John and Nathaniel Merrill
brothers from Wherstead, Suffolk

Nathaniel Merrill came from Wherstead, Suffolk County, England to Ipswich (then Agawam) Massachusetts abt 1639/40 and soon moved to Newbury, originally known as Quascacunquen, to join his brother John who was in the colonies by 1636 when he was granted a homesite in Ipswich, Mass. No one knows for certain on which ships the Merrill brothers sailed to America from England.

Newbury was originally settled in 1635 by families from Ipswich. John arranged for Nathaniel's homesite in Newbury on 23 Jul 1638, which probably means Nathaniel wasn't there yet. Some researchers believe Nathaniel came at the same time as John, then returned to Wherstead, England, where one of his children was born in 1638. John married Anis Bishop(e) and had one daughter, Hannah, who married Stephen Swett. Nathaniel married Susannah, daughter of the wife of Gregory Wolterton, and had four sons and one daughter, thus is the progenitor of most of the New England Merrills.

Submitted by Lillian Follett-Hall,Publisher, The Merrill Newsletter

Return to Top

Return to Our Newbury Ancestors

Return to Newbury Main Page