Henry Merritt was born about 1593, possibly at Tenterden, Kent, England, where his children were baptized. He was an early settler of Scituate, Massachusetts, which was first settled by a group referred to as “The Men of Kent.” His baptism and parents have not been discovered. His first name is often seen as Henery and Merritt is spelled in a variety of ways in records. Henry is my 11th great-grandfather on my grandfather Arthur Washburn Ellis Davis’ side of the family.
Henry’s wife’s name is unknown. They migrated to Plymouth Colony by 1637. The only record found mentioning Henry’s wife is the records of Rev. John Lothrop: “Goody Merrett”joined the Scituate Church on 16 April 1637. [NEHGS Register, hereafter NEHGR, 9:280] If Henry is their eldest child, then they were married by 1617. Mrs. Merritt may have passed away before 1638 when Henry deeded land to Nathaniel Tilden without her waiving her thirds.
Rev. Lothrop’s list of “the Houses in ye planta…Situate, Att my Comeing hither, onely these wch was aboute end of Sept 1634: Henney Ewells…wch Goodman Merritt haith bought.” Based on this wording it seems Ewell owned the house in 1634 that was later bought by Merritt. [NEHGR 10:43]
At 1 February 1638/9 Plymouth court, Henry Merick, inhabitant of Scituate, took the oath of allegiance to the King and oath fidelity to the colony. [Records of the Colony of New Plymouth, hereafter PCR, 1:110]
By piecing together clues from records, Henry had financial means to purchase land in Plymouth Colony rather than depending on grants, was a land surveyor, a farmer, a member of the militia as he owned a gun, and his inventory included a hoop pole and a barrel perhaps indicating he also worked as a cooper/barrel maker. His inventory of items he owned with his brother John includes a cheese press and churn, so perhaps they made cheese to sell. It could be that the coopering supplies were to make cheese “hoops” or wooden molds to shape the cheese. He signed documents with a mark, “H,” typically indicating illiteracy, which is puzzling because his inventory lists books and I should think his work as a tax collector would requiring the ability to read and write.
Henry’s known children, baptized St. Mildred’s Tenterden, Kent [Parish Register of Tenterden Kent baptisms on Findmypast.com]:
- Henry baptized 19 July 1618. What became of him is unclear: he may have died without issue before 1673 [Deane] or became a Boston freeman in 1657, married a woman named Judith, three children, and wrote a will in 1662 [Sumner, Litchfield, Merritt].
- Katherine baptized 25 March 1621/2; married John Damon in June 1644 and had six children; died 8 December 1655 age 32. [Scituate VR 2:379]
- John baptized 14 December 1623; inherited his father’s Scituate residence; in 1655 married Elizabeth Wyborn, daughter of Thomas [Sumner]. He died 1 March 1676/7 and his inventory lists six surviving children. A jury found his death was due to “falling on the rockes att a place calledd Ceder Point, att Scittuate Harbour.” [PCR 5:227]
- Edward, baptized 9 July 1626; buried Tenterden 25 February 1628/9.
I descend from Katherine who I wrote about here.
 |
| St. Mildred's, Tenterden |
Henry was made a Freeman in 1638. [Deane] He was on the list of Scituate men who had taken the oath of fidelity, undated. [PCR 8:182] He and his son John are on the 1643 list of Scituate men able to bear arms. [PCR:191]
Henry Merritt, planter, was a Conihasset Purchaser, which is fortunate because of the vast amount of land records the partners kept which have been transcribed and published by Jeremy D. Bangs. The Conihasset Grant in Scituate was purchased by the wealthy Mr. Timothy Hatherly from his three fellow Adventurers who were all granted the land in 1633. Hatherly divided it into 30 shares; he retained three of the shares for himself and sin 1646 sold the rest for £180 per share, essentially forming a corporation of the Conihasset Partners. [Deane] The area is in the north-end of Scituate and at various times the partners would divide land to be laid out to each shareholder. Henery Merett, planter, is listed sixth on the deed. [PCR 12:158]
He lived on the corner of Greenfield Lane and the Driftway in Scituate, known as Merritt’s Corner. [Deane]
Land transactions pertaining to Henry:
- Henry Merritt sold to Nathaniel Tilden in 1628 [likely should be 1638] for 20 shillings “all that land which I had of Goodman Byrd, lying with the fence at the North end of the third cliffe, unto the land of Nathaniel Tilden.” [PCR 12:103] Tilden, my 12th great-grandfather, came to Plymouth Colony in 1634/5.
