William Morril of Moultonborough

Graves/Morrill Gravestone
Bean Cemetery
Moultonborough, NH

William & Betsey Morrill Gravemarker

William Morrill was born in Berwick, Maine 1765, son to William Morrill and Rachel Warren of Berwick.

As mentioned in other blog posts, all Morrill families appear to descend from one of two English immigrants:  

1. John Morrell of Kittery, ME (1640-1723), a Quaker who came originally from Ireland, it is thought, and who was a founder of North Berwick.  Pretty much all Morrill/Morrill families coming from York County Maine (many of whom migrated to southern New Hampshire) descend from John.
2. Abraham Morrill of Salisbury, MA (1615-1662), who came originally from Essex, England

As these folks migrated all over New England, the spelling of the names became interchangeable, so the way a current family member may be spelled doesn't necessarily directly tie to the founder that you may think.

Anyhow, William Morrell (1765-1852) was the 2nd great grandson of John Morrell of Kittery.  In November of 1781, at the very young age of 16, he enlisted in the Revolutionary War.  He enlisted in  Berwick, joining Captain William Mills' & Colonel John Brooks' 7th Massachusetts Regiment.  He served a period of two years, and was furloughed in June 1783 at West Point, but he stayed on a few more months and returned to Berwick in November of that year.

William's Regiment saw plenty of action in the Revolution:  the Battles of Saratoga, the Cherry Valley massacre, and the Sullivan Expedition.  However, William's pension paperwork declares that he himself saw no battles.  I wonder why, but he was 16 through 18 years old at the time.

When he returned to Berwick, he married Elizabeth Tiney of Berwick in 1784.  They immediately moved to Moultonborough, New Hampshire at this time.  Many folks from Southern Maine were leaving for cheaper southern New Hampshire after the Revolution.  Berwick's location directly on the Salmon Falls River made it a natural jumping-off point for exploring adjacent territories in Strafford County.  New towns were forming, land was abundant and cheap, and new jobs were being created.

William's little brother Jotham was 12 years old when William departed Berwick.  He would follow soon enough, as he appears living next door to his brother for the 1800 Moultonborough Census.

1800 US Census - Moultonborough, NH

William and Betsy had nine children in Moultonborough:

1. Lydia
2. Rachel 
3. William (died young)
4. Timothy
5. Betsey
6. William
7. Charlotte
8. Joseph
9. Sewell

In 1818, William applied for pension, and he went through a pretty rigorous review process by the Town of Moultonborough.  His old military buddies, Jacob Hodsdon and Robard Tripp had to verify in sworn statements that they had served with him in the 7th Regiment.  In 1820, he finally got his pension.

William lived his remaining years in Moultonboro, and died in 1852, surviving his wife and five of his nine children.  For his final years, he was living with his daughter Charlotte and her husband Jacob Graves.

William and Betsy are buried at Bean Cemetery in Moultonboro, sharing a grave with the Graves family.  I still haven't figured out where his brother Jotham is buried - but he moved to Tuftonboro by 1850 and was listed as a pauper on the Census.  I doubt that the Graves family allowed William's brother to be buried there with William.