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Was John a loyalist? According to our family story passed down we were loyalists. In researching our family I have yet to find that this is correct. In the "Merriam genealogy in England & America" book by Charles Pope it states that a "John Merriam" from Connecticut fought in the American revolution. John was a sergeant and was in the same roll with Jesse, Titus, William and Joseph Merriam from Connecticut.
John would have been 24 in 1776. I can find only one John Merriam of that age living in Connecticut at the time, the above man.
In a letter I received from Larry Millar the DAR genealogist he says "There are several John's Merriam's who served in the War. Mainly either Massachusetts or New Hampshire service. I too found a reference to a John who was a Sergeant in Capt. Daniel Collins' Company from CT. (Col. Thaddeus Cook's Regiment) Later (1780), Capt. Collins is found in the 7th Regiment of Militia under Col. William Worthington. I was hoping that I could determine that this John (the SGT) was from Wallingford, but I can't without some more work. However, I did find a John MERRIAM from Wallingford who marched "for relief of Boston in the Lexington Alarm," April 1775. (Cf. The Record of CT Men of the Military & Naval Service During the War of the Revolution, 1775-1783, Johnston, p. 24) This probably was your John as he would have been 23 that year."
So the mystery continues.
...Kit Cutting
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