John Mellott Sr (1725 - abt. 1783)

Born 1725 in New Brunswick, Middlesex County, East Jersey

Ancestors

Husband of Sarah Elizabeth (Stillwell) Mellott — married about 1750 in Monmouth County, New Jersey

Descendants

Died about 1783 at about age 58 in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, United States

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Biography

13 November 1749 - John Melott and Obediah Stillwell signed a petition of the southwestern inhabitants of Shrewsbury, New Jersey for the formation of a separate township. (A draft or plan of the township of Stafford in Monmouth County, East Jersey.) ^[1] Obediah may have been the father of John's wife, Sarah.

John's son Benjamin Mellott was born on 19 March 1758 at Egg Harbor, New Jersey.^[2]

John and Sarah were members of the Tonolway Primitive Baptist Church, in Bedford County, Pennsylvania (now Fulton County). They are seen in a membership list for the church under the year 1766:

Jeremiah Stillwell

Edward Coombs

John Mellott

Sarah Mellott

Rachael Powell

Mary Bidelcomb

Elizabeth Wiggins

Owen Davis

Hannah Davis

Sarah Wold

Jane Ross

Sarah James

Minutes of the Church of Jesus Christ called Tonoloway in Bedford County, Pennsylvania:

February 1767 - Elias Stillwell, John Mellott and Edward Coombs were authorized to buy a parsonage.^[3]

John appeared in a 1773 tax list for Ayr Township, Bedford County, Pennsylvania.

In 1776. John Mellott was appointed Justice of the Peace for Bedford County, Pennsylvania.^[4]

[John] "Mellott was commissioned a justice of the peace in Bethel township in 1777. At that time, he lived on Conoloway Creek, beside the land of Joseph Warford".^[5]

John died about 1783, and he was buried in the Tonolway Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery.

"His grave was originally marked on a grave stone which apparently had been erected earlier for another individual. The grave stone is a flat field stone in which the words "In Mood" have been scratched. Apparently, the stone was erected for a member of the Mood family who lived in the Tonoloway settlement. In the upper right hand corner of the stone was scratched the name "John Mellott" and the number "66". The entire name was approximately one inch long. In the 1970s, a descendant of the early Mellott family erected a modern day tombstone to mark the graves of both John and Sarah Mellott. On this modern tombstone, the engraving indicates that John died in approximately 1786. Records reveal that he probably died earlier, in either 1781 or 1782."^[6]

"John Mellott actually died in 1783. My cousin, Sam Buterbaugh, had John's old tombstone replaced. By the time Sam was able to see the new stone with the 1786 date, he decided to leave it as is."^[7]

John Mellott was the son of Theodorus Mellott who died in MD after 17 Jan 1750. ^[8] The surname of Mellott has changed from Merlit, Malot, Mellot, Mellott etc. There have been many records shared about this family. As was typical of families back in the 1700's they named their children with family names so it does take a while to sort everyone out! Theodorus was the son of John Peter Mellott (1658-1704) and John Peter was the son of Gideon Merlit. John's mother was Catherine Maple, daughter of Benjamin Maple.

We know that John Mellott married a gal by the name of Sarah. Researchers have her as Sarah Stillwell. A newer tombstone has that name on it but I have not found any proof yet that she was indeed a Stillwell. They most likely married in NJ and then traveled down into Frederick Co, MD. They moved a short distance away into Bedford Co, PA where they settled down to raise their family.

Tax list for 1773 shows John living in Ayr Twp, Bedford Co and then in 1774, 1775 and 1776 they were living in Bethel Twp. The township names changed, not their home. The last tax year for John was 1780 with "widow Mellott" paying taxes for the next few years.

John and Sarah were members of the Tonoloway Baptist Church with both being baptized in April of 1766 ^[9]. John was commissioned as justice of the peace in 1777^[10]

Sources

1. ↑ Liber AAA, page 305.
2. ↑ Virgil D. White, Genealogical Abstracts of Revolutionary War Pension Files, Volume II: F-M, page 2323, The National Historical Publishing Company, Waynesboro, Tennessee (1991)
3. ↑ Harry Stuart Holman, "History of Tonoloway Baptist Church", Fulton County Historical Society (2002), page 35.
4. ↑ The Pennsylvania Gazette (Philadelphia), 3 September 1776, page 2/
5. ↑ Harry Stuart Holman, "History of Tonoloway Baptist Church", Fulton County Historical Society, (2002), page 97.
6. ↑ Steven Richard Mellott, "The Mellot Family in America" - Lloyd Winfield Mellott - His Ancestors and Descendants, (1985).
7. ↑ 2017 communication by Rob Mellott.
8. ↑ will of Theodorus Malot Frederick Co MD p1
9. ↑ History of Tonoloway Baptist Church by Harry Stuart Holman 1980
10. ↑ Bedford History p 221

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