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In 1700 Warwick County, Virginia, the will of John Hatton was probated. The executrix was Hope Hatton, as proved by the witnesses, “Mr. Thomas Merry and Thomas Merry Junior.” Bondsmen were “Mr. Thomas Merry Sr. And William Bressie.”
Warwick County is one of the “burned counties,” where early land records have been lost. But I just discovered that its early court records are available and have been published by the Jones House Association, Inc. “Warwick County, Virginia Colonial Court Records in Transcription,” ISBN 0806351438, edited by Richard Dunn. Revised 2002. Much of it is reprinted in facsimile from earlier sources, such as the William & Mary Quarterly, the Huntington Library, The Library of Virginia, and the Virginia War Museum.
The book has dozens of references to Thomas Merry, who was one of the Justices of the Peace during much of the 1690s, and appointed sheriff in 1700. His “under sheriff” was William Bressie. By 1702 another local citizen had been appointed sheriff, but Thomas Merry Jr. is mentioned as “sub sheriff.”
One of Sheriff Merry’s duties in 1700 was to summon Major Henry Harwood, Major William Cary, and Mr. William Roscow to the Court of Oyer and Terminer in adjacent Elizabeth City County’s court house, “for the trial of the pirates.” The elder Thomas Merry had died by 1712, and John Merry (relationship not stated) was the executor of his estate. Two London merchants, Micajah Perry and Richard Perry, were trying to collect a debt from the estate. So was Darby Dunaway. Apparently they kept leaving writs at the house of John Merry, who did not appear in court. According to one online source, “London merchant Micajah Perry, who headed the firm of Perry and Lane and was director of the New Pennsylvania Company, engaged in both the tobacco and fur trade from New York to the Carolinas during the first decade of the eighteenth century. Perry, through his attorneys, can be found involved in a number of litigations during the period.” John Merry eventually appeared in court in 1714 and was “excused upon his letter, paying costs.”
In 1689, Thomas Merry was one of the appraisers for the estate of Symon Daniall / Daniell (connected with the Daniel family, of later Merry relationships?).
In 1690, “Mr. Thomas Merry” was paid 134 pounds of tobacco by the county, “for an inquest on John Mears.” Since Mears may be an alternate spelling of Merry, or a related branch of the family, this is intriguing.
In October 1672, Thomas Merry witnessed the will of William Renolds (Reynolds?), probated in October 1683.
In 1696, the Warwick County Order Book shows that Peter Montague appointed “our brother in law William Bressie” to appear in court for him and record the following “Whereas my father in law Thomas Merry did by a certain deed acknowledged and recorded in Warwick County Court give unto me Peter Montague a parcel or tract of land during my wife’s lifetime and being neigh a certain pine commonly called by the name of Herbyes Pine ... [text torn] Said Peter Montague doe by these presents deliver up unto my father in law Thomas Merry all my right title & interest of the said deed and all therein contained unto my said father in law renouncing all my right title and interest to this land. And I the said Peter Montague and Elizabeth my wife doe impower our brother in law William Bressie to be our lawful attorney to acknowledge this writing in Warwick County Court. In witness hereof we have hereunto set our hands this 24th day of February 1695.” [New calendar date would be 1696]. Signed by Peter Montague and Elizabeth Montague. Witnessed by William Bressie and William Montague. This was presented to the Court on July 21, 1696, and committed to the record, verified by Miles Cary, “Cl Cur” (he was one of the Justices of the Peace).
In 1699, Thomas Merry sued George Hughes for 260 pounds of tobacco. Hughes appeared and confessed judgment and was ordered to pay it, with court costs.
A 1702 auction of property owned by the estate of Mr. Thomas Allardes included “2 hogsheads Tobacco at Mr. Thomas Merry’s” weighing 1232 pounds “at 7/1" (apparently the value). This may have been located there not because Merry was in the business of storing tobacco but because he or his son were sheriff or under sheriff.
In 1702, a subpoena was issued to Thomas Butteris, apparently at the request of Hope Hatton; I believe the record shows that it was to be served by Thomas Merry Jr.
* * *
My conclusion is that Thomas Merry (senior) lived between about 1645 and 1712. This is consistent with my theory that he was the son of the Thomas Merry found in the Jamestown muster of 1623/24, at a plantation in or very near what later became Warwick County. (The county no longer exists; it is part of the city of Newport News.) He was involved in county management with other second- and third-generation Virginia colonists, like Humphrey Harwood and Miles Cary.
Thomas Merry (junior) was his son, and probably born about 1675 to be old enough to be serving as under (sub) sheriff by 1702. We know he died in 1718 and his estate was probated in Elizabeth City County, just to the east of Warwick County. His oldest child at that time was nine years old. This would place his marriage at about 1705. He married one of the two daughters of Thomas Prettyman of Charles Parish in York County, as explained in an earlier post. York County is just to the north of Warwick County and Elizabeth City Counties. His will
mentions Thomas Hatton, Margaret Hatton and “cousins” William Brasey and Mary Brasey.
There are links (perhaps related to marriages) between the Merry family and the Montague, Daniels, Hatton and Bracey/Brasey/Bressie families.
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