Samuel
Merrifield
Sr.
Born in Wapping, Middlesex, England
Ancestors 
Son of Richard Merrifield
and Dinah Unknown
Brother of
Thomas Merrifield, Thomas Merrifield, Elizabeth Merrifield, Thurston Merrifield and Elizabeth Merrifield
Husband of
Mary (Unknown) Merrifield
— married
1744 [location unknown]
Descendants 
Father of
Samuel Merrifield Jr., Dinah (Merrifield) Beck, Thomas Merrifield, Elizabeth Merrifield, Elizabeth Merrifield, Rachel Merrifield, Richard Merrifield, James Merrifield, Mary Lee (Merrifield) Tucker, John Merrifield, Dianna Merrifield and Alexander Merrifield
Died
at age 64
in Springhill Twp., Westmoreland Co., Pennsylvania
Profile last modified
| Created 4 Jul 2014
This page has been accessed 2,071 times.
Contents |
Biography
Birth
The date and location of Samuel's birth is still in conention as of this writing in June 2020. In a letter dated from 1867, descendant John C. Merrifield of Detroit, Michigan wrote that Samuel Merrifield was born 12 August 1720 at Croat, England.[1] The problem with this description is that there is no placed with the name Croat in England and there are no 1720 births for any man named Samuel Merrifield in England. In the ten year period between 1715 and 1725, there are four primrary source records for men born with the name (or variant thereof) Samuel Merrifield. One Samuel Merrifield born in 1717 in London was born to parents Richard and Dinah.[2] This Samuel's paternal grandfather's name is Thomas and his brother's names re Thomas and Richard. This uncanny family naming sequence offers compelling evidence that this might be the birth record of this Samuel Merrifield.
Disambiguation
Previously this profile was connected to parents Benjamin Merrifield and Experience (Birch) Merrified of Dorchester County, Massachusetts. These connections were in error. Many online genealogies conflated the Virginia, Massachusetts, and Conneticut Merrifield families. Care should be taken not to mix the separate families. From Samuel's DAR record we know that he was born in Great Brittain.
It is know from the headright land contract and subsequent indendture that Samuel migrated to Virginia. Two prominent migration records appear: one in 1737/38 for a convict and another in 1749 for the headright land grant. Virginia records show that he landed in Viriginia and never lived in Massachusetts; all Massachusetts records should be ignored when researching this Samuel Merrifield.
Most of the facts connected to Samuel in online trees are conflated with incorrect records and families. In some of the online family trees are present 19th century photographs of Samuel and his family that are impossible because photography wasn't available until after his death.
Due care should be taken to observe that the correct records are referenced.
Timeline and residence
- 1773 - Springhill Township, Bedford County, Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania Tax and Exoneration list)[3]
Research Notes
Shortcuts
Profile changes
This profile is undergoing a significant makeover; changes will be listed here in order that they can all be viewed at one time. This section will be deleted when the profile makeover is complete.
- Removed the unsourced birth date and location:
- 12 Aug 1720 in Bolton, Lancashire, England
- And replaced with:
- baptized. 6 January 1717 at the St. John of Wapping Church in Tower Hamlets, Middlesex, England[2] See: Samuel Marrifield born about 1720 in Brittain for details on the rationale.
- The date of 1720 comes from the DAR application but is marked "about" 1720 and could be +/- 5 years. The 12 August date may have come from family legend and may be accurate and the year 1720 cemented after the DAR records were published. No record for a Samuel Merrifield or its spelling variations was found after a search in Lancashire for a period of +/- 10 years. The only returns for these search parameters are:
- 37 member submitted photos (many are pictures of DNA, sailing ships, Merrifield Coats of Arms, English flags, American flags, and two black and white photos representing a man who died 50 years before there were photos, etc).
- 13 member submitted stories, memories, and histories (the majority of these are JPEGs of the headright claim, the 1756 land transfer to Samuel Jr., and a land survey of the land purchased by Samuel).
Sources and resources
Some member resources here: Ancestry member boards for Sam Merrifield.
There is a DAR member application[4] reference for Samuel that reads:
- Birth: abt. 1720 in England
- Death: after 15 March 1781
- Place of death: Monongalia County, VA
Map locations of Samuel and Elizabeth's baptisms: https://www.google.com/maps/dir/St+John+Of+Wapping,+Scandrett+Street,+London,+UK/St+Marys+Whitechapel+Church+Memorial,+Unnamed+Road,+Shadwell,+London+E1+1FE,+United+Kingdom/@51.5091434,-0.0725097,14.92z/data=!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x4876033a88a6489f:0x75c131b3f8fe6ade!2m2!1d-0.0612846!2d51.5038283!1m5!1m1!1s0x48761d9af73d9521:0xbd2f9ecad812d17f!2m2!1d-0.069436!2d51.5161594!3e2?hl=en
1737/38 criminal import: https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=61074&h=25121&tid=&pid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=eji-340602&_phstart=successSource
1749 headright migrtion: https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=7486&h=4018037&tid=&pid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=eji-340602&_phstart=successSource
Some good member resources here: Ancestry member boards for Sam Merrifield.
