The surname of Nathaniel's wife, Susanna, is somewhat in question. Nothing is known about her ancestry. The name Wolterton (sometimes spelled Wilterton) has been generally assumed to be her name because Gregory Wolterton of Hartford, CT, made Susanna's "second son, John Merrill, his residual legatee and principal heir, and Wolterton would not have made an Essex County, Massachusetts man his heir unless there was a strong relationship between them and so he was evidently John Merrill's uncle and brother of Susanna." Mary L. Holman, "Ancestry of Charles Stinson Pillsbury and John Sargent Pillsbury", Vol 1 (1938); Vol. 2 (1938), p. 1037. Also, we find the suggestion that John Merrill, a young man of 19 years of age at the time of the death of his father, went to Hartford, CT, and was adopted by Gregory Wolterton. "It seems unlikely that John would have made such a (long) journey, separating himself for a lifetime from home and kin, unless to make a home with another kin." Samuel Merrill, "A Merrill Memorial", p. 160. But none of this is conclusive, and assigning the name Wolterton to Susanna is purely speculative at the moment.

Nathaniel and his older borther, John, came to America sometime about 1635. That John and Nathaniel were brothers who came from Wherstead in England is supported by the fact that their names disappear from Wherstead, England records at the time they appear in the records of Ipswich and Newbury, MA. It is believed that John and Nathaniel were among a group that settled in Ipswich, MA, then called Agawam. "In the spring of 1635 the General Court granted liberty to the new-comers to remove to Quascacunquen, and their settlement was given the name Newberry." Samuel Merrill, "A Merrill Memorial", p. 55.

Newbury, MA, originally included what is now Newburyport and West Newbury. The first settlement was at Oldtown on the Parker River. The earliest grants of land to John and Nathaniel were on the "neck" south of the Parker River. In the Proprietor's Records, a grant appears, "to John Merrill an house-lott of four acres on the neck over the Great River..." Then under the date of 23 July 1638, "There is granted to John Merrill's brother four acres in the neck for an house-lott next his brother Jno. Merrill." Samuel Merrill, "A Merrill Memorial", p. 57.

Nathaniel and his wife Susanna (Wolterton?) Merrill had six children, all except the first child born in Newbury, MA:

• Nathaniel, Jr. b. ca. 1632; m. Joanna Nunny.
• John, b. ca. 1635; m. Sarah Watson.
• Abraham, b. ca. 1637; m. Abigail Webster.
• Susanna, b. 1640; m. John Burbank.
• Daniel, b. 20 Aug. 1642; m. (1) Sarah Clough; m. (2) Sarah (Morrill) Rowell Page, widow of Philip Rowell and of Onesiphorus Page.
• Abel, b. 20 Feb. 1643/4; m. Priscilla Chase.

Daniel Merrill was a carpenter as well as a farmer. From Samuel Merrill, A Merrill Memorial, pp. 91-96, we find the following quoted material:

"It is recoreded that 'Daniel Merrill of Newberie took ye oath of ffidelitie unto this government ye 25 of february sixty eight.' In 1678, he took the oath of allegiance, his age being given as 34 years. In 1677, he was chosen 'fence viewer' and, in 1689, was one of four 'way wardens.' In 1688, in a list of 'soldiers under ye command of Capt. Thos. Noyes' is the name of 'Daniel Merell' ...

"At the Registry of Deeds in Salem may be found the record of fifteen conveyances under which Daniel Merrill acquired title to various lots of land in Newbury, Salisbury, and Haverhill. The earliest of these was dated 5 May, 1668, and the latest 27 Feb. 1706/7. Some of the earlier ones were not recorded until after his death.

"...in 1673, (Daniel) jointly with his brother Abel, he bought 56 acres in Haverhill ... the following year the two bought 20 acres adjoining their previous purchase, this being described as situated at 'Hogghill' in Haverhill (in the present town of Atkinson, NH). The consideration for this second purchase was, 'a cow and a Yoke of Oxen and ffive pounds in cloathing in hand payd.'

"John Clough, senior, of Salisbury, in 1686, in consideration of love and good will, gave a deed to, 'my sone Daniell Merrill and Sarah his wife of Nubury,' conveying one-half of all the grantor's land in Haverhill, together with rights of commonage. It was stipulated in the deed that, 'John Merrill ye sone of Sarah Merrill shal be considered and allowed some prehemency in ye aboves lands abov ye rest of ye sd Sarah's children.'

"Daniel Merrill began buying land in Salisbury in 1682, his purchase including two tracts in the 'Barbary' ..., six acres in the 'Higgleda Pigglede lotts' ..., two tracts in the Goodale Swamp Division ..., besides upland at the Great Plain and at Munday's Hill ...."

We do not know when Daniel moved to Salisbury, MA. The tax list of 1688 shows that Daniel owned two houses with 12 acres in Newbury, MA, and he was listed as "of Newbury" when he purchased 40 acres in Salisbury, MA, on 28 Jan. 1696/7. That he continued to own these properties is shown in his will of 10 May 1717, whereby he bequeathed, "... unto Daniel my oldest sone all my homestead housing and land in newberry as also ..., unto John my second son two thirds of my hoge hill lot so called in Haverhill which was given me by my father Clough as also ..., unto my third son Moses Merrill the other third of my hoghill lot together with all my right to ye other lands and meadow ..., unto my youngest son Stephen Merrill .... all my homestead buildings and appertenances together with my land on ye Great plain..." Also, in this will he indicates legacies to be paid out by his son, Daniel, to his daughters including Martha (Merrill) True.

Daniel and his wife Sarah (Clough) Merrill had seven children, all born in Newbury, MA:

• Daniel, Jr., b. 8 March 1671/2; d. before 29 Sept. 1725; m. Esther Chase.
• John, b. 7 Oct. 1674; d. 17 Jan. 1756; m. Mary Allen.
• Sarah, b. 15 Oct. 1677; m. William Morse.
• Ruth, b. 7 Feb. 1680/1; m. Onesiphorus Page, Jr.
• Twins:
  • Moses, b. 3 Sept. 1683; d. 17 Jan. 1756 (same date as the death of his brother, John?); m. Mary -----.
  • Martha, b. 3 Sept. 1683; m. John True.
• Stephen, b. 16 Sept. 1688; d. before 4 June 1755; m. (1) Mary Carr; m. (2) Mary Hardy.