Martha MERWIN

Martha married James PRIME on 20 Sep 1685. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

"History and Genealogy of the Families of Old Fairfield": He was nephew of Mrs. Abigail (d. at Windsor, 18 May 1684), widow first of John Branke (d. 27 May 1662), and afterwards of Rev. John Warham (d. 1 Apr. 1670). Her Est. ordered distributed to Elizabeth John, Abigail, Thomas, Samuel and Miles, children of her cousin Miles Merwin.
Tanner, of Milford, where he d. 23 apr. 1697.

Name:
"Connecticut Ancestry": Althought no specific passenger list has survived for the trip, many authorities have claimed that Miles Merwin came to America on board the ship "Mary & John" in its voyage of 20 March 1629/30 (which preceded the sailing of the Winthrop Fleet by about 2 weeks). The claim was based on the fact that Abigal (Searle) Branker, widow of schoolmaster John Branker of Dorchester, Massachusetts and Windsor, Connecticut, and also of the Rev. John Warham of Dorchester, Massachusetts and Windsor, Connecticut, and also of the Rev. John Warham of Windsor, was known to have been an aunt of Miles Merwin. However, although Rev. Mr. Warham was a member of the "Mary & John" party in 1630, it appears that the Brankers did not migrate until 1632. Even if Miles Merwin did travel to America in 1632 in the company of his (presumed) aunt Abigail Brnaker, as may certainly be possible, or sometime later, he was apparently NOT a passenger on the "Mary & John". Recent scholarship has accepted this vie and does not include Miles Merwin among the settlers of New England through 1633.

In 1635, when the Warham party left Dorchester, Massachusetts by overland trail to settle what became the town of Windsor, Connecticut, the young Miles Merwin (age about 12 years) was thought by earlier researchers to have been with them, traveling with the Brankers. Richardson believes, however, that Merwin may have come to New England on board the ship "Susan and Ellen" as late as 1640, in company with his uncle, John Tinker, but this, too is speculation.

Regardless of how or when he arrived here, the first record we have of Miles Merwin in America was of a land arrangement he made with a Mr. Whiting in Windsor in about 1644. Miles Merwin gave testimony in a court case of 1684 in which he "aged about 60 years" testified that he had obtained rights to work a parcel of and in windsor from Mr. William Whiting of Hartford. No date was given, but other testimony by John Dumbleton (who was a servant of Mr Whiting) indicated that Dumbleton had obtained the same piece of land in 1639 and worked it himself for about 4 years. If Merwin actually did follow Dumbleton on this land, then he would have taken it up in about 1644. The latest he could have obtained these rights was in 1648, since Mr. Whiting died in 1649.

About 1653, he moved to Milford, Connecticut at the invitation of the town and with some incentives provided, due to his skill as a tanner. His moving to Milford was apparently to his advantage, considering the prosperity he enjoyed there and his receipt of several substantial grants and divisions of land from the town. It was apparently not, however, to the liking of his (first wife's) aunt Abigail Branker when he left Windsor with his young family. She had made a will in which she named him executor and principal legatee "for he and his children were her only relatives in the new World." On her death bed in 1684, she made a nuncupative will that named two Miles' children to receive certain amounts, but declared that Miles himself was not to receive anything beyond what he had already received during her lifetime. Based on this nuncupative will, amounts were eventually distributed to all of Miles children but not to him. He contested the probate of the nuncupative will in 1685, but without success.

Although Miles Merwin apparently never lived in Stamford, his third wife received a considerable amount of land there through the settlement of Daniel Scofield's estate. These lands were described and entered into the Stamford Land Records on 29 Jun 1687, "Entre to goodwife Murrin to her and hers forever being lands of her former husband Scofields collected from settlement by the court & agreement between her & her sons Danil & John Scofield and now entered in the records."

A couple of days later, on 1 July 1687, John Scofield entered a deed in the Stamford Land Records by which, "I Sarah Marin of Milford wife of Miles Marin" had sold to "my loveing son John Scofield of Stamford" her 1/3 part of Daniel Scofield's home lot on 13 November 1678.

Miles Merwin provided well for all of his children during his lifetime, and additionally in his will, made on 5 May 1695 and probated in Milford in June 1697. After providing for his wife's amply support as long as she remained his widow (as it turned out, she died within the next year), he left L100 to each of 4 sons, with a double portion to John, the eldest son: L 50 to each of his 6 daughters; L 100 each to the eldest grandchild in each of the 10 families; and a Bible to each grandchild. He also left legacies to several stepchildren, and named his sons John and Miles as co-executors.

Miles married Sarah PLATT about 1665. Sarah (daughter of Deacon Richard PLATT and Mary WOOD) was born in 1634; was christened on 11 Sep 1636 in Ware, County Hertford, England; died on 15 May 1670 in Milford, New Haven, Connecticut, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]