My Genealogy Hound

DAVID MERRICK. A well-tilled farm of one hundred and eighty-three acres, representing the property of Mr. Merrick, indicates in a marked manner to what good purpose he has improved his time duringthe last twenty years or more. It is situated a mile and a half west of the town of Alpha, Greene County, and is provided with substantial buildings and all the machinery necessary for the successful prosecution of agriculture. Mr. Merrick has been a life-long resident of Beaver Township, having been born at his father’s old homestead, October 3, 1830. He has assisted materially in its growth and development and comprises one of its most reliable and substantial citizens.

The subject of this notice is the son of Joseph D., and Susan (Boston) Merrick. The father was born in Kent County, Del., October 9, 1779, and the mother in Frederick County, Md., December 25, 1793. When a young man grown Mr. Merrick repaired to Frederick County, Md., where he followed his trade of a weaver and was in 1812, married to Miss Boston. In the fall of 1815 he came to Montgomery County, this State, settling on the land now owned by George Firestine, just east of the city of Dayton. In journeying there from Maryland he was seven weeks on the road, going in company with a number of others. He left Montgomery County about 1829, coming to Beaver Creek Township, this county, where his death took place March 3, 1857.

The father of our subject practically abandoned his trade after coming to this county. Politically, he was a stanch Whig, as the Republican party was only organized a few months prior to his death. To himself and his estimable wife there was born a family of five children, the eldest of whom, a daughter, Mary Ann, died at the interesting age of fourteen years; John is in Montgomery County; Elizabeth is the widow of David Stutsman and is a resident of this county. The others were Israel, and David, our subject.

The father of our subject was the son of the Rev. John Merrick, a native of Delaware and a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church. While laboring in the Master’s vineyard he also engaged in the mercantile business. He married Miss Sarah Doxson and they became the parents of two children only, a son and daughter, Joseph D., and Elizabeth; the latter is deceased. The elder Merrick was a man of strong convictions and totally opposed to the institution of slavery. He died in Elizabethtown, N. J., while Grandmother Merrick spent her last years in Delaware. The great-grandfather of our subject was Isaac Merrick, a native of England, who emigrated to the United States.

On the maternal side of the house Grandfather Michael Boston was a native of Germany and after crossing the Atlantic, settled in Frederick County, Md. He served in the War of 1812 and was the father of five or six children.

David, our subject, attended the common school and also a select school at Leighton, pursuing his studies mostly in the winter season. He took kindly to his books and at the age of twenty years began teaching school, first in District No. 24, Beaver Creek Township. He followed this profession for a period of twelve years and in 1858, purchased sixty acres of land east of Shakertown. Thence he came to his present farm in the spring of 1865.

The 24th of March, 1859, was an interesting day in the history of Mr. Merrick, as he was then joined in wedlock with Miss Ann R. Kable. This lady was born April 21, 1837, in Osborn, this county, and is the daughter of Samuel and Catherine (Garver) Kable, who removed from the vicinity of Harper’s Ferry, Jefferson County, Va., about 1831. They settled in Beaver Creek Township, this county, where the father died November 25, 1864, at the age of sixty-three years. The wife and mother survived her husband nearly nine years, her death taking place May 31, 1873. To Mr. and Mrs. Kable there was born a family of seven children, viz: Anna R., Mary E., Joseph, Sarah E., Martha J., John W. and Isaac N.

Mr. and Mrs. Merrick are the parents of nine children, seven of whom lived to mature years. Sarah E. is the wife of William Coy and lives in Beaver Creek Township; William K. is a resident of Virden, Ill.; Joseph S., Emma H., Ellen C., Mattie J. and Benjamin D. complete the list. Our subject and his wife are members in good standing of the Reformed Church. Mr. Merrick commenced in life with a capital of $1 and it must be acknowledged that he has been more than ordinarily successful. He has built up a comfortable homestead and laid by something for a rainy day. Among his neighbors he is esteemed as a man whose word is as good as his bond.