Person talk:Nathaniel Merriman (3)

The Kent Origin is Apparently Bogus [19 December 2011]

Excerpts from the Merriman Reunion/Genealogy of 1913:

In 1894 John Merriman Adams published the statements that Nathaniel Merriman was born at Tenterden in Kent on June 2, 1613, that his father Theophilus was born at Maidstone in Kent in 1573, and that his grandfather Theophilus was born in Wiltshire in 1533. These statements are understood to have been found by an uncle of Adams in a visit to England. That the father of Nathaniel Merriman was George, a citizen and cooper of London, was proved in 1899 when Waters published the will of George Merriman, and this is verified by a biographical sketch written soon after the revolutionary war by Samuel Merriman, one of the descendants of Nathaniel. (p. 107)

If I have failed in this search for records regarding George and Nathaniel Merriman, perhaps later some one may follow who will succeed. When the right clue is found the rest will not be difficult. At present it seems to me that there are no indications at all of clues in the directions of Kent. (p. 126)

Regarding the Theophilus story mentioned at the beginning of these notes, not a trace of that name in connection with the Merriman family has been found. It seems very probable that the story was invented by a fake genealogist of London in reply to inquiries made by Adams or his uncle. At any rate it is very certain that descendants of Nathaniel who have adopted that myth as a fact should be put on their guard against giving it further credence. George, a citizen and cooper of London, was undoubtedly Nathaniel's father, and I hope that further search may bring to light a record of the name of his grandfather.(p. 128)

Migration

It should also be noted that Robert Charles Anderson does not include Nathaniel Merriman in either The Great Migration Begins or The Great Migration, so statements that Nathaniel came in 1632 on the Whale also appear to be inaccurate.--jaques1724 12:06, 19 December 2011 (EST)

However, Anderson, in The Great Migration Directory, says that Merriman emigrated from London to the Massachusetts Bay in 1632. He apparently inadvertently failed to include Nathaniel Merriman in The Great Migration Begins.--jaques1724 06:04, 8 August 2022 (UTC)