Land map:
Deeds:
Wedding date appears to be conflated: There is a Dorchester, Mass record of Samuel Merrifield marrying (on the same day as this profile's alleged marriage date) Mrs. Sarah Bird on 8 May 1777.[5] Additionally, allegedly dies less than 4 years later in Virginia. Perhaps two Samuel Merrifields? One in VA one in Mass? Further research is very much warranted.
Update: the other record is for Samuel "Indian Sam" Merrifield Jr.: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/97188203
Additionally: there appears an indenture for Samuel and Mary Merrifield in Frederick, Virginia in 1765. Yet more evidence of two Samuel Merrifields, one of VA the other of Mass.[6]
Indeed, there is a 2nd Samuel Merrifield - married to Sarah Bird and another marriage to another woman and later a veteran in the War of 1812.
Additionally, the DAR citation lists Samuel's place of birth as England, this profile currently shows father and grandfather of Dorchester, Mass - and the death dates of this profile don't match the Dorchester death record(s). Also, the death record for Benjamin (Samuel's father) died 1760 shows different parents than those listed on his profile.
- Land assignments with George Tucker: https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/30048/images/dvm_LocHist013669-00033-0?backurl=&ssrc=&backlabel=Return&pId=55
- History of Harrison County, WV, all mentions of Samuel Merrifield: https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/30048/images/dvm_LocHist013669-00250-1?backurl=&ssrc=&backlabel=Return&pId=55
Sources
- ↑ Moore, Douglas S. Samuel Merrifield, published privately, 2015. Accessed 12 June 2020 by SJ Baty at Ancestry.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 1717 Samuel baptism: Church of England Parish Registers, 1538-1812. London, England: London Metropolitan Archives. Accessed 11 June 2020 by SJ Baty at Ancestry. Note: The entry specifies the home location "by Lamb Yard at Church."
- ↑ Tax & Exoneration Lists, 1762–1794. Series No. 4.61; Records of the Office of the Comptroller General, RG-4. Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Accessed 2 July 2020 by SJ Baty at Ancestry. Local Wikitree image.
- ↑ DAR application for Georgia Schlosser. "http://services.dar.org/Public/DAR_Research/search_descendants/?action=list&MyPrimary_Seqn=620511&MyLineageCount=1&Control_Min_Seqn=620511." Daughters of the Revolution (DAR) descendants search. Accessed 28 June 2018 by SJ Baty.
- ↑ Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Accessed 30 September 2018 SJ Baty at https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=2495&h=43463736.
- ↑ 1765 Indenture of Samuel and Mary Merrifield.
See also:
- Hatcher, Patricia Law. Abstract of Graves of Revolutionary Patriots. Dallas, TX, USA: Pioneer Heritage Press, 1987 (URL sought for this source).
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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Samuel by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known yDNA or mtDNA test-takers in his direct paternal or maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Samuel:
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Samuel by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known yDNA or mtDNA test-takers in his direct paternal or maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Samuel:
-
~0.78%
Joe Ball
:
AncestryDNA
-
~0.78%
Douglas Moore :
AncestryDNA
-
~0.39%
John Young :
23andMe
-
~0.39%
Nancy (Swearman) Hall :
23andMe
+
AncestryDNA
-
~0.39%
Martin Irons :
23andMe, yourDNAportal MAR50ad2dd2
-
~0.39%
Paul Linden :
AncestryDNA, GEDmatch A098000 [compare], Ancestry member Plinden56
-
~0.39%
~1.56%
Cynthia (Mitchell) Paul :
AncestryDNA, Ancestry member Cyndimp
-
~0.39%
Scott Wild :
AncestryDNA, Ancestry member WildKalanquinGrandson
-
~0.39%
Laura (Young) Hanley :
AncestryDNA
-
~0.39%
~3.12%
Jennifer Bumann :
AncestryDNA, Ancestry member jengoddess
+
Family Tree DNA Family Finder, GEDmatch UH2290313 [compare], FTDNA kit #N7177
+
MyHeritage DNA, GEDmatch UH2290313 [compare]
+
Living DNA, GEDmatch UH2290313 [compare]
-
~0.39%
Nancy Fox :
AncestryDNA
+
MyHeritage DNA
-
~0.39%
SJ Baty :
Family Tree DNA Family Finder, GEDmatch T007207 [compare], FTDNA kit #150872
Have you taken a DNA test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.
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M > Merrifield > Samuel Merrifield Sr.