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Martha MERRILL (b c1812)

I know so little about Marta Merrill that I can do little more than refer you to the material reported in her husband Stephen Perry's biography. There are public family trees on Ancestry.com that give the date and place of birth for Martha as 21 Apr 1812 in Madison, Somerset County, Maine to parents Levi James Merrill and Betsey Sawyer. A record from the Nathan Hale Cemetery Collection on FamilySearch lists the children of Levi Merrill and Betsey Sawyer but it does not include a child named Martha, though there is a significant gap in the names of children from 1809 to 1817. Levi and Betsey were reported to have lived in Madison, ME before 1821 and St Abans after that date.

The first certain public record that refers to our Martha Merrill is the record of her marriage to Stephen Perry on 12 May 1833 in St Albans (Somerset) Maine. It seems likely that the Stephen Perry household in St. Albans, Maine in the 1840 US Census includes our Martha and the couple's two children, Elizabeth (age 4) and Melvin (age 2).

It is highly likely that Martha Merrill was the mother of four children. Only son Eugene was missing when the 1850 US Census of St Albans (Somerset) Maine was taken in September 1850. The family appeared again in July 1860 in Corinne (Penobscot) Maine. Henrietta had died late in 1850. Daughter Elizabeth and her husband Simeon Robbins and their first child were also members of the household that year.

I do not know what became of Martha after 1860. Martha's eldest son Melvin died in 1863. Her younger son Eugene died in 1872. Eugene was living with an older couple in 1872. There is a tantalizing 1880 US Census Mortality Schedule record in Orleans County, Vermont accounting for persons who died during the year ending 31 May 1880 that names Mrs Stephen Perry, female, age 68, housewife, died in April of heart disease. Alas, this record is not a reference to Martha Merrill. The gravestone pictured on Stephen Perry's Find A Grave memorial shows that her name was Sally G Marsh. My guess is that Martha Merrill died well before 1880 but both year and place are unknown to me. It does seem likely that she died before 1870 when her youngest child was found by the census in the household of an older couple.

Sources:

1833 Marriage Record for Stephen Perry and Martha Merrill: Citation: Maine Marriages, 1771-1907, database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F4DR-QLW : 14 January 2020), Stephen Perry, 1833. Content: An 1833 marriage record from St Albans (Somerset) Maine states that Stephen Perry married Martha Merrill on 12 May 1833 in St Albans. Both of this town.

1840 US Census, Household of Stephen Perry (b c1811): Citation: Ancestry.com. 1840 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Year: 1840; Census Place: St Albans, Somerset, Maine; Roll: 151; Page: 241; Family History Library Film: 0009708. Content: The 1840 US Census of St Albans, Somerset County, Maine on 01 Jun 1840 lists the household of Stephen Perry (possible spelled Peary) composed of males (1 under 5, 1 age 20-29) and females (1 under 5, 1 age 20-29), a total of 4 persons.

Find a Grave Memorial 25473467 for Henrietta F Perry (b c1847).

1850 US Census, Household of Stephen Perry (b c1811): Citation: Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Year: 1850; Census Place: St Albans, Somerset, Maine; Roll: 268; Page: 149a. Content: The 1850 US Census of St Albans, Somerset County, Maine on 09 Sep 1850 lists dwelling (651/696) with a household composed of (1) Stephen Perry, age 39, male, F[ree] W[ill] B[aptist] Elder, real: $1100, born Maine, (2) Martha Perry, age 38, female, born Maine, (3) Elizabeth F Perry, age 14, female, born Maine, in school, (4) Melvin Perry, age 11, male, born Maine, in school, (5) Henrietta Perry, age 3, female, born Maine.

1860 US Census, Household of Stephen Perry (b c1811): Citation: Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Year: 1860; Census Place: Corinna, Penobscot, Maine; Page: 74. Content: The 1860 US Census of Corrina, Penobscot County, Maine, lists dwelling 559 with a household composed of (1) Stephen Perry, age 49, male, M[edical] D[octor], (real:$1500; pers: $1070), born New Hampshire, (2) Martha Perry, age 48, female, born Maine, (3) Melvin Perry, age 22, male, born Maine, farm laborer, (4) Eugene Perry, age 8, male, born Maine, idiotic, (5) Simeon T Robbins, age 25, male, no occupation, (real: $500, pers: 275), born Maine, (6) Elizabeth [Perry] Robbins, age 24, female, born Maine, and (7) Walter S Robbins age 1, male, born Maine.

Find a Grave Memorial 32303546 for Pvt Melvin J Perry (b 1838).

1870 US Census, Household of Benjamin Cook (b c1797) with Eugene Perry (b c1852): Citation: Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Year: 1870; Census Place: Palmyra, Somerset, Maine; Roll: M593_559; Page: 315B. Content: The 1870 US Census of Palmyra, Somerset County, Maine on 27 Jun 1870 lists dwelling (191/200) with a household composed of (1) Benjamin Cook, age 73, male, farmer, (real: $500; pers: $300), born Massachusetts, male voter, (2) Martha Cook, age 58, female, keeping house, born Maine, (3) Eugene Perry, age 18, male, born Maine, cannot read or write, idiotic. Note: I had speculated that the Martha Cook in this household could be Martha Merrill since her age is about right. However, Martha Cook appears in Palmyra in 1880 in the household of a son Daniel Cook. Benjamin has apparently died during the previous decade. This sheds no light on the mystery of where Martha and Stephen were in 1870.

Find a Grave Memorial 25473454 for Eugene Perry (b 1852) .

1880 US Census Death Mortality Schedule Record for Mrs Stephen Perry (b c1812): Citation: Ancestry.com. U.S., Federal Census Mortality Schedules, 1850-1885 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Vermont Department of Libraries; Montpelier, Vermont; U.S. Census Mortality Schedules, Vermont, 1880; Archive Roll Number: 1; Census Year: 1880; Census Place: Orleans, Vermont. Content: An 1880 US Federal Census Mortality Schedule listing people who died in the year ending 31 May 1880 in Orleans County, Vermont lists (line 24) [beneath a line that reads Additions to Country from ... illegible], Mrs Stephen Perry, age 68, female, white, no information on birth of person or her parents, occupation housewife, month of death was April, cause of death was Heart Disease, attending physician was C F Branch. The column indicating how long a resident of the county is left blank. Note: This is certainly not our Martha Merrill. This Mrs Stephen Perry was apparently a long-time resident of Orleans County, VT. The gravestone gives her name as Sally G Marsh.

Find a Grave Memorial 211924943 for Stephen Perry, Orleans County, VT. Note: This memorial for an unrelated Stephen Perry is included to make clear that the Mrs Stephen Perry whose death was recorded in the mortality schedules of the 1880 US Census was not Martha Merrill.

1880 US Census, Household of Stephen Perry (b c1811): Citation: Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA:Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. Year: 1880; Census Place: Huntington, Su olk, New York; Roll: 935; Page: 282A; Enumeration District: 320. Content: The 1880 US Census of Huntington, Suffolk County, New York on 25 Jun 1880 shows dwelling (530/573) with a household composed of (1) Dr Stephen Perry, white, male, age 69, Medical Doctor, born Maine, parents born Maine, (2) Sarah A Perry, white, female, age 50, wife, keeping house, born Maine, parents born Maine.