The name Meservey also was spelled Meserve, Messervy, Messervey, Messharvey, and Harvey in the early records of The Isle of Jersey, England, and the American Colonies. I have found a wealth of information on the Meservey family some of which, it seems to me, confuses the marriages and the children of various generations due to our Direct Ancestors being named Clement for several generations. I hope I have avoided this sort of confusion by using Clement 1, Clement 2, and Clement 3 instead of the Senior and Junior used in several town records.

The Isle of Jersey is the largest of a group of five islands known as the Channel Islands which belong to England and which are located in St. Michel's Bay twelve miles from the coast of France and one hundred and five miles from the southern coast of England at the southernmost point of the English Channel.

The Meservey family lived in Anneville, St. Martin's Parish, and in Corey, in the Grouville Valley, on the Isle of Jersey. The family is said to have been originally Norman French. A Jean Meservy held two fiefs (heritable land under one's complete control) in Jersey in 1331, one in St. Martin's Parish and the other in Portereaux which is in Grouville Parish.

Clement 1 came to Strawberry Banke, NH (the early name for Portsmouth, NH) in 1670. He followed his family's tradition of being cattle farmers and worked, for a time, as a herdsman for Richard Cutts. His name is on the tax list of Portsmouth, NH, in 1673 and he took the oath of allegiance on 28 August 1685. Clement 1 and Elizabeth lived near Portsmouth harbor for several years and had a pew in the North Church at Portsmouth, NH. Later they moved to Newington, NH. I have a note in my research material that on 23 February 1705, Clement 1 deeded his home at Welch Cove or Welchman's Cove to his wife, Elizabeth, for her life, and then to his beloved son, John. This John must have died soon after as Clement 1 deeded the same property to his son, Clement 2, on 6 August 1710, who in return, "would care for his parents as long as they should live."

Clement 1 and his wife Elizabeth (-----) Meservey had seven children, order of birth uncertain, born probably in Strawberry Banke, now Portsmouth, NH:

• John, we assume that he died between 1705 and 1710.
• Elizabeth, b. ca. 1670; m. 6 Jan. or 6 June 1694, Michael Whidden.
• Clement 2, b. ca. 1678, m. (1) Elizabeth Jones; m. (2) Sarah (-----) Stone.
• Daniel, m. Deborah Merrow of Oyster River, NH.
• Tamsen, m. (1) in 1704 Joseph Ham; m. (2) John Tibbetts. Tamsen was working as a maid for Mr. Waldron on 28 April 28, 1704, when she was taken by the Indians, scalped, and left for dead. She did recover and marry and her children were born in NH. Her husband, Joseph, was killed by Indians in 1723 and three of their children were taken captive and carried to Canada. Tamsen went to Canada and was able to redeem her children.
• Aaron, d. 1705; m. 20 Nov. 1695, Susanna Sawyer of Salem. This family lived in Salem and was the only branch of the family that retained the original spelling of Messervy.
• Mary, (called Harvey at her marriage) m. (1) 27 June 1697, Mark Hunking; m. (2) 5 Dec. 1699, Rev. John Newmarch.

Clement 2 was a joiner and interior finish carpenter by trade. He and Elizabeth lived on the home place in Newington, NH, for about 20 years. They joined the church there and were baptized 10 March 1722/3. In 1727, possibly earlier after the death of his parents, Clement 2 sold some of his father's property and, with Daniel Moody, bought 100 acres of land in Scarborough, ME. This land today is located on the Black Point Road, about 2-1/2 miles south of Oak Hill, immediately south of Libby's River. He moved his family there about 1728 during the second settlement of Scarborough, the town having been deserted by the first settlers during the Indian Wars. In 1728, a few months after its organization, the family joined the First Church of Scarborough, ME, now known as the Black Point Congregational Church. In 1729, Clement 2 was taxed in Black Point, Scarborough, ME. His will, dated and signed in February of 1739 soon after his second marriage, and probated 5 November 1746, names his wife, Sarah, and seven of his nine children (Peter and Abigail not mentioned).

