My grandfather on my mom's side of the family was Leon Arthur Merrick, He was born on March 1, 1916, in Leroy, Pennsylvania, when his father, Hiram, was 44 years old and his mother, Laverne (Wilcox) - known as Vernie - Merrick was 34. His ancestors were early settlers in Tioga County, Pennsylvania.
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| Leon Arthur Merrick |
Tioga County, Pennsylvania
Tioga County was created March 26, 1804, and named for the Tioga River. It was made possible by the Trenton Decree in 1782 (pdf file here) that abolished Connecticut’s claim on the land and the Ft. Stanwix Treaty of 1784 (link here) that took title from the Indians.
The Williamson Road, from Williamsport to Bath, was opened in 1793 (link here). The State Road to Wellsboro in 1800 brought in about five hundred settlers, mostly from Connecticut and New York. Two of grandpa Merrick's second great grandfathers - Moses Merrick from Massachusetts and Alpheus Button from New York - were among those first settlers of the area. They are my fourth great grand-parents.
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Moses Merrick
Covington Township was formed 1815 from Tioga Township in Tioga County, Pennsylvania. It's now called Putnam Township. Grandpa Merrrick's paternal great grandfather, Moses Merrick - who married Fanny Wheeler on January 8, 1804, in West Springfield, Massachusetts (marriage record here) - is counted on there on the 1820 Federal Census (census record here).
The population of Covington is 610 people in 1820. The Merrick's have four boys and two girls under the age of sixteen years old. Of those children we can account for the two youngest sons and the youngest daughter. The adults are between 26 and 45 years old and the oldest three children are between the ages of 10-15 years old. The youngest three are under 10 years old.
The population of Covington is 610 people in 1820. The Merrick's have four boys and two girls under the age of sixteen years old. Of those children we can account for the two youngest sons and the youngest daughter. The adults are between 26 and 45 years old and the oldest three children are between the ages of 10-15 years old. The youngest three are under 10 years old.
It was 16 years since they married in 1820, and thee parents are both under 45, so we can assume they were no more than 19 years old when they married and were born about 1784, probably in Massachusetts.
Hiram Leonard Merrick
Hiram Leonard Merrick was born on May 2, 1815. He's my third great grandfather. The oldest of the three younger children, all his records give Pennsylvania as his birthplace. It's safe to assume grandpa Moses Merrick moved to Pennsylvania sometime after 1804 when he married in Massachusetts but before 1815 when great grandpa Hiram was born.
Granpda Hiram married Joysa Whitney on May 28, 1833. His brother, William - (known by his middle name, Lester) - born in 1817, married Caroline Whitney four years later on May 1, 1937. She was great grandma Joysa's sister.
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| Lester and Caroline (Whitney) Merrick |
Their parents were Jeremiah and Susan (Resseguie) Whitney, who married on August 7, 1812 in Fishkill, New York. My fourth great grandfather, Grandpa Jeremiah Whitney, was a shoemaker. This information comes from the North American Family Histories for Jeremiah Whitney (linked here). We blogged about our Whitney connection (link here).
Joseph Sylvester Merrick
Joseph Sylvester Merrick - Moses' Merrick's grandson, grandpa Leon Arthur Merrick's grandfather and my second great grand - was born on November 21, 1840, in Tioga, Pennsylvania. He, his brothers, and cousins all fought in the Civil War (blogpost here).
Joseph Merrick married Ellen, (known by her middle name, Jane) Hotelling (blog post here). Thirty-six years is the answer on the 1900 Federal Census to the question about how long they were married. They wed in 1864.
Alpheus Button
Grandpa Merrick's second great grandfather on his grandmother's side of the family was Alpheus Button. Born on February 7, 1787, in Mohawk, Montgomery County, New York, he died March 26, 1870, Tioga County, Pennsylvania, at 83 years old (link here). He married Elizabeth (aka Betsy) Hill. They had six sons and two daughters.
His grandson, also named Alpheous Button, born October 15,1841, served a nine month enlistment in Company A, the 136th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment with grandpa Merrick's grandfather, Joseph, and Joseph's cousins - Elias and Bradford Merrick - in the Civil War (link here).
Polly Ann Button
Grandpa Merrick's great grandmother, Polly Ann Button, was born on April 21, 1823. She married Peter Hotelling. They raised seven sons and three daughters. She died on February 24, 1900 and is buried in Middlebury Center, Pennsylvania (link here.)
Discover the History of Tioga County
See also Moses Merrick: Tioga Pioneer
*Note: Relationships, such as grandmother, 2nd great, etc., are expressed from the perspective of the grandchildren of Leon Arthur and Anna Grace (Fuller) Merrick.
Terms of relationship - grandmother, uncle, aunt, cousin, etc. - are used here generically to include relatives such as fourth great grandfathers, great grand uncles, second cousins twice removed, etc.
Terms of relationship - grandmother, uncle, aunt, cousin, etc. - are used here generically to include relatives such as fourth great grandfathers, great grand uncles, second cousins twice removed, etc.
Original Military Records (hosted large zoomable files)
Joseph Sylvester Merrick: Pension Index Death Certificate Burial Card
Velorous C Merrick: Muster Roll US Register of Deaths US Burial Register Pension Index National Internment Card
Wheeler Otis Merrick: Pension Index Death Certificate Obituary
Moses Merrick: Muster Roll US Burial Register Burial Card
Bradford William Merrick: 1890 Veterans Schedules Pension Index Burial Card
Elias Merrick: Death Certificate
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