The Merrimans of Albany, New York, are of English descent. The family seat was in Wiltshire, where Theophilus, grandfather of Nathaniel Merriman, the American ancestor, was born in 1533.
(II) Theophilus (2), eldest son of Theophilus (1) Merriman, of Maidstone, Kent, was born in England, 1573. He resided in Canterbury. He married Hannah ————; children: Nathaniel, of whom further mention; Caleb and Moses.
(III) Captain Nathaniel, the American ancestor, eldest son of Theophilus (2) and Hannah Merriman, was born in Tenderen, Kent, England, June 2, 1613, died in Wallingford, Connecticut, February 23, 1693. The name is spelled on the old records Merriman and Merriam, both names referring to the same family and often to the same person. Nathaniel Merriman settled in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1663, and was one of the original settlers in Wallingford in 1670. He had lots in the village allotted him and farm lands. He became a farmer and a person of consequence in the town; was commissioned captain of troops in 1675; and deputy 1669-85. He married (first) in England, in1649, Abigail, daughter of William Olney, who came to America to escape persecution and became an early settler of Killingworth. The wife of William Olney died in Kent, England, aged over ninety years. He married (second) in Hadley, Massachusetts, 1680, Jane Lines. Captain Nathaniel Merriman had ten children, all by first wife.
- John, died September 26, 1651;
- Hannah, born May 16, 1651, married ———— Boltwood;
- Abigail, April 18, 1654, married John White, of Middletown, Connecticut;
- Mamie, July 12, 1657, married Samuel Munson;
- John, February 28, 1659, married (first) Hannah Lines, (second) Mary Doolittle;
- Samuel, September 29, 1662, married, 1686, Anna Fields, of Suffield, Massachusetts;
- Caleb, May, 1665, married, 1690, Mary Preston, he was deputy in 1697;
- Moses, of further mention;
- Elizabeth, September 14, 1669;
- Anna, died young.
[Editorial note: Researcher Chris Methven (sky-guy-@hotmail.com) suggests that George Merriam of London rather than Theophilus is Nathaniel's father.]
(IV) Moses, son of Captain Nathaniel and Abigail (Olney) Merriman, was born in Wallingford, Connecticut, May, 1667. He married Judith Beach. Children:
- Jehiel, of further mention;
- Esther, born November 11, 1716, died April 3, 1734;
- Phebe, March 27, 1720;
- Benjamin, January 21, 1722;
- Martha, December 30, 1723;
- Mary, February 26, 1726;
- Lent, May 25, 1731.
(V) Jehiel, son of Moses and Judith (Beach) Merriman, was born October 28, 1713, died in Cheshire, Connecticut, July 25, 1772, and was buried there. He married, in 1740, Hannah Jones, born 1720. Children,
- Esther or Hester, baptized February, 1741-42;
- Daniel, January, 1742;
- Hannah;
- Lydia, baptized October 18, 1747;
- Jehiel (2), baptized January 1749-50, married Eunice Preston, in Wallingford, January 13, 1788, was buried in Cheshire, May 12, 1806;
- Thankful, baptized December, 1751;
- Phebe;
- Abigail;
- Theophilus, of further mention.
(VI) Theophilus (3), son of Jehiel and Hannah (Jones) Merriman, was born about 1764, died March 2, 1852, in Franklin township, Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania. He removed from Connecticut to Pennsylvania in 1800 and settled in Lansville, now Franklin township. He married, in Connecticut, February 15, 1791, Sarah Lines, born 1768, died 1833, sister of Squire Rufus Lines, one of the early and prominent settlers of Franklin. For five years she and her sister-in-law, who was the wife of Tamar Lines, were the only professors of religion in the township. Children:
- Titus L., of further mention;
- Julia, born October 11, 1795, died in Franklin, Pennsylvania, in 1880, married Harrison Warner;
- Lois, born March 22, 1798, died in Franklin, married Archibald Marsh, of Liberty;
- Sally, born July 2, 1805, married J. A. Pestana, and removed to Chicago, Illinois;
- Alfred, born May 27, 1812, married, October 30, 1835, Lucy Baker.
