Elizabeth (Parkhurst) Merry (1628 - abt. 1680)

Born 18 May 1628 in Ipswich, Suffolk, England

Ancestors

Wife of Joseph Merry — married Dec 1659 in Hampton, New Hampshire

Descendants

Died about 1680 at about age 51 in Hampton, Norfolk, Massachusetts Bay

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Kerry Fisher [send private message]

Biography

Elizabeth (Parkhurst) Merry was born in Suffolk, England.

Elizabeth Parkhurst was baptized 18 May 1628 at Ipswich, England. She was a daughter of George Parkhurst and Phebe Leete of Ipswich.^[1][2][3] Elizabeth married first, Emmanuel Hilliard of Hampton, New Hampshire. She married second, about Dec 1659, Joseph Merry, as his second wife.^[4]

Emanuel Hilliard "...was drowned 20 Oct, 1657,”^[5] lost at sea, on passage from Hampton, New Hampshire to Boston.^[6]

Estate of Emmanuel Hilliard

Emmanuel Hilliard, Hampton
Widow Elizabeth, son Benjamin & Timothy, daughter Elizabeth
^[7]

“Inventory of the estate of Emmanuel Hilliard of Hampton, appraised Nov. 19, 1657, by Robert Tuck, John Sanborn, and Henry Dow; affirmed by the widow, Elizabeth Hilliard, amount £177.13.6.”

Children of Emanuel Hilliard and Elizabeth Parkhurst

Emanuel and Phebe had four children:^[6]

1. John, born, 2 Mar 1650/1, in Hampton, Rockingham, NH (Hampton, NH VRs Vol. 1 p. 544). Died, 7 Aug 1651, in Hampton (Hampton, NH VRs Vol. 1 p. 557).
2. Benjamin, born 2 Nov 1652, in Hampton (Hampton, NH VRs Vol. 1 p. 544). Died, 13 Jun 1677 Benjamin was killed by "ye barbrous heathen", i.e., Indians.
3. Elizabeth, born 22 Jan 1654/5, in Hampton (Hampton, NH VRs Vol. 1 p. 546). Died, 1746, in Edgartown, Ma. She married (8 children see Martha's Vineyard Hist. Vol. III, pp. 302-3) John Mayhew, son of Thomas Mayhew , Jr. and Jane Paine, 1672, in Tisbury (Martha's Vineyard Hist. Vol. II, Annals of West Tisbury p.75).
4. Timothy, born circa 1656, in Hampton. Died, 17 Aug 1723. He married Apphia Philbrick, 3 Dec 1674, in Hampton (Hampton, NH VRs Vol. 1 p. 76).

The Merry Family

The following is from Charles Banks:^[5]

A biographical sketch of Joseph Merry, the ancestor of this family, may be found in Vol. II, Annals of W. T., pp. 58-60, and nothing has since been found to add further knowledge of him or his antecedents.(1) The name is very rarely found in English records of his time except in the southwest counties, particularly in Gloucestershire, but no connection has been established between him and his home in England prior to migration.

Joseph Merry married first, Mary, who died 4 Apr 1657. He married second, Mrs. Elizabeth (Parkhurst) Hilliard about Dec 1659, widow of Emanuel Hilliard of Hampton, N. H. Elizabeth was the daughter of George and Phebe Parkhurst of Ipswich, England, where she was baptized 18 May 1628. The date of her death is unknown. Joseph died a centenarian 15 Apr 1710 being, as his gravestone states, "103 years old."

(1) Joseph Merry was related to Phillip Wollidge of Salisbury, Mass. whom he called "nephew" and possibly to Henry Monday of the same town, who also called Woollidge hia nephew. Henry Smith of London, Rent, in his will 1647 made a bequest to his "nephew" Henry Mundy. These relationships may be clues to Joseph Merry's antecedents.

Children of Joseph Merry and Elizabeth Parkhurst

1. Hannah, b. 29 Nov. 1660; m. Benjamin Skiff 20 Feb 1679-80
2. Abigail, b. 19 Oct 1662; m. John Pease
3. Bathsheba, b. 16 Jun 1665; m. Thomas Pease
4. Samuel, b. 16 Nov 1669

Sources

1. ↑ Parkhurst, Gabriel H. (Gabriel Harrower), b. 1849. John Parkhurst, born May 2, 1760, at Weston, Massachusetts, his ancestors and descendants. Press of the Courier company limited. Bath, N.Y. 1897. George Parkhurst children, pp. 10-11
2. ↑ Connected Bloodlines George Parkhurst : accessed 23 Sep 2019
3. ↑ William H. Whitmore in an article in the NEHGS Register, Volume 27, pages 364-369 : The Dalton and Batcheller Pedigree.
4. ↑ Banks, Charles. The History of Martha's Vineyard (G.H. Dean, Boston, 1911) Vol. 2: Town Annals. Page 58 See also: EBook : The Merry Family
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Banks, The History of Martha's Vineyard.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Parkhurst, Peter George. Parkhurst Selected Descendants. 1997.
7. ↑ Documents Relating to Towns in New Hampshire (Rumford Printing Company, 1907) Vol. 31, Page 35-6: Emmanuel Hilliard, widow Elizabeth, son Benjamin & Timothy, daughter Elizabeth.

See also:

• The Merry family of Martha's Vineyard by Charles Banks
• The New England Historical & Genealogical Register (New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Mass.) Vol. 27, Page 365

Acknowledgments

• Sara V Mosher, Sept. 2019