Title proper
Merritt family
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- Textual record
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Fonds
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2.8 m of textual records
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Biographical history
*First Generation
Thomas Merritt (1729-1821) of Rye, New York. In 1775, signed a protest against the American rebellion and was consequently forced to leave his home. He and his wife Amy, daughter of Capt. John Purdy settled in Saint John, New Brunswick. Their children included Thomas (1759-1842), David Daniel (1764-1828), and Nehemiah (1770-1842).
*Second Generation
Thomas Merritt Jr. (1759-1842) served as a cornet in the Queens Rangers during the American Revolution. He arrived in N.B. in 1783, and received a townlot at Parrtown. He later settled in Upper Canada, where, in 1796, he built and operated a mill on Twelve Mile Creek on the Niagara Peninsula. From 1803-1820, he was the Sheriff of Lincoln County. During the War of 1812, he served as a cavalry officer. He died in St. Catherines in 1842. His wife was Mary Hamilton. Their son was William Hamilton (1793-1862).
Captain Nehemiah Merritt (1770-1842) married Isabella Milby of Shelburne in 1802. His eldest son, William, died in Byrain, Connecticut. in 1832, age 27. His eldest daughter, Eliza married in 1833 to William Wright, a barrister at law.
David Daniel (1764-1828) was a merchant and built a large home on Union St. in Saint John, New Brunswick. He married Mary (d. 1842), daughter of Dr. John Wheeler of Elizabethtown, N.J. Their children were Thomas (1792-1869), Ann, David Jabez (1803-1884), Eliza (married Miles), Mary (b. 1801) wife of John L. Roberts, Julia married Rev. W. Harrison, Catherine (Caroline?) Matilda married Rev. Enoch Wood.
*Third Generation
Thomas (1792-1869) married Catherine, daughter of Rev. Robert Norris in 1825;
David Jabez (1803-1884) continued with his father's business and owned farms at Gondola Point and Hampton. He married Fannie C. Smith (d. 1838), daughter of William Howe Smith in 1828 and had three children. He remarried in 1841 to Anna Magee, daughter of James Magee;
Eliza Merritt (1798-1827) married James Burns, an early Saint John jeweller, in 1823. They had a daughter Eliza Merritt Burns that died in 1830, age 3;
Source:
Vital Statistics of New Brunswick;
New Brunswick Loyalists, 1983
Custodial history
Information about the custody of these records prior to acquisition is incomplete.
Scope and content
This fonds includes:
Business and family correspondence and household accounts of Merritt family;
Account books and letter books, 1813-1869, bills, receipts, correspondence, advertisements of James Burns
Note: the fonds requires arrangement and description
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Purchased, 1960,1962
Arrangement
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
No restrictions
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Finding aids
Detailed inventory available only for James Burns material
Associated materials
The muster roll of Nehemiah Merritt's company of the Saint John county militia, 1808 is in the John B.M. Baxter fonds (ID456)