will, but all available evidence suggests they were:

William Merrill, born about 1729, died 1782/83 in North Carolina.
Benjamin Merrill, born about 1730, died June 19, 1771, hanged by order of Gov. Tryon of North Carolina at Hillsboro. This is Captain Benjamin Merrill, the Regulator, of Rowan County, North Carolina.
Thomas Merrill, born April 19, 1732, died May 12, 1798 in Montgomery County, New York.
Penelope Merrill, born about 1734 married first Thomas Anderson and second Ralph Hart and was living in Hopewell in the 1780's

Death

1776

Spouse	William Merrill (1680 - 1740)
Child	Benjamin Merrill (1730 - 1771)