Mertz Genealogy - Person Sheet
Mertz Genealogy - Person Sheet
NameMargerie 
Deathbefore 15 March 1765
Research notes for John (Spouse 1)
The Herring book in NHCL documents this family history, with certain additional or contradictory details added by the Croom Family Page accessed via NHC Webpage. And the book on the Robinson family at NHLC adds some additional information.
The Herring book makes the point that the records reflect several John Herring's coming to VA from England in the 1630-1650 period. So, while the modern line of Herrings can be traced back to John who lived in Isle of Wight County, you can't say with certainty which John that was in terms of when he came exactly and when he was born.
Croom says b. 1607 England, the Herring book says b. Abt 1620.The Robinson's book says came to America in 1635 at age 28, consistent with b.1607.
He came to America from Bristol, England. The Herring book says this was in about 1642, the Robinson's book says it was 5/2/1635 on the ship Alexander. In any event, he then settled near the Blackwater River in the vicinity of Horse Swamp, northwest of present day Windsor, Isle of Wight County.
He was a tobacco farmer and made tar
In a book on wills and administrations of Isle of Wight County found at NHCL, it says John Herring left things to son Anthony and wife Margerie and to John Whitfield.
The Herring book makes the point that the records reflect several John Herring's coming to VA from England in the 1630-1650 period. So, while the modern line of Herrings can be traced back to John who lived in Isle of Wight County, you can't say with certainty which John that was in terms of when he came exactly and when he was born.
Croom says b. 1607 England, the Herring book says b. Abt 1620.The Robinson's book says came to America in 1635 at age 28, consistent with b.1607.
He came to America from Bristol, England. The Herring book says this was in about 1642, the Robinson's book says it was 5/2/1635 on the ship Alexander. In any event, he then settled near the Blackwater River in the vicinity of Horse Swamp, northwest of present day Windsor, Isle of Wight County.
He was a tobacco farmer and made tar
In a book on wills and administrations of Isle of Wight County found at NHCL, it says John Herring left things to son Anthony and wife Margerie and to John Whitfield.
My Comments notes for John (Spouse 1)
When I first found the Herring Highlights book, I wasn’t sure whether I could just accept that they really had tracked the New Hanover County (later Sampson) Herrings back in time to Isle of Wight, Virginia. Later, I realized the migratory route followed by this family was actually quite similar to many other early Sampson County families. They came to America and settled first in southern Virginia then over several generations drifted -- alnost river by river -- southward into North Carolina ending up in in Sampson or Duplin counties. My own ancestors followed a pattern of starting out in the first ring of counties outside Philadelphia and then over generations drifted westward into interior Pennsylvania. So, I understood how the drift worked, it’s just I had only ever seen it before as a westward -- as opposed more southerly -- drift.
But once, I had verified the accuracy of the Herring book back to Richard Herring we were greatly interested in the story it told about the earliest Herring immigrant and his descendants down to Richard and were willing to trust that it had been carefully assembled. I have not independently verified everyhting here, on the other hand I have never found anything that has made me call it into question.
Now, genealogy is a difficult task. Just because you know a man was named Richard Herring and you find a will of someone in about the right timeframe that says he had a son named Richard Herring – this does not guarantee you have paired the Richard Herring of interest to you to the right father. You have to be quite skeptical as you assemble the evidence and alert to the possible pitfalls. On the other hand, there are times when you have several vague references that seem to indicate some relationship and you think if it was not the right connection that something would have popped up to raise your suspicions and you just feel it must be right even though you have no “proof” that would ever stand up as absolute, beyond a shadow of a doubt. In such cases, you might build your family tree stating the presumed relationship but inserting a note of caution.
