Jane SHERWOOD
1636 - 1694 (57 years)-
Name Jane SHERWOOD Birth 3 Dec 1636 , Fairfield, Connecticut, USA 
[1] Gender Female Note - This note is from Jim Merrit, descendant of Charles E. Merritt (1888-1966). This Jane is not Jane Sherwood, as a number of genealogies have it listed. Who exactly Thomas Merritt's first wife was, I don't know. Following is part of an e-mail I wrote to other Merritt decendants, with the evidence as to why Jane Sherwood is not Thomas Merritt's wife (as I see it). Thomas Sherwood, the father to Jane Sherwood, came from Ipwich England in 1636, with his wife and their four youngest children. According to a Sherwood genealogy (Daniel Sherwood and his paternal Ancestors), Thomas Sherwood's older children 'were left behind to come later, it is thought with Robert Seabrook, in 1638/9--namely: Jane, Tamsen,... Mary, and Sarah; though we have seen it stated that Jane [Sherwood] married (in England), a Mr. Thompson, or Thomasine. The date Jane is thought to have come over from England his about 24 years before the Merritt records have it. If this were to follow, Jane would have been about 2 according to the date we have her born, and hardly married to Thomas Merritt, or a Mr Thompson/Thomasine (as listed in the Sherwood source above). So, Jane must have either: been born much earlier than the date we have her born at (since she was one of the older four of eight children), or, she must have come much later, around the time we thought Thomas Merritt immigrated. If she was born much earlier, and did come to America around 1638/39, it seems more doubtful that she would have been married to Thomas, and had so many children with him. Since she must have been older that Thomas Sherwood Jr., who was 10 in 1636. He was the oldest of the Sherwood children to come over from Ipwich with his father and wife. So, Jane would have had to be at least about 12 in 1636, which puts her at 36 when she married Thomas Merritt in 1656. That's a little old to start having a dozen kids. Not a reasonable possibility. If she came over later with Thomas Merritt, somewhere between 1650-1662, that does not seem right either. Thomas Sherwood came over in 1636. That's a fact. I think it must be, as the Sherwood genealogy says, that Thomas Sherwood left his oldest four children in England to come later. We have Jane Sherwood as being born in 1636. I'm sure that her mother and father would not have left an infant in England while they packed up and moved to America. So, where does that leave us? Either Jane was born much later, and possibly Thomas Merritt, as we really don't know for sure when he was born. Though it is possible, I doubt that back then a 22 year old Thomas Merritt would have married a women much older than him. More support for this is all the children he had with his first wife. She couldn't have been much older than him to have all these children. From the way this is starting to look, according to my logic anyway, is that Thomas Merritt's first wife was *not* Jane Sherwood, as the Revised Merritt Records state. This is who my great uncle Othneil Merritt had as his first wife as well, though I don't know where he got the information. I don't think he got his information from the Revised Merritt records, as a number of dates are different, and Othneil's records are lacking many dates. I guess this leaves me wondering if we really have any evidence that Jane Sherwood was the first wife of Thomas Merritt. It appears very unlikely, given the above. I tend to believe his first wife was another Jane, who's maiden name remains unknown.
- Role: Principal 2
Name Jane Merritt Death 4 Jan 1694 , Rye, Westchester County, New York, USA Person ID I8143 Ancestral Trails Last Modified 13 Apr 2024
Father Thomas SHERWOOD, b. 1586, , Ipswich, Suffolk, England d. 21 Jul 1655, , Fairfield, Connecticut, USA (Age 69 years) Mother Alice SEABROOK, b. 23 Apr 1587, ,,, England d. 1639, , Stamford, Connecticut, USA (Age 51 years) Marriage 21 Oct 1604 ,,, England Family ID F1616 Group Sheet | Family Chart
Family Thomas MERRITT, b. May 1634, ,,, England d. 10 Nov 1725, , Rye, Westchester County, New York, USA (Age ~ 91 years) Marriage 3 Dec 1656 Children 1. John MERRITT, b. 10 Oct 1657, ,,, England d. 10 Apr 1726, , Rye, New York, USA (Age 68 years)2. Alice MERRITT, b. 1 Jan 1659/60, ,,, England d. 10 Jun 1680 (Age 20 years)3. Joseph MERRITT, b. 6 Jun 1662, ,,, England d. 12 May 1754 (Age 91 years)4. Ephriam MERRITT, b. 5 Apr 1664, , Wethersfield, Hartford County, Connecticut, USA 5. Jane MERRITT, b. 7 Nov 1666, , Wethersfield, Hartford County, Connecticut, USA 6. Sergeant Thomas Jr. MERRITT, b. 31 Jan 1669/70, , Wethersfield, Hartford County, Connecticut, USA d. 30 Jan 1718/19, , Rye, New York, USA (Age 48 years)7. Samuel MERRITT, b. 21 Aug 1672, , Wethersfield, Hartford County, Connecticut, USA 8. Joanna MERRITT, b. 18 Nov 1672, , Rye, New York, USA 9. Nathan MERRITT, b. Aft 1673, , Rye, New York, USA 10. Rose MERRITT, b. 17 Apr 1674, , Rye, New York, USA 11. Stephen MERRITT, b. 26 Feb 1676/77, , Rye, New York, USA 12. Edward MERRITT, b. 10 Mar 1678/79, , Rye, New York, USA 13. Elizabeth MERRITT, b. 14 Apr 1683, , Wethersfield, Hartford County, Connecticut, USA 14. Isaac MERRITT, b. 3 May 1688, , Wethersfield, Hartford County, Connecticut, USA 15. Robert MERRITT, b. 19 Jan 1689/90, , Rye, New York, USA Family ID F1614 Group Sheet | Family Chart Last Modified 1 Sep 2025
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