Joel and Lucinda, Asa and Lucina

In 2007 Rjseaver created the page Family:Joel Merriam and Unknown Lucinda (1), creating Person pages for both parents with nary a date or source. This is how the author got involved. In searching for a particular Joel Merriam, I came to the this Joel's page with no identifying information and had to determine it was or was not the same person. Due to the minimal information, I took the time to research this further. It turns out to be of some general genealogical interest even if one is not connected.

The first steps followed pretty much match the steps outlined in a 2013 blog here. Westminster, MA, is a hive of Merriam's, and though there are plenty of Joel's there, they either seem to be poor matches, or are otherwise married. The Joel who m. Polly could not have remarried as it can be shown by deeds that Polly is still alive after the birth of Lucinda (Merriam) Seaver in 1831. The Merriam Genealogy by Pope does not seem to mention this Joel, nor the parents listed on his death record, Joseph & Eunice Merriam. Neither do Joseph and Eunice Merriam seem to be found in Westminster or Massachusetts records (no VRs, no deeds, no probate), and to rule out the possibility of errors in the records, the James & Eunice Merriam of Westminster had no son Joel (and none mentioned in James' will). There seems to be no birth record for a Lucinda Chase in Stafford, CT, nor anything about Rufus Chase. She consistently is shown as born about 1809 in the various censuses, or else we would doubt she is the right Lucinda, since she would have been 14 at the time of marriage.

At this point, out of frustration, I resorted to searching the general Internet for any kind of clue. Which is how I found the blog mentioned above, written by Randall J. Seaver (presumed to be the same person who posted the page originally). He obviously went through a similar exercise in 2013, 6 years after posting the page. However, none of the additional information that he found was transferred to WeRelate...

I had searched several other places for information (Pope's Merriam Genealogy, Worcester deeds, an array of magazines), but had little luck. I did found one additional clue however, that wasn't mentioned in the blog, namely a death record for a Lucina Merriam, widow of Asa Merriam, in 1903. The details are very similar to what the death record for Lucinda say, only about 15 years later (Lucina similar to Lucinda, surname Chase, born in Stafford within a year or two, married to a man named Merriam, father Rufus Chase). Since any record, such as Lucinda's death record or her marriage record, can be subject to error, further research was needed to make sure this wasn't the same person, or some other kind of error. Perhaps an error in one of the records was why it was so hard to find more sources.

What has been found is largely posted to WeRelate. It is hard to know for sure what happened, but speculating, it is believed that the following outline may describe our situation. Clearly more research is needed.

Rufus Chase, said to be born "At sea" or in England in various records of his daughters, married Bathsheba Warriner of Wilbraham and had two daughters, Lucinda and Lucina (maybe other children? no evidence found however). Perhaps he died soon after their birth, since there aren't more signs of him, possibly explaining whey they married so young (14-15 for Lucinda, 16 for Lucina). There is a 1820 census record in Somers, Tolland, CT, for Rufus Chase, giving his age as over 45, showing 1 son and 5 daughters under 16, but nothing found in 1830. He is found in Stafford in 1810. His widow married in Connecticut in 1851 to Daniel Sherman Nichols and died in 1863.

Lucinda Chase married Joel Merriam, s/o Joseph and Eunice Merriam, who probably lived in the County Gore, explaining the lack of records. Lucina appears to have married (very speculative) his younger brother Asa (no parents listed on his death record). It is unknown how they ended up in Connecticut. Did their parents go there, or were they orphaned and looking for opportunity? Interestingly, both families named a son Horace.

Incidentally, there is a couple, Asa and Lucena (Puffer) Merriam who had children in Westminster in the early 1800s, but this is too early to be either of our Asa or our Lucina, and it is not even clear if they might be related.