I have seen many published family histories (especially those found on the Internet) that just string names together without ever a commentary to the effect of how it is known that the stated relationships are true and I have often later found out that they actually were not true -- and often it didn’t take a great deal of effort to find the flaws. The Herring book seems to me to be the work of someone who cared to get it right, who wouldn’t have said something was true if they only thought it might possibly be true – they would have made it clear that there was some uncertainty. And so, I have extracted the story as told by the Herring book, only as it relates to the direct lineage of Richard Herring, therefore naming only a very few of the descendants of John Herring that the book covers.
Where the Herring book cited specific sources, where possible I have gone and found them myself to verify the conclusions. But some of their sources could not be checked or were not cited with enough specificity for me to find them.
One aspect of the Herring story is that in each of the successive generations, a descendant of John’s and direct ancestor of Emma Wyatt, moves ever southward, first into northern NC then further south, generation by generation. The Herring story is, in a way, North Carolina’s story.
North Carolina was initially populated by settlers coming from two different directions. Like the Herrings, one settlement activity was the offspring of the earliest residents of Virginia drifting ever southward. Often, when a man died, if he had more sons than his land would support, younger sons would be given some cash from the estate and they would head for an area with cheaper land. The other direction of settlement was immigration directly to the Cape Fear area and then following the rivers upstream until a suitable plantation was found. Both settlement routes led to Sampson County and Emma Wyatt Herring’s ancestors came from both directions (though mostly the Virginia route) and eventually merged their family lines there.
So Richard Herring’s ancestors were John the immigrant, Anthony, John and John of New Hanover County. Over the course of about 100 years and four generations, the Herrings made their way from Isle of Wight County, VA to Sampson County.
John Herring is the earliest family member that can be reliably identified. The Herrings trace their American roots to John Herring who appears in the records of Isle of Wight County, VA in the early 1640's. (Isle of Wight County is across the river from Jamestown and a little downriver toward its mouth.) John most certainly came to VA on one of the Bristol ships -- a number of ships that made periodic round trips between Bristol, England and the early Virginia settlements. There were, however, several John Herrings who appear in British records about that time and several who perhaps came to America and so which British John Herring this was and on which particular ship and in what year he came cannot be said with certainty, though a 1641 or early 1642 arrival seems likeliest
Just from the typical ages of men coming to America, it is assumed that John was born in England possibly about 1620 and came to America at about age 20. He settled and grew tobacco near the Blackwater River northwest of present day Windsor, Isle of Wight County. His will is in the Herring book (and I have seen it abstracted in published sources). It was proved 10 Jun 1672. He gave his son Anthony livestock, a gun, housewares and half the tobacco crop then growing, but no land. It gave everything else to his wife Marjorie and one young heifer to John Whitfield.
The mention of John Whitfield in the will hints that Marjorie may have been Marjorie Whitfield prior to her marriage to John, likely a widow.
John Whitfield is mentioned two more times in early Isle of Wight wills. When his mother dies in 1675, she leaves everything to John Whitfield, orphan, and designates Clement Creswell as more or less the guardian for John. She calls Clement John’s father-in-law. Your father-in-law is your spouse’s father, but the assumption is John was still a minor so obviously he was not married. The use of the word father-in-law here meant something different to Marjorie. Then when Clement Creswell writes his will in 1682, he passes everything that Marjorie held on to John Whitfield. There were several men named Whitfield among the earliest settlers of Virginia.
In any event, John Whitfield must have been quite young in 1672, meaning that Marjorie could not have been Anthony’s mother, so John must have been married earlier to someone whose name is not known.
But once, I had verified the accuracy of the Herring book back to Richard Herring we were greatly interested in the story it told about the earliest Herring immigrant and his descendants down to Richard and were willing to trust that it had been carefully assembled. I have not independently verified everyhting here, on the other hand I have never found anything that has made me call it into question.
