Thomas MERRICK, SGT.

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       Historical detail in NOTES


THOMAS, Springfield, tradit. said to have come from Wales thro. Roxbury , and reach. S. in 1636; but there is evidence that he was of Hartford ea rly in 1638. He was very young, if he left as is said, his native land i n 1630; and no trace is seen at R. of him, or of f. or moreO. br. or sis . nor can the name be found there bef. 1649. At S. he m. 14 July 1639, S arah, d. of Rowland Stebbins, wh. was the third m. in that town, of an y Eng. had Thomas, b. 12 Feb. 1641, the third b. of the town rec. d. youn g; Sarah, 1643; Mary, 1645, d. soon; Mary, 1647; and Hannah, 10 Feb. 165 0. In 1643 he m. Eliz. Tilley, had Eliz. b. 1654, d. young; Miriam, 1656 , d. at 28 yrs.; John, 1658; Eliz. again, 1661; Thomas, 1664; Tilley, 166 7; James, 1670; and Abigail, 1673; was freem. 1665, and d. 7 Sept. 1704 . Five of his ds. and four s. were m. John, Thomas, and James liv. at Jo hn had 13 ch. of wh. nine liv. and Jonathan, Y. C. 1725, was one of them ; Thomas had seven ch. and James seven, of wh. was Noah, Y. C. 1731, fir st min. of Wilbraham; Tilley had one s. and four ds. liv. chiefly at Broo kfield, but a. 1732, at S. (Savage 3:198)was assessed 1 pound toward funds being raised to build a house for Rev . Moxonas sergeant of the town militiaMerrick-Mirick-Myrick, pp 266-268:THOMAS MERRICK, OF SPRINGFIELD.FIRST GENERATION.1. THOMAS1 MERRICK, born in Wales, 1620, came to America in the year 163 6 with three brothers and probably one sister, Sarah Mirick, who marrie d John Atkinson, at Newbury, 1646. The brothers separated, one going to P lymouth, later to Eastham, one to Newbury, and one remaining in Charlesto wn. Thomas Merrick is noted as having been in Roxbury in 1636. From recor ds in Hartford, Conn., it appears that he was there in the early part o f 1638, but was about to visit Agawam, the Indian name for Springfield. T he date, 1638, must be an error, as he was in Agawam on the 3rd day of Ja nuary, 1638, according to the records of that plantation.A short sketch of Springfield may aid in determining the relative s tanding of Thomas Merrick in the new settlement. March 4, 1629, King Jame s gave a grant of land to the General Court of Massachusetts, from the Me rrimac river on the north to a line three miles south of the Charles rive r on the south, and extending from "the Atlantick and Western sea and oce an on the east parte, to the South sea on the West parte." In 1636 the Ge neral Court granted the right to make settlements on the Great River th e (Connecticut), and on May 14, 1636, William Pyncheon, of Roxbury, toget her with seven others, signed an agreement to undertake a settlement on t he Great River. The members of this company of "adventurers," as they wer e called, were: William Pyncheon, Matthew Mitchell, Henry Smith, Jehu Bur r. William Blake, Edmund Wood, Thomas Ufford, and John Cable. These men w ent to Agawan, where they purchased from the Indians, who were then occup ying the country, certain described lands lying on both sides of the Conn ecticut river, paying for the same "18 fathoms of wampum, 18 coats, 18 ha tchets, 18 hoes, and 18 knives." This payment was assessed against the la nds as they were subsequently granted to the settlers.The company of adventurers, during the first two years of the settl ement, was in serious straits. Several became discouraged and returned t o the settlements in and about Boston. Pyncheon, however, who appears t o have had more ready money than all the others together, entered into tr ade with the Indians, buying many hundred pounds sterling worth of furs , which he shipped to London. Other settlers took the place of those wh o had retreated, however, and the little settlement grew in numbers, so t hat we find thirteen names in January, 1638, against the eight original s ettlers. Among these thirteen is the name of Thomas Mirack. Under date o f "January 3th, 1638," we first find his name as follows:"It is agreed by ye Plantation at a generall meeting that these si x men undernamed shall set out the bounds of ye plantation up ye river o n both sides of ye river and to marke ye tre