(VII) Titus L., son of Theophilus (3) and Sarah (Lines) Merriman, was born in Cheshire, Connecticut, on December 27, 1792, died in Franklin township, Pennsylvania, January, 1876. He was brought to Pennsylvania with his parents in 1800 and spent his after life in Franklin township, engaged in farming. He was a devoted Christian and an elder of the Presbyterian church, a public-spirited citizen, having the respect and friendship of all who knew him. He married Susanna, born June 9, 1797, died 1874, daughter of Captain Roswell and Lucy Ann (Norton) Smith. Captain Roswell Smith settled in Franklin about 1804, shortly after the death of his wife in Connecticut. He was the first male professing religion in the township of Franklin, where he and his brothers were prominent among the early settlers. Children of Elder Titus L. Merriman:
- Joseph L., born September 1, 1817; married (first) September 2, 1837, Mercy, daughter of Artemus Baker, (died May 28, 1856, aged seventy-two years) and Huldah Baker (died December 8, 1860, aged sixty-nine years, four months, nine days). Joseph L., after his marriage, lived in Upsonville; children:
- Everington, graduate of Albany Law School;
- Ellingford;
- Edgar L., was district attorney of Wyoming county, tried many of the Molly Maguire cases in Wilkes-Barre and had a great deal to do with that organization; he was a candidate for congress and died during the canvass;
- Frank. Joseph L. married (second) ———— Smith.
- Harmon N., of further mention.
- James Edwin, a carriage maker; died in Franklin, 1849; married and had a son Friend Fernando, a civil engineer, who resides at Dunmore, Pa.
- Ann M., married Nathaniel Newton, of Livingston county, New York; resides in Chicago, Illinois; children: Ada, Adele, Harmon and Charles.
(VIII) Harmon Norton, son of Titus L. and Susanna (Smith) Merriman, was born in Franklin township, Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, September 19, 1819. He was a graduate of Albany Law School and in practice in the city of Albany, New York. At the outbreak of the civil war he gave up a good practice to serve his country. He enlisted and was enrolled at Albany to serve nine months; was elected and mustered in captain of Company H, One hundred and Seventy-seventh Regiment Volunteer Infantry, October 22, 1862; was wounded in the assault on Port Hudson, Louisiana, May 27, 1863, and while being brought home died at sea, and was buried beneath the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. He married, June 26, 1842, Emeline Chambers, at Dundaff, Pennsylvania, born December 1, 1822, died October, 1901.
(IX) Willis E., son of Captain Harmon Norton and Emeline (Chambers) Merriman, was born at Carbondale, Pennsylvania, May 4, 1843. When he was four years of age his parents removed to Albany, New York, where he was educated at Albany Academy and Anthony's Classical Institute. After finishing his studies he entered the service of the state as a clerk in the office of Surgeon-General, S. O. Van der Poel, M.D. He remained from April 19, 1861, until the close of the war. On January 11, 1866, he was appointed confidential clerk to State Comptroller Hillhouse, where he remained ten years. In 1876 he was promoted to the position of warrant clerk and served in that capacity until January, 1895, when he was appointed by Comptroller Roberts to the position of second deputy, an office then but recently created. He has been employed in the state comptroller's office, forty-five years and in the length of service is the oldest employee of the state. In 1884 he was appointed a member of the state board of examiners of the state civil service, continuing as such for a number of years. He served thirteen years as a member of Company A, Tenth Battalion, New York National Guard, was a charter member of the Old Guard, Albany Zouave Cadets, and has held the offices of secretary and vice-president. His social clubs are the Fort Orange, Country Club and Aurania. He has been president of the Aurania Club. He married, January 21, 1875, Helen Mercy, born August 25, 1853, daughter of Francis and Augusta (Porter) Clark, of Albany. She is a graduate of the State Normal College and has always taken an active interest in church and charitable work in Albany. Francis Clark was of Scotch birth and came to this country when a young boy from a small place near Belfast, Ireland. He was a prominent contractor in Albany and erected a number of buildings still standing in this city. Children of Mr. and Mrs. Merriman:
- Willis E., Jr., born October 29, 1875, graduate of Albany high school, 1893; Union College, Ph.B., 1898; Albany Medical College, M.D., 1902; he has been physician at tubercular hospitals at Ray Brook and Spuyten Duyvil; at present he is on the staff of Hudson River State Hospital at Poughkeepsie.
- Porter Lee, born February 8, 1881; graduate of Albany high school, 1897; Union College, Ph.B., 1901; Albany Law School, LL.B. 1903; was for a time in state comptroller's office, at present is counsel to the state commissioner of excise; author of the "Annotated Liquor Tax Law of New York."