Person:Prettyman Merry (1)

Will of Prettyman Merry

1817 Prettyman Merry's Will:

Bourbon County Court. Will book "F", p 254.

Will of Prettyman Merry, dated 23rd April, 1817.

Probated in Buckingham County 8th December 1817.

Daughter Mary Buckner and her children by her late husband, Major William Buckner.

Daughters Elizabeth, Ann, Jemima, Catherine, Mildred- after Mildred reaches 21.

Daughter Fanny Moore-Land in Barren Co. Kentucky.

Sons John, James, Samuel.

[Note: Prettyman Merry died in Buckingham County, but the records in Buckingham were later destroyed, but his will was luckily also recorded in Bourbon County, Kentucky].

Information on Prettyman Merry

From Genforum.com post:

Prettyman Merry, Prettyman Merry, and Prettyman Merry Posted by: Bob Kamman (ID *****4727) Date: May 05, 2005 at 11:09:

  of 1057  

I think I have found some clues that solve much of the confusion about the two men named Prettyman Merry found in Virginia and Kentucky in the late 1700s.

1) The original Prettyman Merry (PM-1) lived and died in Norfolk County, Virginia, early in the 1700s. He was the son of Thomas Merry (TM-1) and Apphira Prettyman. Thomas and Apphira, I believe, came from Accomack County, Virginia (north of Norfolk and on the east side of Chesapeake Bay), where their families were neighbors. But that's another story.

2) Prettyman Merry (PM-1) had a younger brother Thomas Merry (TM-2) and a son Thomas Merry (TM-3).

3) Prettyman's brother Thomas Merry (TM-2) married Elizabeth Stephens and they lived in Spotsylvania County and Orange County, Virginia. In the 1740's they had a son Prettyman Merry (PM-2). When Thomas died, his widow married Reuben Daniel, who became the stepfather of Prettyman Merry (PM-2). Reuben Daniel's reported dates are 1721-1779.

4) Meanwhile, Thomas Merry (TM-3) also had a son, in Orange County, born around 1760, named Prettyman Merry (PM-3).

5) Disputes arose concerning the estate of Thomas Merry (TM-2), and whether the family of Reuben Daniel had acquired property that belonged to his remarried widow and her children, including his son Prettyman Merry (PM-2).

6) Prettyman Merry (PM-2) goes off to Kentucky, where he probably meets Daniel Boone, and spends time with another early pioneer family, the Suggetts. He marries one of them, Catherine Suggett. He also acquires two parcels of 2,000 acres, perhaps because of his service in the Virginia militia during the Revolutionary War -- or perhaps because he bought the warrants, which were freely traded, from someone else.

7) Back in Virginia, he settles the dispute with the Daniel family, protecting not only his interests but those of his brother Thomas (TM-3) and through him, the interests of Thomas Merry (TM-3)'s son Prettyman Merry (PM-3).

8) Prettyman Merry (PM-2) not only owns land along the Ohio River and nearby in northern Kentucky, but acquires more in distant Barren County, Kentucky, in the area of Mammoth Cave. Three other counties were formed from Barren County, and Merry records are also found in these -- Edmonson, Warren and Simpson. He also has a daughter, Mary Buckner, living just across the state line in Tennessee.

9) Prettyman Merry (PM-2) established a Virginia residence in Buckingham County, Virginia. His 1817 will there has been lost, but it has been found in the records of Bourbon County, Kentucky, where he owned land (probably part of the two large land grants). His children named in the will are:

Daughters -- Mary Buckner, widow of Major William Buckner; Elizabeth, Ann, Jemima, Catherine, Mildred (not yet 21), and Fanny Moore.

Sons -- John, James, Samuel. (We know that Samuel was a doctor; see recent post.)

He gives his land in Barren County (near Mammoth Cave) to his daughter Fanny Moore.

Meanwhile, there is another interesting record in the Bourbon County, Kentucky court files. It is an 1815 deed from Prettyman Merry (PM-2) to Thomas Merry (who must be his brother, TM-3), carrying out a 1788 agreement giving Thomas Merry (TM-3) and his children 600 acres "on the western waters" (that is, on the Ohio) for his part of the slaves formerly belonging to (their father) Thomas Merry (TM-2), deceased, then in possession of (their mother) Elizabeth Daniel of Orange County and held by her as part of her dower of the estate of Thomas Merry (TM-2), deceased.

The 600 acres were divided up as follows:

To Thomas Merry (TM-3), 100 acres.

To Prettyman Merry (PM-3), son of TM-3, 200 acres.

To Elizabeth Goodall, daughter of Thomas Merry (TM-3), 200 acres.

To Milley Merry, daughter of Thomas Merry (TM-3) and married to Philip Dothage, 100 acres.

The Bourbon County records are taken from the Virginia Historical Magazine, pages 429-430 (year 1912, I think -- managed not to write it down).

The only problem with this is that the deed to Prettyman Merry (PM-3) is dated 1815, and he is said to have died in Scott County, Kentucky in 1802. Since he was entitled to the property in 1788, maybe they left it for his estate executors to sort out. Or possibly it is an authenticated copy, for Kentucky recording purposes, of a deed originally recorded in Virginia in 1788.

I think it was Prettyman Merry (PM-2) the uncle who served as an officer in the Orange County militia. Considering his rank and associations, this individual would more likely be someone in his late 30s, rather than early 20s.

What is intriguing about the 1815 deed is that it raises questions about who built that 1790 house in Bromley, Kentucky, across the river from Cincinnati. Could it be that the land was originally purchased by Prettyman Merry (PM-2) the uncle, but then transferred as part of the 200-acre settlement (from 1788, reflected in the 1815 deed) to Prettyman Merry (PM-3) the nephew? Did the uncle buy the land, and the nephew build the house?

That land is now in Kenton County, but until 1795 it was part of Scott County. Prettyman Merry (PM-3) the nephew supposedly died in Scott County, in 1802. How do we know that? Because the Internet tells us? Or is there some original source?

In any case, Merry researchers of this period need a good map of Kentucky, and a chart showing county formation. It is quite some distance from Bromley to Mammoth Cave. The story of how the Merry family came to reside in southwest Kentucky, has yet to be told.