Nicholas Meriwether I
© The Meriwether Society, Inc.

Nicholas Meriwether I was born in 1631 Norfolk county, England, and was baptized on 9 Aug 1631 in Little Walsingham Parish. He was the eldest child of John Merywether and his wife Joane Browne. According to Norfolk church records he had younger siblings John, Anne, Fayth, Joane and Francis. His father was a Fellow at New College, Oxford (1618-1629), until he became Rector of the Stratton St. Michael Parish from 1629 until 1653. John died sometime between 1653 and 1660 onboard a ship sailing to Virginia, reportedly “to join his son already there.”

Based on the careers of Nicholas in Virginia, he was obviously well educated, like his father. Where he received his education and training has not yet been determined.

Nicholas arrived in Jamestown, Virginia, about 1652; as no record of him being transported has been located, it is possible he was among the officials sent with the Parliamentary Fleet to force the surrender of Virginia to the Cromwellian government. The first confirmation of his existence in Virginia was 4 July 1653 when he patented 300 acres of land in Lancaster County. From at least 13 Oct 1653 until 13 Dec 1656, Nicholas served as a clerk of the Quarter Court and Governor’s Council for the Colony in Jamestown under Gov. Richard Bennett and deputy governor William Claiborne. Although many researchers state he was clerk of Surry County, there is no evidence that he was.

Sometime in the early to mid 1660’s, after the English monarchy was reestablished, Nicholas removed to Surry County and seems to have retired from public office to pursue land speculation and tobacco production and shipping. Since his entire government career was during the reign of Cromwell and he ceased upon restoration of the throne, this seems to contradict those who claim Nicholas was one of the “Cavaliers”, supporters of the Crown who came to the Colony to escape persecution.

Nicholas lived in Jamestown for a number of years, before moving to Surry county about 1666; that is where it is believed he reared his family. While there the family worshiped at Southwark Parish Church, where Nicholas served as a vestryman. Rev. John Clough was a minister there and married a daughter of Nicholas.

The Meriwether Society believes that Nicholas married twice, first about 1660 and second about 1664. He had one daughter, Elizabeth, with his first wife, and four sons and a daughter with the second wife.

Nicholas died 19 Dec 1678, probably in Surry county. His wife was appointed the executrix of his estate. Where he is buried is unknown.

For a detailed account of the life and accomplishments of Nicholas Meriwether I, see “The Meriwether Family in America: Volume I, The Colonists”, published in 2017 by The Meriwether Society, Inc.

Headrights Claimed
Nicholas was engaged in buying and selling land patents early in his career as Clerk of the Quarter Court. As a consequence of his land speculation activities, Nicholas supposedly claimed headrights for importing 264 persons.

There is an entry for a “Nicho. Merror”, imported in 1648 by Richard Lee, Gent. It is possible, though not likely, this is Nicholas Meriwether himself.

Marriage(s) of Nicholas Meriwether I
Unlike most Meriwether genealogies, the Meriwether Society believes that Nicholas married twice, the first time on or before 1660 and the second time about 1664. The name of the second wife is known to be Elizabeth and it is believed that is also the name of the first wife.

In 1660, “N. Merriwether” and “E. Merriwether” witnessed a document for Thomas Woodhouse.14 It is believed that these individuals are Nicholas and his first wife Elizabeth, establishing that he was married by 1660. By this marriage he had one known daughter, Elizabeth. His first wife died sometime before 1664.

About 1664 he married a second time. We know her name was Elizabeth as she was named as the Executrix of his will in 1678. She is the mother of the remaining five children. She is probably much younger that Nicholas, as she remarried after his death and had another child about 1681.

The maiden name of the wives of Nicholas are not known, though family tradition, first recorded by William R. Griffith in 1899,15 maintains that Nicholas was married to an Elizabeth Woodhouse. Many genealogies claim she was the daughter of Henry Woodhouse, but this is not possible, as his daughter Elizabeth married Giles Collins before 1655 and was alive and bearing children in the 1660s. It is possible that she was the daughter of Thomas Woodhouse of Jamestowne, but there is no evidence Thomas was ever married. It is also possible she was a relative of Thomas.

