Peter Merrill (1703 - 1777)

Born 8 Apr 1703 in Newbury, Essex, Province of Massachusetts Bay

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (Bailey) Merrill — married 8 Feb 1725 in Newbury, Essex, Province of Massachusetts Bay

Husband of Priscilla (Annis) Merrill — married 10 Mar 1731 in Newbury, Essex, Province of Massachusetts Bay

Descendants

Died 17 Dec 1777 at age 74 in Newbury, Essex, Province of Massachusetts Bay

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Note: He should not be confused with another Peter Merrill who also lived in Newbury. The Peter Merrill of this profile was sometimes called "Junior" in the Newbury records to distinguish the two men. They were not father and son, but second cousins.

Biography

Peter Merrill was born on 8 April 1703 in Newbury, Essex, Province of Massachusetts Bay, the son of Daniel Merrill Jr. and Esther (Chase) Merrill.^[1]

He married first to Mary Bailey on 08 February 1725 in Newbury after intentions were filed there on January 8.^[2][3] Mary was born on 07 March 1708, in Newbury, the daughter of John and Mary (Bartlett) Bailey.^[4] Mary died about 1729 in Newbury, and her daughters Mary Merrill and Hannah Merrill were named in her father's will of 1747.^[5]

As his second wife, he married Priscilla Annis on 10 March 1730/1 in Newbury.^[6] She was the daughter of Joseph and Dorothy (Osgood) Annis of Newbury. She was probably born Newbury about 1708-1715, based on the date of her marriage and the birth year of her last child. She was named in an agreement dated 14 April 1759, where the heirs of Joseph Annis all agreed "the estate should be settled on Dorothy Annis the said dec'd eldest heir." Receipts showing that Dorothy paid all the other heirs their just proportions included Peter & Priscilla Merrill, Newbury, received £46 for their portion of the estate of "our hon'd father."^[7]

On 21 May 1760, Peter Merrill joined with others in the eastern and southern parts of Newbury to gather and build a Congregational parish church in what is now Newburyport, it would be called the Belleville Church.^[8] He became a deacon of this church in Newburyport.^[9][10]

"Deacon Peter Merrill [died] 17 December 1777 in the 75th year of his age."^[11]

On 26 November 1770, Peter Merrill of Newbury, weaver, wrote his will in which he named his wife Priscilla, sons Jacob, Peter, Annis, daughters Mary Bradbury, Hannah Noyes and Abigail Knight, Priscilla Knight and Esther Chase. He named his wife as his executrix. His will was witnessed by Joshua Merrill, Stephen Little and Stephen Emery. The will was proved on 03 February 1778, with his wife Priscilla approved as administrator.^[12]

His children were born in Newbury, the first three by wife Mary, the rest by wife Priscilla:^[13][9]

1. Mary Merrill, b. 7 Nov 1726; mar. 16 March 1749 to Jabez Bradbury.
2. Judith Merrill, b. 18 March 1728, d young.
3. Hannah Merrill, b. 14 Feb 1728/9; mar. Col Peter Noyes; lived at Back Cove, Deering, Maine.
4. Peter Merril, bp. 2 Dec 1733
5. Elijah Merrill, ("child" b. 26 Mar 1735), bp. 30 Mar 1735
6. Priscilla, bp. 10 Oct 1736
7. Abigail Merrill, b. 26 Nov 1737, m Capt Joshua Knight.
8. Peter Merrill, b. 11 Nov 1739; m 26 Nov 1767 Rebecca Ayer.
9. Priscilla Merrill, b. 24 April 1743; m. George Knight.
10. Seth Merrill, b. 24 Jun 1745, bur. 28 Nov 1749 in his 5th year.
11. Esther Merrill, b. 17 Mar 1749, m Edmund Chase.
12. Annis Merrill, b. 13 June 1751; d. 10 May 1847; mar. Lydia Merrill. American Revolutionary War Veteran. (Newbury VRs incorrectly identify him as female.)
13. Jacob Merrill, b. 22 March 1754; d. 30 Sep 1824 age 70 y.; mar. 8 Feb 1778 Mary Dow who d 23 Aug 1823 aged 73.

Note that there may be some discrepancies in the Newbury VRs for the childrens' baptisms.

Sources

1. ↑ Birth Registration: "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001"
   Citing Birth, Newbury, Essex, Massachusetts, United States, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 007009724.
   FamilySearch (accessed 9 February 2022)
   FamilySearch Image Image number 00528
   Peter Merrill birth 8 Apr 1703 in Newbury, Essex, Massachusetts, United States.
2. ↑ Essex Institute, Vital Records of Newbury, Massachusetts to the Year 1850 (Salem, MA: Essex Institute, 1911), Vol 2:327.

   "Merryl, Peter, and Mary Bayley, Feb. 8, 1725-6. CR7."

3. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FHNZ-CTT : 5 November 2017), Peter Merrill and Mary Bailey, 08 Jan 1725; citing Marriage Notice, Newbury, Essex, Massachusetts, United States, town clerk offices, Massachusetts; FHL microfilm 886,203.
4. ↑ Newbury VR Transcripts The Essex Institute, Salem, Massachusetts, 1911, V1, pg 49
5. ↑ Essex County Probate Records, Volume 327/Book 27:453-457 Will and inventory of John Bailey.
6. ↑ VRs of Newbury, Vol. 2:327].

   "Merryl, Peter, and Priscilla Annis, Mar. 10, 1730-31. CR7"

7. ↑ Essex Co Probate, File #762 Joseph Annis, Vol. 335:424, 461; 336:23; 337:152-154
8. ↑ Fiske, Daniel Taggart. An Historical Discourse Commemorative of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Organization of the Belleville Congregational Church, Newburyport, Mass., Delivered on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 25, 1858 by D.T. Fiske. Boston : E.P. Dutton & Co., 1859. Appendix, A. p. 8.
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1} Merrill, Samuel. A Merrill Memorial : An Account of the Descendants of Nathaniel Merrill, an Early Settler of Newbury, Massachusetts. Anundsen Publishing, Decorah, Iowa, 1983. Page 255, #84 Peter Merrill
10. ↑ Bellville Church History
11. ↑ VRs of Newbury, Vol. 2:659.
12. ↑ Essex County Probate Records, Vol. 353:50, file #18313 Peter Merril, Newbury, weaver, 1778.
13. ↑ Essex Institute, Vital Records of Newbury, Massachusetts to the Year 1850 (Salem, MA: Essex Institute, 1911), Vol. 1:311-321