es for ye clearing of it. y e persons appoynted ar mr: w: Pyncheon: Jehu Burr: Hen: Smith: John Cable : Richard Everit: Tho: Mirack."Jan. 8th, 1638, the following entry is made:"According to the order above sd these six men layd out ye bounds o f ye Plantation up the river on ye other side of ye river & ye bounds ar e at a brooke above ye mouth of ye Chiccapee river."As indicating the relative wealth of the settlers, we note that o n Jan. 13, 1638, an assessment for the purpose of building a house for Re v. Mr. Moxon, the minister, was made on the settlers. William Pyncheon ga ve, out of the 41 pounds sterling required, 21 pounds; Jehu Burr 7, Henr y Smith 5, John Leonard 2, Thomas Mirack 1, and seven others gave the rem aining five pounds.According to the records he was married to his first wife, Sarah, d aughter of Rowland and Sarah Stebbins, July 14, 1639. She died after havi ng borne him five children, and he married, 2d, Elizabeth Tilley, Aug. 21 , 1653. It is not known to which of the Tilley families she belonged. Whi le there is no mention of Tilley among the early settlers of Agawam, ther e were several families of the name near Agawam, all of whom were men o f influence in the communities in which they lived, and prominent in th e affairs of the colony. It is to be regretted that definite knowledge up on this point is not obtainable at this time. By his second wife Thomas M errick had eight children, from whom have sprung the thousands of Merrick s, scattered over the whole United States and Canada, who claim Thomas Me rrick, of Springfield, as their ancestor.As one of the founders of Springfield, he was a man of affairs an d influence. His name appears upwards of eighty times in the records of t he town. Between 1640 and 1669 he acquired 96 acres of land in and near t he town. He appears upon many important committees, as in the allotment o f lands, treating with the Indians, building the church, (in which he wa s allotted the second seat from the front at three different divisions) , surveying lands, viewing the fences, and other public duties. He appear s as sergeant of the town militia, William Pyncheon, by virtue of his sen iority and his wealth, being the captain.In the year 1815, Tilley5 Merrick undertook the compilation of a ge nealogy of the descendants of Thomas Merrick, of Springfield, but died be fore the task was accomplished. The work thus laid down was taken up. i n the year 1860 by Rev. James L. Merrick, but was again interrupted by th e death of the compiler. The editor of the present genealogy of the Thoma s Merrick descendants is greatly indebted to the labors of the two men na med for the foundation upon which is laid the larger work which follows.Thomas Merrick died September 7, 1704. Elizabeth (Tilley) Merrick d ied Aug. 21, 1684. Both are buried in the cemetery at Springfield. The ch ildren of Thomas Merrick were--i. THOMAS, b. April 12, 1641; d. young.ii. SARAH, b. May 9, 1643; m. Eliakim Hitchcock, ofNew York, Nov. 4, 1667.iii. MARY, b. Sept. 28, 1645; d. July 28, 1646.iv. MARY, b. Aug. 27, 1647; m. Samuel Foot, of Hatfield,May 30, 1671.v. HANNAH, b. Feb. 10, 1649; m. Benj. Knowlton, Nov.30, 1676.vi. ELIZABETH, b. Aug. 26, 1654; d. Jan. 11, 1659.vii. MIRIAM, b. May 1, 1655; d. Oct. 11, 1684.2. viii. JOHN, b. Nov. 9, 1658.ix. ELIZABETH, b. July 4, 1661; m. Thomas Day, ofSpringfield, 1685.3. x. THOMAS, b. Jan. 2, 1664.4. xi. TILLEY, b. Oct. 20, 1667.5. xii. JAMES, b. March 2, 1670.xiii. ABIGAIL, b. Sept. 1, 1673; m. Gershom Ferry, May 5, 1702(briefly)deposed, aged about 70 yearsacquired 96 acreswas one of six men appointed to set out the bounds of the plantation -- t he work was noted as completed on 8 JanPioneers of Massachusetts, p 311:MERICK, MERRICK, MIRICK, MIRACKThomas, Springfield, frm. Oct. 11, 1665. Taxed 1638. Sergeant; much in t own office. He sold his dwelling house and other buildings, with lands, i n Spr. 2 (2) 1651. He deposed 9 Feb. 1690, ae. about 70 years. He m. 14 ( 2) 1639, Sarah Stebbins. Ch. Thomas b. 12 (2) 1641, Sarah b. 9 (3) 1643 , Mary b. 28
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