Proof
The logical proof that there were two wives is this: The 1699 Will of Henry Hartwell named the living Meriwether children of Nicholas and Elizabeth, as well as Elizabeth’s daughter with second husband Col. William Browne, as nephews and nieces of his wife, Jane. It has been proven that Jane is not the sister of Nicholas and therefore must be the sister of his wife Elizabeth. NOT named in Hartwell’s Will is the oldest child of Nicholas, Elizabeth (Meriwether) Clough Clements. This Elizabeth was alive in 1695 when Henry and Jane returned to England and she was probably alive in the late 1690s when the Will was written. There are several possible explanations for why she was not mentioned in his Will, when all other living Meriwether and Browne nephews and nieces were. First is because Elizabeth Clements was NOT the niece of Hartwell’s wife Jane. That implies that she had a different mother than Elizabeth (?) Meriwether Browne, mother of the last five children. If so, Nicholas I married twice and Elizabeth was the child of the first marriage. A second explanation is, of course, that Hartwell knew Elizabeth Clements was dead when he wrote his Will. Or maybe Hartwell just left her off.

Residences
Nicholas was born and raised in the county of Norfolk, England, though the family also spent time in London. During his early years in Virginia he almost certainly lived in Jamestown, where he worked as a clerk of the Quarter Court and also engaged in land speculation. His last years were spent in Surry County as a planter and tobacco exporter.

Norfolk and London
Nicholas’ father was Rector at Stratton St. Michael Parish in Norfolk during Nicholas’ childhood. In later years John was sent to debtor’s prison in London; the family usually accompanied the inmates. Where Nicholas lived and was educated after Norfolk is not yet known.

Jamestown
Upon arrival about 1652, Nicholas almost certainly lived in Jamestown, where for a number of years he was a clerk for the government. His permanent residence there probably ended when he bought an estate in Surry County in 1666.

Island House
About 1661, Nicholas bought “Island House” on Jamestown Island from Elizabeth Kingsmill and her husband Nathaniel Bacon, a relative of the Bacon who started “Bacon’s Rebellion”; a marker on Jamestown Island identifies the “Island House” location today. A fine brick house had been built on the site, but it was destroyed in a hurricane in 1656. Nicholas built a tobacco barn to support his growing tobacco export business but whether he lived there is not known. His son, Francis II, inherited the site and later sold it to William Sherwood. It eventually was acquired by Richard Ambler and many documents associated with the land may be found in the Ambler papers at the Library of Congress. In 1999 members of the Meriwether Society were able to hike to the site of the old house in an epic journey of discovery known as “The Great Tick Trek”.

Indian Spring
About 1666, Nicholas purchased “Indian Spring” in Surry county from William Seaward and is believed to have resided there the remainder of his life. Surry county tithable records show that brother Francis I also lived, and probably died, there. Son Nicholas Meriwether II inherited the property and in 1693 sold it to his brother-in-law, Capt. Francis Clements. The Clements family lived there for many years before moving to Isle of Wight County. Francis Clements Jr. inherited the property and upon his death in 1721 gave the land to the Southwark Parish to be used as a glebe. A fine brick house was built for this purpose and is still in existence, but now as a private home.

Nicholas I owned many more plantations and land parcels. For a more complete list, see “The Meriwether Family in America: Volume I, The Colonists”.

Children
Nicholas Meriwether is known to have had at least six children: Elizabeth, Nicholas, Frances, Jane, Thomas and William. They are all proven to have existed by various primary sources. It is believed that Elizabeth was the oldest and the only child of the first marriage.

Many people claim descent from a David Meriwether, whose daughter Susannah married Nicholas Catlett about 1669. There is no record that NM1 had a son David, nor even that the maiden name of Nicholas Catlett’s wife was Meriwether.

Death Information
Nicholas’ death date was supposedly found in the Bible of Nicholas Meriwether II, in possession of descendants in Louisville, Ky, in the late 1800’s. Efforts to locate this Bible record in the late 1900’s have failed.

