John Herbert Merry was the first-born child of Herbert and Selena (Raven) Merry. He was born 8 March 1895 in Woodland, Maine. Here's his birth record:
When John was almost two years old, Selena gave birth to Otto Merry, but sadly he passed away at two months old. The following year, John's sister Ruby was born. The 1900 census shows Herbert, Selena, John and Ruby living in Woodland, Maine. See lines 12–15 in the image below:
Soon after the census, John's sister, Bernice, was born in Woodland on 13 August 1900. In 1909, Herbert purchased a farm in Thorndike, Maine and the family moved to Waldo county. The 1910 census shows the Merry family on lines 2–6, with John's half-brother George Henry Carson living with them and on line 7:
John registered for the draft during World War I. His registration card:
Later that same year, he married Sadie Jane Dyer on 26 Oct 1917 in Belfast, Maine. Here are the two sides of their marriage record:
The first of John and Sadie's children, Earl John Merry, was born in Thorndike on 13 September 1918.
The family of three appears on the 1920 census in Thorndike, where they were renting a farm, on lines 55–57 in the image below:
John Herbert Merry Jr. was born in Thorndike on 13 June 1921 and Ina Florence Merry was very nearly his "Irish twin", joining the family on 7 July 1922.
In 1923, the family hit a rough patch financially and the bank foreclosed on their Thorndike property. This is one of the notices that was published in the paper:
After the foreclosure, the Merrys relocated to Searsport, Maine, where their next two children were born; Mildred Anna Merry on 18 September 1924 and Elwood Leslie Merry on 23 April 1926. After the addition of Elwood, they may have needed more space, because according to a notice in Searsport local news section of The Republican Journal from 16 September 1926, "John Merry and family have moved into the Mosman house, so called, on Goodell Street".
John and Sadie's sixth child, Ervin Edgar Merry, was born 14 October 1927 in Belfast.
The Republican Journal's North Searsport local news reported "John Merry has moved to Camden" on 21 March 1929. However, the 1930 census shows the family living on Commercial Street in nearby Rockport, Maine. John was selling fish at this point. See lines 76–83 below:
Ruth Hazel Merry was born in Belfast on 6 January 1932. The 1940 census says that they were living in Belfast in 1935, but they must have moved back to Searsport by 1936 because they suffered a terrible house fire there in February of that year:
An update was published the following week:
The 1940 census found the family living in Northport, Maine and John was still a fish merchant. They family was spread across two pages. See most of the family on lines 74–80 in the image below:
The youngest, Ruth, is by herself at the top of the next page on line 1:
The eighth and final child born to John and Sadie, Shirlene Carol, was born on 24 December 1940 and then passed away just two days later, making Christmas 1940 her only full day.
During the 1940s, four of the Merry children would get married and move out to start their own families; Ina married Irving Moulton in June 1940, Earl married Hazel Moulton in 1941, John Jr. married Florence West in 1946 and Elwood married Delores Surek in 1948.
By the time of the 1950 census, John and Sadie were living in Belfast with children Mildred, Ervin, Ruth and their grandson, Paul. See lines 9–14:
The last three children at home would soon fly the nest; Ruth married Herman Robbins in September 1950, Mildred married Lloyd Sylvester in November 1950 and Ervin married Faustina Thompson in 1951.
The 1950s weren't kind to John health-wise. He and Sadie also appear to have moved to Swanville, as the following three notes were all in the Swanville news section of The Republican Journal.
It sounds like John might have suffered what we now call a TIA (Transient Ischemic Attack), because two weeks later, the paper reported "John H. Merry Sr., who suffered a severe ill turn a week ago, is much better."
He had to have an appendectomy in 1952:
He was seriously injured by a mower in 1955:
Despite this run of bad luck, John would go on to live nearly another 40 years!
In late 1957, John and Sadie celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary:
At some point, John and Sadie divorced. I can't find a record or a mention of it in the paper, but based on the following... I'm guessing it was spring of 1966:
The following year, he married Arline Eleanor Randall in Imperial, California on 27 January 1967. They appear on the last line of the 7th grouping in the record below:
In 1968, John suffered another house fire, but luckily this time it was an unoccupied rental property:
In 1991, the Bangor Daily News ran a big article featuring John:
John Herbert Merry Sr. passed away on 12 July 1993 in Bangor, Maine. His obituary:
John was laid to rest in Center Cemetery in Thorndike with his first wife, Sadie Dyer, who had passed away twenty years earlier in 1973.
If you see any mistakes or know of information that isn't included here, please