Stout-Merrill/Merrell Family History Summary
Prepared by Scott Hinckley – 2016
This is a recap of the family history of Scott Hinckley and his siblings and cousins following the Stout-Merrill (Merrell) line. The reason the history includes two named lines is because these two lines intermarry more than once so it is difficult to separate them. For example, Charles Merrell, my great great grandfather, was the great great grandson of William Merrill Jr and Penelope Stout on three of his lines. Two on his father’s side and once on his mother’s side. Captain Benjamin Merrill was his great grandfather on both his father’s and mother’s lines. The Merrill or Merrell line spells the name both ways in different generations and even among siblings it is recorded both ways.
Penelope (van Princis) Kent Stout. (1622-1712). These years are in dispute. Some claims have her living to be 110 years old and having children in her sixties. I have discounted those and I am using the above dates as a guideline. There is one theory that her original story is 20 years too early and uses the above dates but the reader can look for themselves and determine her dates.
We do know that she became quite famous and is written up in many New Jersey sources. One can do a Google search and read many of the stories. A quick recap is –she was a young bride coming to the new world and her ship was wrecked off the coast of New Jersey. Her first husband was killed by local Indians and she was left for dead. She was saved by an older Indian and eventually made it to New Amsterdam (New York City now). She married Richard Stout Sr. in the 1640’s and moved back to New Jersey as one of the first settlers. She is mentioned in the Gravesend, New Jersey Town Records as being a defendant in a slander trial. She had 10 children. There is a novel written, “Penelope A Novel of New Amsterdam” by Jim McFarland. It contains a little history and more fiction if one wants to read more. A commemorative coin was struck with the two sides showing her first and second escape with help from an elderly Indian.
Penelope and her husband Richard had a son Richard Jr. in 1646. He married Frances Heath and they lived in New Jersey. As is common with the children of early pioneers, unless they did something major, there is little written information on them. There are court records that do indicate they lived at Shrewsbury, New Jersey.
They had a daughter Grace Ann Angel Stout (about 1665). She married William Merrill about 1683 in Hope Township, New Jersey. This is the first intermarry between the two families. They had a son William Merrill Jr.
Penelope and Richard Sr had another son James, who married Elizabeth Truax and they had a daughter Penelope Stout (who would be the granddaughter of the first Penelope). James is mentioned in various land and court records and the will of his father. Of interest is a court case in 1700 mentioned in the book “Old Times in Old Monmouth”, on page 261- A court of Inquiry was held at Shrewsbury that brought charges against James and others for riotously assembling, on the 17th of July. Their daughter Penelope married the son of Richard Jr and Frances Heath. He was William Merrill Jr and was Penelope’s cousin.
William Jr and the younger Penelope had a number of children including Benjamin Merrill (who in later years was referred to as Captain Benjamin Merrill) and William Merrill III. Benjamin married Jemima Smith and William married Mary Cornell. After over 100 years in New Jersey, this was the generation of the family that moved to the Western part North Carolina in the middle of the 18th century. This area was called the Jersey settlement . There was a lot of tension between the coastal families which controlled the government of the colony and the western families. Due to tax issues and other laws that impacted the western counties, the counties formed militias to provide local protection against the “unjust” actions of the Governor. Benjamin Merrill was made a captain in the militia of the Rowan county militia.
During the years before his death, records show that he was active in the county and was well respected and ran various enterprises. His fame however comes from his participation as one of the leaders of the Regulators, as the militia was called. The governor, of course, considered the group vigilantes and law breakers and after a number of confrontations sent an armed force against them. Those who wish to read the details of the battle of Alamance Creek can search that, but the governor won. (http://alamancebattleground.org/?utm_source=ourstate&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=0514_weekend) Captain Merrill was not at the battle but led some 300 militias from his county to the contested area. He routed a small force he encountered enroute but after hearing of the outcome of the Alamance battle, his group disbanded. The leaders of the regulators, including the Captain were arrested and tried. He was hung on June 19, 1771 leaving a wife and ten children. As this is not an exhaustive history, those who wish to read more will find extensive historical documents on his life.
William III had a son also named Benjamin. Captain Benjamin was his uncle and the Captain had a daughter Penelope Stout Merrill. The two cousins, Benjamin and Penelope married in 1778. Family history has it that William III was captured by British soldiers during the revolutionary war and did not survive the war. Tax records end for him by 1782 and his son deeds William’s property to his brother in 1783. Some of the Captain’s children fought for North Carolina against the British during the war.