Clement 2 and his first wife Elizabeth (Jones) Meservey had nine children, all born in Portsmouth, NH, or Newington, NH:

• Clement 3, m. Sarah Decker of Newington, NH.
• Col. Nathaniel, b. 1705; m. (1) 16 Dec. 1725, Jane Libby who died June 18, 1747; m. (2) widow Mary (Wentworth) Odiorne Jackson who died at Louisburg, Nova Scotia, 28 June 1758.
• George, bpt. in Newington, NH, 19 Jan. 1723/4; m. 17 Feb. 1737, Elizabeth Ham.
• John, b. 21 March 1708; m. 5 Sept. 1732, Jemima Hubbard.
• Deacon Daniel, b. 1715; d. 18 May 1803; m. 24 Jan. 1738, Mehitable Bragdon.
• Joseph, bpt. in Newington, NH, 19 Jan. 1723/4. Was residing in Standish, ME, in 1740.
• Elizabeth, m. in Newington, NH, 23 Dec. 1725, James Llbby.
• Peter, bpt. in Newington, NH, 19 Jan. 1723/4; m. 31 March 1737, Sarah Hond.
• Abigail, m. 29 Feb. 1728, Samuel Libby.

Clement Meservey 3 left Newington, NH, and went to Scarborough, ME, with his father. By 1745, Clement 3 and his family had moved to Gorham, ME, where he was often referred to as Clement Harvey (a mispronunciation of Meservey). He lived in the fort on Fort Hill during the Seven-Year War where he distinguished himself for bravery. "Edmund Phinney, son of Capt. John Phinney, Gorham's first settler, left the fort on a quiet day in pursuit of some cows that had strayed. Indians came out of the woods and Phinney was injured and almost taken captive. Clement volunteered to go out to help Phinney and succeeded in bringing him back under Indian arrows that missed their target." Edmund Phinney became the husband of Clement 3's oldest daughter, Elizabeth.

Perhaps as early as 1753, Clement 3 and his family moved to Pearsontown, now Standish, ME, where they helped to settle the town. He sold out in 1771 in which year he and some of his family moved to Bristol, ME, and nothing further has been found about him after that date.

Clement 3 and his wife Sarah (Decker) Meservey had eight children, the first seven born probably in Scarborough, ME:

• John, bpt. 13 Oct. 1728; m. (1) Mary Yeaton or Yetty; m. (2) Sarah Strout. John lived in Gorham, Bristol, and Standish, ME. He died at the home of his daughter in Bridgton, ME.
• Elizabeth, bpt. 21 March 1731; m. ca. 1750, Col. Edmund Phinney, son of John and Martha (Cookson) Phinney. One researcher who contacted me suggested Martha's last name was Coleman or Colman.
• Clement 4, bpt. 11 Nov. 1733; m. in 1757, Mary Wooster. They lived in Standish, ME, and moved later to Bristol, ME.
• Hannah, bpt. 7 May 1736; m. in Gorham, ME, 16 Nov. 1754, Timothy Crocker. Lived in Gorham, ME, and in 1771 moved to Bristol, ME.
• Joseph, bpt. 3 Dec. 1738; m. Mary Martin.
• Margaret, bpt. 23 Aug. 1741; m. William Wescott. Resided in Scarborough, ME.
• Benjamin, bpt. 4 July 1744. Lived in Bristol, ME.
• Nathaniel, m. Rebecca Martin.

Nathaniel lived in Bristol, ME for a while after his marriage. I do not know when he moved to Appleton, ME, but he and Rebecca were living there by 1806.

Nathaniel and his wife Rebecca (Martin) Meservey had nine children:

• Nathaniel, b. 1769; m. Ruth Winslow.
• John, b. in Bristol, ME 1770; m. Martha McLain of Bristol, ME.
• William, b. 1773; m. Damaris Ripley or Whitney.
• Samuel.
• Elizabeth, m. Fergus McLain.
• Sally or Sarah, m. Prince Pease.
• Jennie, m. ----- Meservey.
• Ann or Annie, m. ----- Butler.
• Nancy, m. Charles Bryant.