April, 2008

Event: The Association of the Descendants of Henry Mershon, Inc.
Date: Saturday closest to September 20th
Location: Lawrenceville, New Jersey
Information: Organized at Trenton, New Jersey, on September 8th, 1923. The Association meets annually in Lawrenceville, New Jersey.

Mershon Name
MARCHAND (French) - MARCHANT (Middle-English) - MERCHANT (Modern-English) - MARSCHAN (Dutch) - Mershon (Phonetic)

President: Clare Mershon
Vice-President: Open
Treasurer: Joan Swearer
Immediate-Past-President: James Mershon
Editor: James C. Mershon
Corresponding Secretary: Beverly Mershon
Recording Secretary: Gayle Murphy
Members-at Large: Noel Barton, Elaine Tredinnick
Genealogist: William Trott
Parliamentarian: Lallie Benkoski
Board of Trustees: James Mershon, Clara Buroff, and Lallie Benkoski
Executive Committee: (elected in 2006)
    James Mershon      Betty Butler
    Clara Buroff       Clare Mershon
    Lallie Benkoski    Noel Barton        Michael Murphy
    William Trott      Joanne Witiak      David Mershon

Mershon 2007 Annual Meeting

Business Meeting: 32 persons attending our annual meeting at the Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville on September 29, 2007. For complete minutes, see www.mershonassoc.com

Constitution and Bylaw Amendments - After thoughtful discussion that included reading comments submitted by three members not able to attend our meeting, we adopted the proposed amendments allowing future annual meetings to held at places other than Lawrenceville, NJ, and at times other than the Saturday closest to September 20 (Important note: Our 2008 annual meeting will be held at the Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville on September 20, 2008). Also, we amended our Constitution to specifically include adopted members of our Mershon family.

Morning Program: Della (Nash) Garrabrant described the history of the Princessville Tavern operated by her ancestor Webster Mershon beginning in May 1837. This tavern, built in 1808, was a well known landmark south of Lawrenceville on the Princeton Pike toll road. Stagecoaches traveling from Philadelphia to New York regularly stopped there. The tavern was last operated in 1918 by Della's great-grandmother, Susan (Mershon) Pierson, a daughter of Webster Mershon. Della showed 1970 era photos of the building which survived until it was destroyed by fire in January 1982. The site is now vacant with only an adjoining cemetery to mark the former location.

PRINCESSVILLE TAVERN 1920'S ERA

Afternoon Program: We loaded on a bus at 1 pm for a guided tour of the Second Battle of Trenton and the Princeton Battlefield. Our history guide was David Emerson of "History on the Hoof.” We drove on Route 206 into Trenton, following the route taken by the British Army on January 2, 1777 when they marched from Princeton to Trenton to attack the American Continental Army. We stopped in Trenton at Mill Hill Park along Assunpink Creek to view the scene of the Second Battle of Trenton and hear David's description of the events. We saw the Douglas house where Washington met with his officers to plan their night march to Princeton.

We followed the route of the American night march from Trenton to Princeton on what is now Hamilton Avenue in South Trenton. We crossed Route 1 at the Quaker Bridge Mall, and then followed the Delaware Canal to the Princeton Battlefield State Park. After walking the site, we drove into Princeton on Nassau Street to see the FitzRandolph Gate and Nassau Hall on the Princeton University campus.

Our tour returned to Lawrenceville on the Princeton Pike where we passed the former site of the Princessvillle Tavern, the subject of our morning program.

 
David Emerson, the re-enactor guide for our 2007 Tour of the Second Battle of Trenton and the Battle of Princeton. David is dressed in an American Continental Army officer's uniform

At Princeton University where the Battle of Princeton ended on the morning of January 3, 1777. We are on the 4.5 acres donated in 1753 by Nathaniel and Rebekah (Mershon) FitzRandolph to the
College of New Jersey, which later became Princeton University. The FitzRandolph Gate is in the background.

2007 Group Picture

Dinner and Evening Meeting: We gathered at 6:30 pm for dinner at the Clarion Palmer Inn Garden Room. Following dinner, Noel Barton announced a proposed slate of new officers for next year (election was unanimous):

    President: Clare Mershon, Portland, OR
    Treasurer: Joan Swearer, Rahway, NJ
    Recording Secretary: Gayle Murphy, Simsbury, CT

Noel Barton reported on his work preparing DVD's showing significant family documents, Family Bibles and photographs from our Mershon archives. The documents and Family Bible DVD's are completed. The DVD of our photographs is still in progress. Thanks to Noel, our archives are much better organized and are more assessable to Mershon descendants through DVD's available through the Mershon Store.

Meet Your New Officers for 2008

President - Earl Clare Mershon of Portland, OR, is our new President for 2008. Clare replaces our longtime President, Dr. Jim Mershon, who energetically served from 2000 to 2007.

Clare and wife Sharon have been married for 31 years. They have one daughter, Susan, a 2007 architecture graduate from the University of Oregon. Susan now works as a beginning architect in Boston. Clare is an Oregon native, descended from the Andrew3 Mershon branch of our family. Clare's great-grandfather moved his family from Kentucky to near Portland, Oregon in 1889 where many descendants reside today.

