History of Nathaniel Merrill and Susannah Wolterton follows:

Contributed By

Nathaniel Merrill

Birthdate:circa May 4, 1601

Birthplace:Wherstead, Suffolk, England

Death:Died March 16, 1655 in Newbury, Essex County, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Place of Burial:Newbury, Essex, Massachusetts, USA

Immediate Family:Son of Nathaniel Merrill and Mary Merrill

Husband of Susanna Jordan

Father of Deacon John Merrill; Abraham Merrill; Nathaniel Merrill, III; Susannah Burbank; Sgt. Daniel Merrill and 2 others

Brother of Unknown Daughter Merrill; Mary Merrill; Matthew Merrill; Frances (child) Merrill; Martha (child) Merrill and 7 others

Occupation:Arrived in Mass. 1633, Farmer

Notes for Nathaniel *Merrill:

Settled, Newbury, Mass. 1638-9. The newly found records show that Nathaniel Merrill's daughter, Susanna, was not baptised until Dec 12, 1638 in Lawford, Essex, Co., England. This tells us that Nathaniel had not left for America with his family until late December 1638 or early 1639. In 1638 the English Government started restricting its citizens from freely immigrating to the new continent with its abundance of land for all, something unknown in England. The fact that brother John arranged for a home site of four acres in Newbury for his unnamed "brother" would indicate that the brother was not there by 23 July 1638 but was arranging to come. Ship records, the Hector, show that Nathaniel and John did arrive in Ipswich, Mass. in 1635. Nathaniel must have returned to England to get his wife and his four children and returned in 1638-39.

From "A Merrill Memorial" by Samuel Merrill, Cambridge MA 1917-1928

Nathaniel(1) Merrill was one of the earliest settlers in Newbury, MA in 1639. He was the ancestor of the vast majority of those who now bear the Merrill name in this country: it is believed, indeed, that less than one percent of the Merrill’s in America can trace their pedigree to any other emigrant ancestor.

Nathaniel Merrill and his older brother John were born in England. The registers of Wherstead, a parish lying three miles south if Ipswich, in Suffolk County, England, contain the following entries:

1599, August 16. John Merrell son of Nath! Merrell & Mary his wife was baptised.

1601, May 4. Nathanaell Merrell son of Nath! Merrell & his wife Mary was baptised.

There are reasons for believing that these entries are the record of baptism of John and Nathaniel Merrill of Newbury.

It is supposed that Nathaniel Merrill was married before leaving England. No record is found of his marriage in America. If the marriage took place here it was probably at Ipswich, in the short time before the settlement in Newbury. His wife's name was Susanna. Savage, in the "genealogical Dictionary of New England" (published in 1861), says that Nathaniel Merrill married Susanna Jordan. In this he was no doubt following Coffin's "History of Newbury" (published in 1845), and the statement has been frequently copied. Ed note, Nathaniel Merrill did marry Stephen Jorden after Nathaniel’s death in 1655.

Nathaniel was probably a farmer and is ancestor to all the Merrill’s in the U.S.A.. His brother John and wife had a daughter but no sons.

Notes for Susannah .......:

Susannah ........, also known as Susannah Wolterton, was the wife of the emigrant, Nathaniel Merrill. For many years she was thought to be the sister of Gregory Wolterton of Hartford, Conn. Later research shows that she probably is the daughter of Gregory's wife, Susannah (Unknown) by a previous marriage.

From "A Merrill Memorial" by Samuel Merrill, Cambridge, MA 1917-1928.

The conjecture has been advanced, and it has even been stated as a fact, that the wife of Nathaniel Merrill was Susanna Wilterton (or Wolterton.) Therefore until proven difference I will have Nathaniel's wife as Susanna Wolterton.

After the death of Nathaniel Merrill his widow married Stephen Jordan (or Jourdain). Nathaniel Merrill, son of Nathaniel and Susanna Merrill, gave a deed, under date of 16 Aug 1661, to Peter Godfrey of Newbury, in which the phrase occurs, "after the decease of my mother Susanna Jordan," and out of this fact the error regarding the maiden name of Nathaniel's wife grew.

Gregory Wolterton(Wilterton) of Hartford was childless: Susanna Merrill of Newbury was a widow with five sons and a daughter, most of them in their minority. It would have been natural for Gregory Wilterton under these circumstances to write to his kinswoman in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and offer a home and modest fortune to one of the boys. From "A Merrill Memorial" by Samuel Merrill, Cambridge, MA 1917-1928

More About Nathaniel Merrill:

Record Change: May 31, 2004

More About Nathaniel Merrill and Susannah Waltherton:

Marriage: Wherstead, Suffolk, England Or Newburyport Essex MA.

Children of Nathaniel Merrill and Susannah Waltherton are:

1.Nathaniel Merrill, 1633 of Newbury, MA, died 1 Jan. 1682 or 1685

2.John Merrill, 16 Feb 1635, Newbury, MA, died 8 Jul 1712

3.Abraham Merrill, abt. 1636 of Newbury, MA, died 22 Nov 1722

4.**Susannah Merrill, abt. 1640 of Newbury, MA, died 10 Oct 1690, Suffield, Conn.. Md. **John Burbank (1640-1698) 15 Oct 1663, Newbury, MA.

5.Daniel Merrill, 20 Aug 1642, Newbury, MA, died 27 Jun 1717

6.Abel Merrill, 20 Feb 1644, Newbury, MA, died 28 Oct 1689