- Henery Merett, planter, is listed sixth on the deed by Timothy Hatherley to the various Conihasset Partners. [PCR 12;158]
- A 10 April 1651 deed from Timothy Hatherly of Scituate for £40 to John Hoare, mentions land abuts marshland belonging to Henery Merrett senior and John Williams Senior. [MD 3:82] Henry owned a large share in the New Harbour Marshes. [Sumner]
- On 5 February 1667 [1668] John Merrit conveyed two shares in the three-mile tract at Accord Pond, formerly belonging to his father Henry Merrit, to John Otis. [Bangs p. 58 citing folio 75]
- In 1649 the Conihasset Partners decided that the right of inheritance for any undivided land would fall to the heirs or assigns of the original partners. They kept records of land transactions through the years, so when someone sold land it would note the original owner. There are many transactions of Henry’s grandsons selling land owned by or “in the right of” their grandfather Henry. Grandsons Jonathan, Henry, and John all sold land in the 1690s to 1710s. [Bangs]
- On 4 Dec 1711 Henry Merrit sold land before it was laid out, to Stephen Otis, [Bangs p. 64, citing fol 208v\P]
- Henery Merrit owned marsh land near Hoop Pole Neck and a swamp is also mentioned; undated. [Bangs, p. 171]
At 27 July 1648 court, Richard Sillis, Humfrey Turner, Thomas Pinchin of Scituate, arbitrators that were chosen by Henery Meret and Josepth Tilden to determine a difference about a parcel of fence lying on the north side of the Third Cliff which stand between Henery Meret and Josepth Tilden’s land from the sea east to the marsh west. They determined Tilden and Merritt should each make and maintain half the fence. [PCR 12:161]
Boundaries and nearby landmarks mentioned in land owned by Henry include: Ffane Island, Great Neck Cove, Stoney Brook Swamp, the Great Marsh, Cold Spring Swamp [Bangs] There is/was a Merritt’s Brook a principal tributary to Bound Brook. It is mentioned that Cold Spring Swamp and Dry Cedar Swamp are on Merritt’s Brook. [Deane]
Henry is remembered by local historians as a man of substance. He served his community in several ways:
- On 7 March 1642/3 court, Thomas Rauline and Henry Merriot were chosen the first surveyors of the town. Or 7 March 1643/4? [PCR 2:53; the two men were selected surveyors of highways again at 5 June 1644 court. [PCR 2:72]]
- On 7 June 1642 Henry was selected constable of Scituate. [PCR 2:42]
- Henry was chosen receiver of Excise for Scituate in 1650. [PCR 2:155]
Henery Merritt died the last of November 1653 at Scituate; recorded by town clerk James Torrey. [PCR 8:19] He was about age 60.
Henry did not leave a will. An inventory of his estate was taken 24 January 1653/4 and was sworn to 8 June 1654 on the oath of John Merritt. [The Mayflower Descendant 11:198-200] His inventory amounted to £121 16 shillings 3 pence. On the same date a separate inventory was taken of items he jointly purchased with his brother John Merritt and Henry’s half totaled £36 7 shillings 6 pence. Both inventories were conducted by James Cudworth and John Williams. This is the only mention I have seen of Henry having a brother John seemingly living with him.
In the inventory of his sole estate “the dwelling house and outhousing wth the land it is on; and the marsh before it; and the land in green field and the land by goodman Hielands” was valued at £32. It also included household items such as valuable silver spoons, a few books, and arms with powder and bullets. Items related to farming: two oxen, four steers, two cows, two heifers, hay, wheat, barley, hemp/hempseed. It also included hoop poles and one barrell.
The inventory of items he owned with his brother John included Conihasset land valued at £5 5 shillings, more household items, tools such as saws and wedges, a parcel of nails, malt, a cheese press, churns, hay cutter, iron ladle, meal, 14 swine, one cow, one steer, and books. Presented at court by John Merritt on 9 June 1654.
John Merritt of Scituate was granted letters of administration on the estate of “Henery Merrit,” deceased, at the 6 June 1654 court. [PCR 3:51]
Henry’s name is inscribed on the monument dedicated to the original settlers of Scituate at the Men of Kent Cemetery.
Sources:
Jeremy Dupertuis Bangs, The Seventeenth Century Town Records of Scituate, Massachusetts, Volume Two, 1999
Samuel Deane, History of Scituate, Massachusetts, from Its First Settlement to 1831, 1831
Harvey Hunter Pratt, Early Planters of Scituate, 1929
Douglas Merritt, Revised Merritt Records, 1916
Edith Sumner, Ancestry and Descendants of Samuel Bartlett and Lucy Jenkins, 1951
Nathaniel B. Shurtleff and David Pulsifer, eds., Records of the Colony of New Plymouth, in New England, 12 vols., New York: AMS Press, 1968
W.J. Litchfield, The Litchfield Family in America, Part 1, 1901, p 103-4