Pension records for the revolutionary war show that Benjamin fought for the Colonies during the war. They remained in Rowan county until 1799 and moved to the far west of the state to Cane Creek in Buncombe county which is near Tennessee. Benjamin and Penelope had 15 children. He died in Cane Creek in 1836. Penelope died in 1830.
Benjamin and Penelope had several children and their sixth child was Elijah Merrell. (Records now indicate that this branch of the family now used the Merrell spelling). He was born in 1787 in North Carolina and his second wife was Nancy McCrary. Nancy was a granddaughter of Captain Benjamin Merrill through his daughter Anna. So this is another set of cousins marrying. Eli shows as a soldier in the war of 1812 in Ewing’s Reg’t, North Carolina. Eli is in the 1820 North Carolina census. A number of Merrells’ moved westward around 1827 and founded Merrellsville Missouri. They had ten children and Nancy died in 1830. Below is what is purported to be a letter from Elijah to relatives while he was in Missouri and married to his third wife. It is posted on Family Search and I have not found the original letter but I do not have any reservations about posting it here as it contains some information that has been authenticated. The details of the letter say more than I could ever locate.
“Dear Brother and Sister, I take my pen up to rite a few lines to you. We are all well at this time my wife has a very fine son ten days old. She is as well as could be expected. This is her third, the other two are daughters. Our crops look very prosperous. I have a field of corn shoulder high what is yellow and will be fit to cut in 12 days. We have plenty of old corn and wheat and all cheap-wheat 56 per B—corn 20 cents per B. Bacon is very plentiful and cheap—from $3 to $3.50 per hundred. Our land flows with plenty of everything but cash-that is scarce-I have before me a letter you wrote to brother David May 22-in that you want to know how I came out in my bacon speculation. I cannot give you a full detail. I suppose Taylor told you of my sickness and that our produce was stored at Vicksburg, Miss. My son-in-law was partnership with me he went down last fall took yellow fever and terminated in death, left things in a scattered condition. I sent my son Benjamin. He got 650 dollars. I have not settled up the business yet, as to loss I sustained I might as well loaded our boats and turned them loose in the River and let them went. This is a gloomy subject to think on. I will be compelled to sell my land to pay off the demands as the weight fell on me. I suppose my loss will be about five thousand dollars. I think I can yet obtain a small home. I will inform you in my next move on this subject. I will give you a small detail on the subject. I will give you a heriticks as some please to call-that oppose all creeds and doctrines of men not found in the Scriptures which the Baptist hold too many to tedious to give on this small sheet. I left them because I choose to serve God rather than man. I have suffered persecution for righteousness sake but thanks be to God that over rules evil I have lived to see the reward of my labour etc. Patience in well doing I had the pleasure of witnessing one of the happiest scenes of my last day fall in about a month 1 Baptized thirty on their profession of faith in Jesus Christ. My wife two children, sister Jane Marrow, her Bretheren was carrying on meetings they baptized about 75 in about the same time. We meet together on every Lords Day preach or teach the Word and partake of the Supper Last Lords Day was the first I have failed to attend meeting for the last six months and generally preach on or two sermons in the day. I have now got more aid in the Congregation a young man I baptized last fall commenced preaching and making a good discourse we have good congregations to speak to we have evangelist that rides and preaches constantly but their bound are large. One of them was with us last fall at my house when we had our ingathering we numbered about 40. I will leave this subject and notice some of your hard times Brother you appear like Enthusiast on this subject comparing these times to the situation of the country at the close of the revolution and you say some wants war and all mad enough to fight who will you fight. You have called for a change of administration you got it you once called on me to help you rejoice and has your joy turned to mourning you say its not uncommon to commit men to jail till the jail is almost full you say the change of times is alleged to be the cause (these modern Whig times), I think I can assign another cause to produce this effect if your people could become sober minded and Judge the present by the past we would see where the evil originated look at the espansion of the Banks of the country flooded with spurious paper over gold and silver carried to Europe men quitting labour going into traffic and hundreds to gambling and dissipating involving their friends as suritys in the Banks. One easey look at that you wrote to Brother David where one man left his Brother and Brother-in-law to suffer. If men would go to work and get their living by the sweat of their brow hard times would cease and peace and plenty would flow in our land again, you say you have some idea of visiting our Country. I would rather hear of you bringing your family you surely could do better if you could get here and commence even in the world than to raise lease land-you could settle land here and get a preemtion that you could raise plenty on. I do believe you could do far better here than you can there. I would not stay there, if I could get away. There many things here a man can turn his attention to-to make a living here that cannot there. I saw Brother David last night they was well. I have not heard from Brother Levi for something like two months he is well as far as I know he and his family had not done as well as they ought to have done his two daughters have left home. One of them lives with my son William. The other lives in the same neighborhood so I am not able to give you a full account. I suppose he is got plenty of property—that is stock of different kinds. So I must conclude. Give my respect to Brother and Sisters and accept of my best wishes yourself. June 25 day 1842. Write as soon as this comes to hand.
