I. Thomas¹ Meryell was born 1444? in Wherstead, Suffolk, England, and died Abt. 1480 in Wherstead, Suffolk, England. He married ...... (......) Meryell Abt. 1469. He was born Aft. 1444 in Wherstead, Suffolk, England, and died Unknown in Wherstead, Suffolk, England. Will of Thomas, 1463.

Child of Thomas Meryell and ...... Meryell is:

III. John³ Meryell (John², Thomas¹) was born 1495 in Wherstead, Suffolk, England, and died January 28, 1551/52 in Wherstead, Suffolk, England. He married Katherine John 1521 in Wherstead, Suffolk, England. She was born Abt. 1507 in Wherstead, Suffolk, England, and died December 13, 1551 in Wherstead, Suffolk, England.

Children of John Meryell and Katherine John are:

XVII. John⁴ Merrell, The Younger (John³ Meryell, John², Thomas¹) was born 1545 in Wherstead, Suffolk, England, and died February 01, 1599/1600 in Wherstead, Suffolk, England. He married Prudence Bird 1570 in Wherstead, Suffolk, England. She was born Bef. 1539 in Wherstead, Suffolk, England, and died December 22, 1609 in Wherstead, Suffolk, England.

Notes for John Merrell, The Younger:
John Merrell, yeoman, probably meant free holder, a farmer who owns his land, as Wherstead was far from the King's residence, and it is unlikely that John was one of the select bodyguard (Yeoman) of 100 men chosen to guard the sovereign on 1485.

Children of John Merrell and Prudence Bird are:

XX. Nathaniel⁵ Merrill (John⁴ Merrell, The Younger, John³ Meryell, John², Thomas¹) was born 1571 in Belstead, Suffolk, England, and died February 28, 1626/27 in Wherstead, Suffolk, England. He married Mary Blaxall February 27, 1591/92 in Belstead, Suffolk, England. She was born May 01, 1574 in Wherstead, Suffolk, England, and died April 29, 1624 in Wherstead, Suffolk, England.

Children of Nathaniel Merrill and Mary Blaxall are:

1. Nathaniel⁶ Merrill (Nathaniel⁵, John⁴ Merrell, The Younger, John³ Meryell, John², Thomas¹) was born May 04, 1601 in Wherstead, Suffolk, England, and died March 16, 1654/55 in Newbury, Essex, Mass. He married Susannah Wolterton September 23, 1633 in Wherstead, Suffolk, England, daughter of Stephen Wolterton and Susanna Wolterton. She was born Abt. 1610 in Denham, Suffolk, England, and died January 25, 1672/73 in Newbury, Essex, Mass.

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 it's citizens from freely emigrating to the new continent with it's abundance of land for all, something unknown in England. The fact that brother John arranged for a homesite 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

Nathaniel¹ 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 Merrills 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 Nathaniels death in 1655.

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

Notes for Susannah Wolterton:
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.

Children of Nathaniel Merrill and Susannah Wolterton are: