BARTLETT FAMILY

The Bartletts are decended from the immigrant, Robert Bartlett, a cooper, who came to the Plymouth colony on a ship named the Anne in 1623, when he was 19 years old.  He was born in Puddletown, County Dorset, England.  Six years later he married Mary Warren, the daughter of Pilgrim Richard Warren. 

He also arrived on the same ship as Myles Standish's second wife, Barbara, with whom Myles had all of his children.  This line is also related to Myles Standish, through Barbara (see below). Interestingly, Richard Warren's family (whom he left behind when he sailed on the the Mayflower), also arrived on the Anne in 1623.

Barbara and Robert had 7 children in Plymouth Colony.  The Bartletts on this site are decended from their son, Joseph Bartlett, born 1665 in Plymouth Colony.

The Bartletts remained in Plymouth until sometime between 1809 and 1846, when Jesse Bartlett and his 2nd wife, Mary "Polly" Hovey, moved to Hocking County in Ohio with the children of his first wife, Betse Drew. One son, Sylvanus Bartlett, married Amanda Bingham in New Plymouth, Ohio.  Amanda was a direct decendant of Myles Standish, John Alden and William Brewster, all of whom arrived on the Mayflower in 1620.  The Binghams have a long history in the early colonies as well.

Sylvanus and Amanda had 9 children in New Plymouth, including William Lewis Bartlett, born in 1839.  William fought for the Union in the Civil War and was shot in the chest in September 1863, during the Battle of Chickamauga (Murfreesboro).  As he lay injured in the hospital, he captured his reminiscences of the war and his experience.  The original copy of these reminiscenses is still in the possession of the family.  He and his wife, Mary Margaret Graham, had 6 children.  One daughter, Jane Bingham Bartlett was born in 1874 in New Plymouth Ohio.

Jane married Charles Walter Merritt, MD, who was a prominent doctor in St. Joseph, Michigan, in 1909.  They settled in this town where they had all 3 of their children, Robert Walter Merritt (1913), Elizabeth Jane Merritt (1916) and Charles William Merritt (1916).  Robert married Nancy McLellan in 1935.  They had 2 children, Thomas Walter Merritt and Dorothy Jane Merritt while living in Plainfield, New Jersey.

MERRITT FAMILY

The Merritts decend from Mark Merritt, born in 1784 in Herstmonceaux, East Sussex, England. He married Margaret Ann Holmes.   Together they had 2 children.

Their oldest child, Mark Merritt immigrated to Chicago, Illinois, in 1842, when he was 32 years old.  Interestingly, he was described in a book about New York as having gone to sea as a sailor at 12 years old.  He married Anna Maria Wynd in Chicago in 1844.  It is said that Mark rode out of the Chicago Fire, in 1871, on a freight train, two years before his death at 62 years old.

Mark and his wife Anna had 7 children.  Their fifth child, Charles Wesencraft Merritt was born in 1852 in Chicago, Illinois.  Charles Wesencraft Merritt did many things in life including being a Congregationalist minister with a publishing company in 1900 in Chicago.  He married Anna Theresa Hillier, from Athens Ohio, in 1873 in Chicago.  Together they had 5 children.  

One of their sons, their third child, was Charles Walter Merritt, M.D., born in 1880.  He married Jane Bingham Bartlett in 1909 at Niagra Falls, New York.  By 1913, the young couple had relocated to St. Joseph, Michigan. 

Charles opened a medical practice in that city as a medical doctor.  The couple had 3 children in that city, where they each passed away in 1957 (Jane) and 1960 (Charles).

Their oldest child, Dr. Robert Walter Merritt, Ph.D., was a chemist who became prominent as a vice president of the National Starch Company. 

He and his team each earned an Army/Navy "E" for their effort leading an effort to make glue that was used in the 1941 D-Day invasion of France during World War II.

This family is well documented and many reminiscences exist about the Merritts.

Continued in column 2...

MCLELLAN FAMILY

The McLellans decend from Patrick McLellan, who lived in Aberfeldy, Perth, Scotland.  His son, John McLellan, was born in 1742 in the same town. 

In 1774, John immigrated to the British Colonies and settled in Grafton County New Hampshire just as the American Revolution was going to break out.  New Hampshire was created only 5 years prior to his arrival, so this was largely unsettled land.  When he was 34 years old, he served in the American Revolutionary War as a private in the New Hampshire line. 

Members of this group fought in the Seige of Boston as well as the battles of Trenton and Princeton.  After the War, in 1786, he married Dolly Varnum in Thornton, Grafton County New Hampshire in 1786.  The couple had 15 children in Thornton.

Their 12th child, Joseph McLellan, was born in 1811 in Thornton New Hampshire.  By 1834, at 23 years old, he purchased land in Elkhart, Indiana.  He married Fidelia Reed in 1835 in LaPorte County Indiana.  In 1839, they moved to Door Village in LaPorte County Indiana with several of their 7 children.  By 1850, while living in Door Village Joseph was seen as "one of the most successful and substantial farmers, noted for his moral worth and sterling integrity." 

John and Fidelia's first child, Andrew McLellan, was born in 1836 in LaPorte County Indiana.  He was a horse breeder in Door Village Indiana.  He spent the rest of his life in Scipio Township, in LaPorte County Indiana.  When he was 21 years old, he married Alice Crawford.  They had 5 children in LaPorte County and Andrew died in Door Village.

Their second child, W. Fletcher McLellan was born in 1859.  He married Ellen Murdock Fisher in 1880 in LaPorte County Indiana. 

Together they had 5 children.  By the time he was 23 years old, he was a seller of education books and supplies in Vinton Iowa.  At some point after that, he developed ALS (amyotropic lateral sclerosis), which plagued him and his family for the rest of his life.

Ralph Edward McLellan, their second child, was born in 1882 in Vinton Iowa.  By 1903, when he was 21 years old, Ralph was a oil salesman for Standard Oil in Niles Michigan.  He married Reta Z. East in 1910, when he was 27 years old.  Together they had two children, Nancy McLellan (1911) and Phillip McLellan (1920) in Auburn Indiana, where the family had moved after Ralph was promoted at the Standard Oil Company.

EAST FAMILY

The Easts are decended from William East who lived in Charlotte Virginia where he married Frances Cochran in 1755.  Their son, William East II was born in 1773 in Surrey County, North Carolina.

William East II married Rachel Talbot in Greyson County, Virginia, in 1797.  Together they had 9 children.  In 1806, William and Rachel were accepted into the Quaker Meeting in Westfield, North Carolina.  

Their first child, James East, was born in 1804 in Greyson County.  He married Anna Jones when he was 20 years old in Greyson County.  Like his father, he was a lifelong Quaker who moved to Cass County, Michigan and provided land for the Quaker Meeting House and Birch Lake Cemetery. 

The community was invovled in the underground railroad helping slaves from the south move north.  The couple had 10 children.

James and Anna's 5th child, Calvin Kermit East was born in 1834 in Cass County, Michigan.  He married Mable Reynolds in 1854 in Cass Township in Cass County, Michigan.  The couple had 6 children.

Their 3rd child, Rollie Mark East was born in 1862.  In 1883, he married Sarah Margaret Wright in Calvin Township, Michigan.  Together they had two children, Bion Rose East (1885) and Reta Z. East (1889).  When he was 56 years old, in 1918, he owned a laundry in Benton Harbor, Michigan.  Later, in 1930, he was a salesman for Packer's Meat in the town of Niles, Michigan.  Their son, Bion, was a dentist.  He came up with the idea of putting Vitamin D in milk to help children with their dental health.  As a result of his making this happen, he was made the dean of the Columbia School of Dentistry.

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Explore the East Family
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