Repost from Thursday, January 24, 2008

The following is an excerpt of a copy of an email I recently sent to a distant cousin who is also interested in research on our common Merriman lineage. She requested information on one of my ancestors with whom she was not very familiar – Reuben Merriman, descendant of Captain Nathaniel Merriman, pioneer of Wallingford, Connecticut. I also included additional information from census and land records, and conclusions I had drawn from the data. The bold type names trace my own association with Reuben Merriman.

Reuben Merriman or Merryman, born abt. 1790, Cheshire, New Haven, CT and died abt 1842, Sangamon, IL, married Betsy Bennett (1790 – 1842). Their children were Lucinda, Lavinia Jane, George B, John S., William Harrison, Thomas Dudley, Francis A, and Robert F.

  • Lucinda (b. abt 1812, Big Eagle Creek, KY) married Isaac Constant (b.1809, KY) had six children: Lavinia Constant (b. 1834), William T Constant (b. 1836), Elizabeth Constant (b. 1839),  Julia A Constant (b.1842), Margery E Constant (b.1848) and Eliza A Constant (b.1852); although they were not born in Oregon, they do appear in the Oregon censuses.
  • Lavinia Jane (abt 1815, KY) married William Jones (b. 1815) and had two children : Mary Jones (b.1841) and George Jones(b.1843), both of IL.
  • George B or George Bennett (b. abt 1818, Big Eagle Creek, KY) married Maria L. Dawson (b.1822, IL) abt. 1844. They had 7 children: John (b. 1846), Reuben (b.1847), Belbert (b. 1852), Lucy (b. 1854), Bertha (b. 1859), George (b. 1862), and Henry Clay (b. 1850).
    • John or John W. (b. 1846, Sangamon, IL) married Maria L Britton (b.1849, Sangamon, IL) had 10 children: Dora B (b1868), Hary W (b. 1869), Irva E (b. 1875), Daisy E (b. 1879), Gard B (b. 1883), Forest (b. 1887), Earl (b. 1890), Bert (b. 1891), Van A (b. 1897), and Hallie E (b. 1891) ; all of which were born in Iowa except for Dora B, who was born in Illinois. From this I suspect that John W Merriman and family relocated from Sangamon, IL to Knoxville, IA sometime between 1868 and 1869.
      • Forest Merriman (b. 1887, Knoxville, Iowa) married Eva M. Patterson (b. abt 1897, Canada) had five children: Dale D (b.abt 1919, Canada), John W (b. abt 1921, Canada), Lucile (b. 1922, Saskatchewan, Canada), Martha (b. 1924, Marion, Iowa), and Irene R or Irene Rachel (b. 1930, Marion Co, Iowa, d. 2004, Orlando, Florida). I found a World War I Draft Record for Forest that states that he was a Grain buyer with a Canadian company in Winnepeg, Canada(World War I Draft Cards, 1917 – 1918). The 1930 Census reports that he was in the business of trucking. He probably met his wife while he was working in Canada, but must have returned with Eva because she is listed as a resident in 1930.
        • Lucile Merriman (b. 1922, Collingwood, Ontario, Canada) married Matthew J Karpan (b. 1918, Marion, Iowa) had four children: Madelaine Jill Karpan (1946, Chicago, Illinois -1998, Homosassa, Florida), Kimberly Eve Karpan, Jack Karpan, and Dan Karpan. (Madelaine is the only one of their four children who is deceased. Kim and Jack are living in FL, and Dan is living in Louisiana).
    • John S. (b. abt 1822, Big Eagle Creek, KY) married Mary (may also be a Dawson). They had 9 children: Mary Florence (1850-1874), Ann E (b.1852), Martha V (b. 1854), Charles B (b. 1856), Lelia or Leila (b. 1858), Clay (b. 1861), Cora (b. 1863), Abram or Abraham (b. 1865), and Noah (b. 1867).
    • William Harrison (b. abt 1826, Big Eagle Creek, KY) had two spouses: Mary A Lewis (b. 1850, NJ), who possibly mothered Letta L (b1849, IL); and Artinesia/Artinecia Riddle (b 1825, OH), who mothered: Lucinda Jane (b. 1854), George Francis (b. 1855), Laura Alice (b. 1852), Maria Elizabeth (b. 1858), Adelaid(b. 1860), Isaac Albert (b. 1864), Charles Harrison (b. 1863), Mary Bell (b. 1864), Walter Thomas (b. 1866), Isobel (1867), Prudence (b. 1868), Effie (b. 1870), Marjorie Josephine (b. 1871), William (b. 1872), Winifred (b. 1874), and William H (b. 1877); all born in Oregon. Another interesting note is that both Lucinda and William Harrison Merriman wound up in the same region – Jackson, Oregon. I don’t know when Lavinia and William both married but if their approximate birthdates are of any consequence then there may have been some correspondences between them and influence on William to head west as his sister had.
    • Thomas Dudley (1827 – 1829) Different dates are given. I suspect he may have died at a very young age with a margin of up to 36 months old.
    • Francis A (b. abt 1830, Sang, IL) had two spouses: Emma Bishop and Chloe Sparklin. He also had several children. Some reports claim 5, but I have only found records for 3: Edward (b.1859), Mary (b.1862), and Byron (b.1864)
    • Robert F (b. abt. 1831, Sang, IL) married Elizabeth Thompson on 18-Sep-1862 and had one son, William (b.1864).

    I have also found records on a Reuben Merriman, born 1819, but I haven’t found him yet. It is possible he may not have survived childhood. Another thing that is quite interesting to note is that there appears to have been a move just after the loss of a child in 1829, because all children as of 1830 and later are born in Sangamon, Illinois. Also, Reuben Merryman is listed as having purchased 80 acres of land in Sangamon, IL on 18 – Mar – 1837 (US General Land Office Records, 1796-1907). George B Merryman also is noted for making a sizable purchase of land only a few days before his father Reuben. George purchased 40 acres within the vicinity of the area of Sangamon, IL where his father also bought land (the southeast corner of the southwest corner – Section 23, Township 17 – N, Range 4-W, 3rd prime meridian, Sangamon County, IL according to the US General Land Office Records, 1796 – 1907).

    A side note about Merriman. Many of the census, land and other records switch spellings of the surname Merriman. Up until about 1860 many of the listings show Merryman – and in fact descendants of Lyman Merriman, Reuben’s brother, also appear listed as Merryman in many of the Census records).

    This looks like a lot of information now that I have it typed up. (Laugh) It is a lot of information. There’s a lot that I have found on various family files that I have still not been able to corroborate with records and reports, but the majority of this information I have been able to back up with Census reports, land records, marriage records, etc. So I am satisfied with my progress thus far. I hope this sheds some light on this part of our family. Thank you for the reference to Donald Lines Jacobus.

    Surnames: Bennett, Bishop, Britton, Constant, Dawson, Jones, Lewis, Merriman, Patterson, Riddle, Sparklin, Thompson.