Nicholas was presumably residing at “Indian Spring” in Surry county at the time of his death, as he was an active Vestryman in the Southwark Parish Church. He also still owned “Island House” on Jamestowne Island and probably maintained a residence on the island, as did many other Surry county planters of the day. Where he died and where he was buried are not known.

Many published and unpublished Meriwether genealogies claim that Nicholas died in Lynnhaven Parish. There is no historical evidence to indicate that Nicholas ever lived in that Parish.

Indian Spring Purchase 16

3 May 1666. Wm Seward to Nicholas Meriweather, James City Island in Virginia, 300 acres of land in Surry County commonly called the Indian Spring, being part of a greater quantity taken up by Thomas Swann, Junior, beginning at White Marsh and Indian Sprint to Coll. Jordan’s corner tree… to Ready Branch issuing out of the Main Branch granted to Wm. Seward by patent 29 September 1664, to him the said Wm. Seward and by sd Wm. Seward to Nicholas Meriwether, and Wm. Seward’s wife Elizabeth, in right of her one-third, etc.

Wit.: Roger Rawlings, Thos. Hart.

Lancaster County Deeds & Wills
- To all to whome &c. Whereas by ye Artikles date &c. Now Know yee yt: I ye sd Ricj: Bennett Esqr with ye consent of ye Councell of State acordingly give & grant unto RICHARD MERIWETHER a tract of four hundred acres of land scituate or beinge in ye Countye of Lancaster on ye southside of Rapa: River NNW on ye land of Nich: Dale, SSW into ye WOods & ESE on a Creeke devidinge this land & ye land of James Bonner, the sd Land &c. dated at James Cittye the 10th of February 1653.
RI: Bennett
WM: Claiborne, Secr
Recognitr: 6yh Febry Recordr: 11th die 1654

BE IT KNOWNE unto all men by these pr:sents yt: I NICJ: MERIWETHER for a valuable consideracon indebted for doe bargaine sell assigne & set over unto HUMP: HAGETT his heirs & assignes for ever one p:cel of land contg : 400 acres in Rapa. River as by a Patt: to

Lancaster County Court 25 January 1659/60

It appeareing to this Cort that Charles Hill (deced) stands indebted unto Nich Merywether in three hundred & sixtie pounds of tobacco & ca: or goods to the value thereof & alsoe in eight paire of shooes by two specialties. It is ordered that the same bee paide according to the tenor of the sd specialties out of the sd: Hill his Estate with costs.

It is apparent that Nicholas Meriwether had a will, based on legal actions of his widow and children in later years. No such will has been found in the largely intact Surry county archives, so it is likely that the will was recorded in Jamestown and was among the records destroyed during the Civil War. Though Nicholas was residing in Surry county at the time of his death, many Surry residents kept records and an additional residence in Jamestown at this time, so this is not an uncommon situation. We do know the following:

Nicholas II received “Indian Spring” in Surry, which he subsequently sold to brother-in-law Capt. Francis Clements. It was then inherited by Francis Clements Jr., only child of Francis Clements and Elizabeth Meriwether.

Francis II received “lsland House” on Jamestown Island. He subsequently sold the property to William Sherwood. The documents for the original sale to Nicholas by Nathaniel Bacon and Elizabeth Kingsmill, the sale by Francis to Sherwood, and other documents related to Jamestown Island, may be found in the Ambler Papers collection at the Library of Congress.

Nicholas and Elizabeth, his first wife, probably lived on Jamestown Island. About 1661, Nicholas bought the 80 acre "Island House" site from Nathaniel Bacon and Elizabeth Kingsmill and built a tobacco barn on the property. A large brick home is known to have been on the property, but was believed destroyed in the great hurricane of 1658. Whether Nicholas built a replacement structure for a home, or continued to live in Jamestown City, is not known.

Their daughter Elizabeth is the only known child, though given the mortality rate of the time it is possible they had additional children who died in infancy.