Now, genealogy is a difficult task. Just because you know a man was named Richard Herring and you find a will of someone in about the right timeframe that says he had a son named Richard Herring – this does not guarantee you have paired the Richard Herring of interest to you to the right father. You have to be quite skeptical as you assemble the evidence and alert to the possible pitfalls. On the other hand, there are times when you have several vague references that seem to indicate some relationship and you think if it was not the right connection that something would have popped up to raise your suspicions and you just feel it must be right even though you have no “proof” that would ever stand up as absolute, beyond a shadow of a doubt. In such cases, you might build your family tree stating the presumed relationship but inserting a note of caution.
I have seen many published family histories (especially those found on the Internet) that just string names together without ever a commentary to the effect of how it is known that the stated relationships are true and I have often later found out that they actually were not true -- and often it didn’t take a great deal of effort to find the flaws. The Herring book seems to me to be the work of someone who cared to get it right, who wouldn’t have said something was true if they only thought it might possibly be true – they would have made it clear that there was some uncertainty. And so, I have extracted the story as told by the Herring book, only as it relates to the direct lineage of Richard Herring, therefore naming only a very few of the descendants of John Herring that the book covers.
Where the Herring book cited specific sources, where possible I have gone and found them myself to verify the conclusions. But some of their sources could not be checked or were not cited with enough specificity for me to find them.
One aspect of the Herring story is that in each of the successive generations, a descendant of John’s and direct ancestor of Emma Wyatt, moves ever southward, first into northern NC then further south, generation by generation. The Herring story is, in a way, North Carolina’s story.
North Carolina was initially populated by settlers coming from two different directions. Like the Herrings, one settlement activity was the offspring of the earliest residents of Virginia drifting ever southward. Often, when a man died, if he had more sons than his land would support, younger sons would be given some cash from the estate and they would head for an area with cheaper land. The other direction of settlement was immigration directly to the Cape Fear area and then following the rivers upstream until a suitable plantation was found. Both settlement routes led to Sampson County and Emma Wyatt Herring’s ancestors came from both directions (though mostly the Virginia route) and eventually merged their family lines there.
So Richard Herring’s ancestors were John the immigrant, Anthony, John and John of New Hanover County. Over the course of about 100 years and four generations, the Herrings made their way from Isle of Wight County, VA to Sampson County.
John Herring is the earliest family member that can be reliably identified. The Herrings trace their American roots to John Herring who appears in the records of Isle of Wight County, VA in the early 1640's. (Isle of Wight County is across the river from Jamestown and a little downriver toward its mouth.) John most certainly came to VA on one of the Bristol ships -- a number of ships that made periodic round trips between Bristol, England and the early Virginia settlements. There were, however, several John Herrings who appear in British records about that time and several who perhaps came to America and so which British John Herring this was and on which particular ship and in what year he came cannot be said with certainty, though a 1641 or early 1642 arrival seems likeliest
Just from the typical ages of men coming to America, it is assumed that John was born in England possibly about 1620 and came to America at about age 20. He settled and grew tobacco near the Blackwater River northwest of present day Windsor, Isle of Wight County. His will is in the Herring book (and I have seen it abstracted in published sources). It was proved 10 Jun 1672. He gave his son Anthony livestock, a gun, housewares and half the tobacco crop then growing, but no land. It gave everything else to his wife Marjorie and one young heifer to John Whitfield.
The mention of John Whitfield in the will hints that Marjorie may have been Marjorie Whitfield prior to her marriage to John, likely a widow.
John Whitfield is mentioned two more times in early Isle of Wight wills. When his mother dies in 1675, she leaves everything to John Whitfield, orphan, and designates Clement Creswell as more or less the guardian for John. She calls Clement John’s father-in-law. Your father-in-law is your spouse’s father, but the assumption is John was still a minor so obviously he was not married. The use of the word father-in-law here meant something different to Marjorie. Then when Clement Creswell writes his will in 1682, he passes everything that Marjorie held on to John Whitfield. There were several men named Whitfield among the earliest settlers of Virginia.
In any event, John Whitfield must have been quite young in 1672, meaning that Marjorie could not have been Anthony’s mother, so John must have been married earlier to someone whose name is not known.