Eli Merrell
Mary A Merrell
As is evident in the letter, Eli became a minister and in 1844 moved to Dallas County, Texas. There is a cemetery on his property and a plaque that states:
“Elder Eli Merrell (1787 – 1849), minister of the Disciples of Christ Church, came with his wife, Mary, in 1844, to settle 640 acres near Bachman’s Branch in what was then Nacogdoches County. This cemetery is on a part of his acreage, and his was the first marked grave at this site.” (see cemetery plaque photo below)
Charles Merrell was born in 1811 in Buncombe North Carolina to Elijah and Nancy. He moved with the family to Missouri. Also moving to Missouri was Sarah Finley’s family who had previously lived in Kentucky. From the 1830 census records it appears that the two families were neighbors. They were married in 1834 when Sarah was 15 and Charles was 23. At some point they moved to Des Moines, Iowa where their first child was born in 1837. Iowa was an area that was newly opening up to settlers in the late 1830’s. At some point they joined the Mormon Church and moved to Montrose, Iowa across the river from Nauvoo, Illinois, the then headquarters of the Mormon Church. They lived there until February 1846 when they moved with the rest of the Mormons to Council Bluffs, Iowa. Children were born to them in both locations.
In July 1852 they joined a company heading to Salt Lake City. It took several days for the entire company to cross the Missouri river and a couple of days later, Charles died. He was buried along the banks of the Elkhorn River in Douglas County, Nebraska. Sarah continued on to Salt Lake City. Sarah remarried, had more children and died in 1901. This is meant to be a recap and since their son Orson has written a more comprehensive story of the family and their travels, those who want to read more can find it on Family Search. Also on FS is a copy of the original letter Sarah wrote John Fenley, February 1845 telling of their current status and issues involving the Mormon Church. (Note that the spelling is both Fenley and Finely)
Mary Jane Merrell was born in 1852 in Council Bluffs, Iowa. She was six months old when her family started their trek to Salt Lake City and the death of her father. Her mother eventually settled the family in Willard, Utah where Mary Jane met William Edward Cole, who had also been born in Council Bluffs, Iowa. They married in 1869 when she was 17. They continued to live in Willard and farmed. They had 12 children between 1870 and 1895 and she died due to child birth issues when her last child was five days old. Her daughter Nora Jane Cole Henry wrote a life sketch of her mother and gives great detail of what home life was like and her mother’s emphasis on politeness, cleanliness and education.
Her efforts with raising her children can be shown in their accomplishments. When she passed away her son William Edward Cole had received an appointment to West Point Military academy and was attending school. He rose to the rank of Major General and served in both World Wars. Her grandson Colonel Hubert Cole was a West Point Graduate and fought under General Stillwell in World War II in the Burma China theater and then Korea and her great grandson Major General William Cole is still active military.
Mary Jane Merrell’s daughter, Zina Rachel Cole was born in Box Elder County, Utah. She met and married Cyrus Arthur Harris and they had eight children, seven of them lived to adulthood. Three of the boys, Don, Ross and Byron ran the family farm and the International Harvester Dealerships in the Upper Snake River Valley. Paul became a medical doctor and Douglas followed in the family tradition with a West Point appointment and a military career. Daughter Joann married an army Major who also owned a construction company in the same valley. Daughter Helen went in the other direction and married a corporal at the end of World War II. Helen is my mother.
