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- There were two Thomas Merrifields born to this family. Thomas was the older of the two. It is presumed, although not researched, thattheyoungest one died early.
Thomas Merryfield removed from Westfield, Mass., and carried allhispossessions on a horse to the mountains of Becket, where he built alargethree-storied house that is still standing. He is said to havebeen anEnglishman; his wife of Irish nativity. But they were notcontented, andafter having ten children exchanged the farm for newland in Ohio, thencalled the "Western Reserve," and with slow-movingteam, in company withrelatives and neighbors, migrated to the then"far West." An old,discolored letter forwarded by a member of the family, written in 1859 by a woman in her 75thyear,throws much light on the domestic life of those who went West atthattime. It shows that Thomas Merryfield had served in the"oldRevolutionary war" and was at Bunker Hill; that others of thefamily,sons of Thomas, were in the war of 1812; that one of the sonswas namedJOHN and another JUSTICE; that another son, CHARLES, had soldout in Ohioand removed to Michigan, where he owned land and asaw-mill; that herhusband, whose name was (I suppose) John, wasdrafted in Becket, Mass.,and went as far as Lenox; that he hired asubstitute to go in his place,who was wounded in the legs at Saratogaand went with a stick threeyears. She mentions a wagon load ofsoldiers that left ThomasMerryfield's house in Becket and went towardthe seaport; writes that thefarmers of Ohio had suffered from frostand as cows were drying up forwant of feed they talked of driving themout on the prairies. She has"broke her specks" and cannot see well;wants to "git enough money to buya garden spot and house with one roomand a butry and bedroom"; hadpurchased a lot "clost by themeetin'-house" and was to have lived withanother "widder woman," buther children "made such a row" because shedid not live with them thatshe consented to do so if they would furnisha good room and make hercomfortable. When she lives with THOMAS she isoften left alone, and sofar from neighbors that she cannot make any onehear; wanted to livewith WILSON, but his health was poor, his wife"narvous" and heavydoctor's bills must be paid. This son had a daughter20 years of age,one 17, and a son, aged 25, who had settled in southernOhio; said shecould "spin at the great wheel" as well as when young.There is much inthis old epistle that I cannot quote, but its perusalsuggests thatthere is a "skeleton in the closet" in every land, in everydomesticcircle. From what we have gleaned from the letter andcorrespondencewith a venerable member of the family in Springfield.
Thomas Merrifield was an ancestor of Harriette (Merrifield) Forbes,wifeof Hon. William Trowbridge Forbes, of Worcester, Massachusetts. Hisancestry is not fully proved. It is possible that he was that Thomas borninBoston August 8, 1708, son of Joseph and Margaret (Warden) Merrifield. Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Worchester County vol1 by Ellery Bicknell Crane Call Number: F72.W9C8vol.1
Thomas Merrifield lived in Dedham certainly from 1736 to 1752, thedates of birth of the first and last of his children recorded on thetownrecords. No record of his death has been found. He married, inGroton,Massachusetts, July 12, 1732, Mary, born in Watertown August 29, 1711, daughter ofJohn and Rebecca (Waight) Anderson. Her father was a Scotchman; her mothera daughter of John and Mary (Woodward) Waight, descended respectivelyfrom Richard Waite (1) and George Woodward (Richard 1), both of Watertown. Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of Worchester County vol1 by Ellery Bicknell Crane Call Number: F72.W9C8vol.1
The Genealogical History of Dover, Massachusetts Author: Frank Smith Call Number: R929.1 D74 Bibliographic Information: Smith, Frank. The Genealogical HistoryofDover, Massachusetts. Historical and Natural HistorySociety.Massachusetts. 1917. MERRIFIELD Thomas Merrifield (with his wife Mary) was an early settler intheSpringfield Parish, but the date of his coming, or the exact siteof hishouse is unknown. He was one of the petitioners for theorganization ofthe Parish in 1748 and was seated in the meeting-housewith his sonTimothy in 1769. Soon after he appears as a public chargeand it isassumed that he met with an accident or had a severe illness.He wasliving in Dover in 1784.
A reference to his home is made in a mortgage deed given in 1776 byAaronWhiting and Theodore Newell to Amos Adams on a forty-acre farmandbuildings bounded south by the road leading to the Springfield meeting-house "exceptingandreserving 1 acre upon which Thomas Merrifield's house now stands."Thehouse lot of his son Timothy is referred to in a description of the dower of Lois Draper made in1786,"excepting and reserving 12 rods square where the house ofTimothyMerrifield did stand which is within the said bounds." Both places are believed to have been on Farmstreet.The town has had a remarkably small number of persons who haveasked foraid, as shown by the records of the town. Those who became a public charge, for the mostpart,either bore the infirmities of age or had been incapacitated bythemisfortunes or accidents of life.
The enumeration of supplies furnished the poor in the necessariesoflife--wood, sometimes 5 cord lots, milk, rice, beef, salt pork,boots,shoes and clothing, shows that they were well supplied--and the payment of doctor's bills shows thattheywere well cared for. Children:
Sarah, b. Sept. 27, 1736. Timothy, b. Jan. 4, 1739, m. May 22, 1766, Lydia Cheney, m. 2ndly,June10, 1772, Mercy Perry, Sherborn. Asaph, b. Jan. 2, 1741, m. Feb. 2, 1764, Abigail Richardson. Phebe, b. Aug. 7, 1742, m. Feb. 20, 1766, Seth Ellis, Medway. Hannah, b. Sept. 14, 1745, Int. of m. 1768 with John Ranstead. Simeon b. Aug. 7, 1747. Abraham, b. May 7, 1749. Mabel, b. Feb. 2, 1752, m. Oct. 9, 1771, John Wight.
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1708 - Yes, date unknown
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