History of the Merrell Family

 

One of the landmarks of the neighborhood is the Merrell Cemetery, which has been awarded a historical marker:

"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.

 

The Merrell Cemetery originally served pioneers from the surrounding area. Numerous prominent citizens and members of the historic Peters Colony are among those buried here. William Strait (1806-86) and his wife, Mourning (1806-77), came to Dallas County in 1853. Many of their family members remained in the area, serving the community in various positions. Strait's sons, William, Enoch, and Bennett, served with Merrell's sons, George and John, in the 19th Cavalry during the Civil War. Enoch Strait (1834 - 1917) served as Dallas County Commissioner and William Strait's grandson, Elmo (1876 - 1922), became the Chief of Police for the city of Dallas. Members of the cemetery association, which was organized in 1965, include many descendants of pioneer settlers."

The name Merrell, considered by many to be of Anglo Saxon origin, actually was French, and was anglicized from DeMerle when the family left France and moved to England to escape religious prosecution in 1532. Although history does not record why they left England, it is again assumed likely to have been in search of religious freedom.

 

Richard and wife Sarah Wells Merrell came from Warwickshire, England to Staten Island, New York, in the mid-1600’s where he established a large farm. This union produced five sons: William, Richard, Thomas, Philip and John Merrell. The direct line of the son named William (b. circa 1675) is the one that eventually leads to the Dallas area, although he was not the only one to eventually find his way to Texas.

 

William Merrell moved from Staten Island, NY to Hopewell, Hunterdon County, New Jersey where he also became a farmer. He and his wife Grace Merrell and had three sons: William, Jr. (b. 1700), Benjamin, and Joseph.

 

Again, following the “son William line”, William Merrell, Jr. and his wife Penelope had three sons: William (b. 1730), (Capt.) Benjamin Merrell, and another son whose name is not recorded.

 

(Capt. Benjamin Merrell became a famous patriot in N. Carolina due to his leadership of N. Carolinian settlers in open defiance of the British before the Revolutionary War. He was brutally and publicly executed by the British for his resistance and is still today revered for his patriotism. “Capt. Ben”, as he was known, has been suggested as one of a composite of Carolina patriots upon whom the movie, “ The Patriot”, was loosely based.) But returning to the "William Merrell Line", the next William had three sons also (there seemed to be a definite male pattern here!) named Benjamin, Daniel and John. It was this Benjamin and his wife (also) Penelope who lived in Buncombe County, N. Carolina, just South of the town of Asheville, and had fifteen children, among them Eli (b. 1787), who is buried in the Merrell Cemetery in Dallas. Eli’s father Benjamin fought in the American Revolution in many battles, in both North and South Carolina.

 

Eli’s father Benjamin is sometimes confused with his uncle Capt. Ben Merrell. This family seemed totally unable to find unique names for their many sons from generation to generation. This is not something peculiar just to Merrell’s but, since middle names were few and far between in those times, it continues to present confusion to genealogy researchers today.

 

As the fifteen Merrell children began to grow up, they sought their own fortunes in other states than N. Carolina. Several of them moved to Merrellsville, Marion County, Missouri, including Eli, who had married Mary Ann McKay from Virginia. From Missouri, two branches of this family moved to Texas before 1844 and settled in what was then Nacogdoches County, two years before Dallas County was formed.

 

Eli Merrell had been a minister in the Disciples of Christ Church since it was begun in 1832. (all the church’s ministers were all addressed as “Elder”.) According to Texas historian, A.C. Greene, Peters Colony records show Elder Merrell and wife Mary “settled along White Rock Creek”, but actually their home was located on what is now Joe’s Creek, off Rosser Road. Joe’s Creek was named for their youngest son, John M. “Joe” Merrell (b. March 30, 1847), also Elder Eli’s last surviving child, who lived, with his wife Susan, on the old homestead into the 1930’s. (Again, according to Historian Greene.)

 

Eli and wife Mary McKay’s children were Olivia, Julia, George Cornelius, Margaret Ellen, Tom and John. Eli Merrell is recorded as having performed his first marriage ceremony in Dallas County on June 11, 1848, the fourth marriage recorded in the newly formed Dallas County, but the name of the couple is unknown.

 

Elder Eli’s children, through their own marriages and lives, planted firm roots in the Dallas area. Olivia married William D. Webb, whose father was a founder of Farmers Branch and Webbs Chapel of Webb Chapel Road. Margaret became Margaret Dickinson.

 

After Elder Eli’s wife Mary died, he later married Nancy McCrary (b. 1820). They had eight children: Benjamin, William, Nancy, Eli Jr., Jonathan Merrell, Phoebon, David, and Elizabeth.

 

Elder Eli Merrell died in 1849 and his grave is the oldest in Merrell Cemetery, on Merrell Road. The land for the cemetery, located on the original homestead, was given by his son Ben. Merrell Road was a dirt lane leading from Midway Road to the cemetery.

 

Elder Eli’s brother David Merrell, born in 1801, also came to Texas as a Peters Colonist with eight children of his own at about the same time as Eli. David’s elder son Benjamin became the first Dallas County tax assessor-collector (and census enumerator in 1850). David also had 3 other sons, Robert, Samuel and an Eli (named for his uncle Elder Eli).

 

Although many of these Merrell descendants have moved away from the area, many are still here. The “last” Eli, grandson of Elder Eli, settled in Denton County, near Argyle. Interstate 35-W runs through what was his large farm. He is buried in Prairie View Cemetery nearby, having died in 1933 at Birdville, near Ft. Worth. His great granddaughter, Cerise Blair, lives in Corinth, S. of Denton. The great great granddaughter and great great grandson of David Merrell, Elder Eli’s brother, Carolyn and Fred Merrell, live in Denton. Carolyn is compiling material for a book on the Merrell family history.

 

These current Merrell descendants would appreciate hearing from any other Merrell “cousins” and can be reached by emailing cercam@centurytel.net or caromjones@msn.com, or visiting www.thomaspaulmerrill.com.

 

August, 2006