A 1654 Connection, New England and Virginia
Those of us looking for a connection between the Merry family of New England and the Merry family of Virginia will be interested in the will of Robert Chambers, dated February 4, 1654 and probated in Lancaster County, Virginia, on April 10, 1654.(Summary reported in “Virginia Colonial Abstracts” for Lancaster County.)
Chambers may have died in Virginia but he apparently had Massachusetts roots.The will refers to “a Barke I bought of James Brown of Charles Town in New England.”It directs that “my Land lord of Boston William Mery shall dispose of as thus,” listing a debt to a Mr. Garland and then “William Merry to go give satisfaction to my Landlady Crabtree for a venture of 20 pounds of sugar which I was to be accountable for.”(This must mean pounds in the British currency sense, a substantial amount of money at the time, and not pounds by weight.)
Chambers then requests that “the rest that shall remain of the Barke that shall be in the said William Merry hands I do will it to be distributed to the poor of Gods church in Boston in New England.”
Chambers’ will also mentions “my great shallop,” which apparently is in Virginia, the Barke having been left in Boston.He directs his friend Jo(seph) Weir to sell the shallop, “carry home with him” from the proceeds, 2000 pounds of tobacco, “the said tobacco to be sold for money and to be equally distributed” to Chambers’ mother-in-law, three aunts and sister Elizabeth.
Chambers also givesto “one honest poor man named Jo Hill living about Kent or Sevurne” 1100 pounds of tobacco “due to me by bills from James Dasher of Herring Creek.”Kent and Severn are place names in Maryland; we know that Thomas Merry, formerly of Isle of Wight County, had moved there several years earlier.(Lancaster County is on the Rappahannock River, north of Isle of Wight County, which is on the James River.Both Rivers flow into Chesapeake Bay, on which the Maryland settlements were also located.) There is more than one Herring Creek in Maryland.
Chambers also gives “Francis Weir a steer that is at John Rogers at Chickacone,” and “to Hanner Place for looking to me in my sickness a yearling Heifer.”Did he bring the cattle from New England in his shallop?Does this have anything to do with the Merry dealings in cattle, in colonial Virginia, which I noted in an earlier post?
According to “The Pioneers of Massachusetts (1620-1650),” a Robert Chambers, age 13, arrived in 1635 on the Hopewell in 1635.He was a servant to Mr. Edward Winslow, “proprietor,” in 1644.His partnership account (name of partner not given) was settled in August 1655, following his death.
And who is this William Mery / Merry of Boston?Is there a connection between him and the Elizabeth Merry, daughter of Thomas Merry of Virginia and then Maryland?Elizabeth reportedly relocated to Massachusetts in 1657 after marrying Thomas Underwood.
More Replies:
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Re: A 1654 Connection: William
Sonia Kuznetsov 8/18/09
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Re: Later MERRYs in Boston - links to M.Vineyard?
Sonia Kuznetsov 8/18/09
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Re: A 1654 Connection: William
Holly Hampton 4/20/11
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Re: A 1654 Connection: William
Sonia Kuznetsov 4/20/11
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Re: A 1654 Connection: William
Holly Hampton 4/20/11
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Re: A 1654 Connection: William
Sonia Kuznetsov 4/20/11
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Re: A 1654 Connection: William
Holly Hampton 4/21/11
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Re: A 1654 Connection: William
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Re: A 1654 Connection: William
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Re: A 1654 Connection: William
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Re: A 1654 Connection: William
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Re: Correction Rebecca not Elizabeth.
Sonia Kuznetsov 8/18/09
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Re: Later MERRYs in Boston - links to M.Vineyard?