Brief Life History of Alfred Elijah
When Alfred Elijah Merrill was born on 20 February 1830, in New Hartford, Litchfield, Connecticut, United States, his father, Asher Merrill Jr., was 32 and his mother, Eliza Olmstead, was 26. He married Eliza Phoebe Barnes on 1 May 1853. They were the parents of at least 1 son and 3 daughters. He died on 5 May 1905, at the age of 75, and was buried in New Hartford Center, New Hartford, Litchfield, Connecticut, United States.
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Family Time Line
Sources (14)
- Alfred Merrills in household of Asher Merrills, "United States Census, 1850"
- Alfred E. Merrell, "Connecticut Marriages, 1630-1997"
- Alfred Elijah Merrell, "Find A Grave Index"
Spouse and Children
Parents and Siblings
World Events (8)
1832 · The Black Hawk War
Convinced that a group of Native American tribes were hostile, The United States formed a frontier militia to stop them in their tracks. Even though Black Hawk was hoping to avoid bloodshed while trying to resettle on tribal land, U.S. officials opened fire on the Native Americans. Black Hawk then responded to this confrontation by successfully attacking the militia at the Battle of Stillman's Run and then left northward. After a few months the militia caught up with Black Hawk and his men and defeated them at the Battle of Wisconsin Heights. While being weakened by hunger, injuries and desertion, Black Hawk and the rest of the many native survivors retreated towards the Mississippi. Unfortunately, Black Hawk and other leaders were later captured when they surrendered to the US forces and were then imprisoned for a year.
1848 · Slavery is Abolished
In 1840, the American Anti-Slavery Society split and slavery started being outlawed in the state. In Canterbury, Connecticut, Prudence Crandall started a school for young African American girls. The people got mad and Crandall was taken to court. The case was lost and that was the beginning of many other cases that would be lost, but it was also the start of having slavery abolished.
1863
Abraham Lincoln issues Emancipation Proclamation, declaring slaves in Confederate states to be free.
Name Meaning
Welsh and English: from a female personal name of Celtic origin, found in Welsh as Meriel and Meryl and in Irish as Muirgheal, earlier Muirgel (‘sea-bright’).
English: habitational name from one or more of the many places whose names derive from Middle English mirie, merie, murie ‘merry, pleasant’ (Old English myrge) + hill, hell, hull ‘hill’ (Old English hyll), including two places called Merry Hill in Staffordshire and a third in Hertfordshire.
Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.
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