Clare is an Oregon licensed Civil Engineer, retired following a 32 year Oregon Department of Transportation career and three years Navy service in the Civil Engineer Corps. Clare's retirement activities include serving as Church Treasurer and tutoring reading with Sharon at their nearby grade school. For the Mershon Association, Clare has worked on producing the Video Tour of the Andrew Mershon Tavern (2005), Mershon Family History In New Jersey video (2006), and the Andrew Mershon Tavern Album (2007).

Recording Secretary - Gayle Murphy of Simsbury, CT, is our new Recording Secretary for 2008. Gayle replaces Clare Mershon in this position.

Gayle and husband Michael are originally from Illinois. They have been married for 11 years. Gayle is a French language teacher for the Wilton Public Schools and Vice-President of the Alliance Francaise de Hartford. Michael is a Budget Analyst for the State of Connecticut Legislature. Michael is descended from the Andrew3 Mershon branch of our family.

Gayle and Michael's hobbies include world music, international cinema, and camping.
Treasurer -Joan (Buroff) Swearer of Rahway, NJ, is our new Treasurer for 2008. Joan replaces Beverly Mershon who temporarily served in this position after Grant Simmons resigned. Joan and husband Barry have been married for 18 years. They have one son, Dennis, age 17, a senior at Roselle Catholic High School in Roselle, NJ.

Besides being a wife and mom, Joan works part-time for an aerial photographer. Husband Barry is a welder on large turbines manufactured by the Siemens Corporation. In addition, Joan and Barry operate Swearer Welding, a part-time business. As a hobby, Joan and Barry restore old cars. They recently sold a restored 1934 Chevrolet and have just acquired a new restoration project, a 1948 Chevrolet Stylemaster, two-door sedan.

Joan is descended from the Henry Mershon III branch of our family. Joan's ancestors owned the Mershon Publishing Company in Rahway and New York City. Joan's parents, Nick and Clara Mershon) Buroff, served in the 1980's and 1990's as President, Treasurer, Genealogist and program planners for our Association. Nick and Clara organized the memorable 1985 Mershon Reunion at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.

MERSHON STORE

Mershon Genealogy Books

1. My Folks, 1946, 60 pages
2. Houghton Mershon and His Descendants, 1949, 24 pages
3. Peter Mershon and His Descendants, 1952, 60 pages
4. Henry Mershon III and His Descendants, 1953, 49 pages
5. Andrew Mershon and His Descendants, 1955, 117 pages
6. Thomas Mershon and His Descendants and Daughters of Henry II, 1957, 66 pages

Each of the above six books can be purchased for $9.00 per book, or $40 for the set of six. The Mershon Patriots pamphlet will be included free with purchase of the full set, or for $5 if purchased separately. Contact Bill Trott at WHTROTT@AOL.COM or write to him at 2800 Highway 297A Cantonment, FL 32533-7639.

New Book! - ANDREW MERSHON TAVERN ALBUM - For every Mershon family history buff, this album of Andrew Mershon tavern photographs was compiled for the Mershon Association by Clare Mershon in late 2007. The 23 page album contains a main floor plan, eight historic black and white exterior photographs plus
17 recent color photographs showing both the exterior and interior. There is a photograph of artifacts found on site and donated to the Mershon Association in 2006 by Elmer Smith, former owner and restorer of the tavern. Included are two notices from the 1779 New Jersey Gazette referring to Andrew Mershon and a section from a 1781 British army map showing the location of Mershon's Tavern as related to Trenton, Maidenhead (now Lawrenceville) and Princeton. You can order this new publication for $20 postpaid from Clare Mershon. Write Clare at 3809 NE 136th Place, Portland, OR 97230-2720 with your check or email him at ECMershon@aol.com  for more information.

Videos/ DVD's

1. VIDEO TOUR OF THE ANDREW MERSHON TAVERN - narrated by Elmer Smith, the longtime owner who carefully did the restoration. This 43 minute video was professionally recorded in 2005 and Studies the history of Andrew's ownership of the tavern. Mr. Smith sold the old tavern in 2006. Owning this video is valuable because of references to the Mershon family and because of the rich insights of colonial life at the time our ancestors lived in New Jersey. This is something you will want to own for yourself and use as gifts! It is available in DVD or VHS format for $20, including postage, from Clare Mershon. Write Clare at 3809 NE 136th Place, Portland, OR 97230-2720 with your check or email him at ECMershon@aol.com  for more information.

2. MERSHON FAMILY HISTORY IN NEW JERSEY - Video tour of the Lawrenceville (Upper) Cemetery; Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville with Mershon Room; Nassau Hall and FitzRandolph
Gate at Princeton University; and the Marie Louise "Weedie” Stokes house. The oldest part of Weedie's house was the ca. 1740 home of Houghton Mershon. Professionally recorded in 2006, the principle video narrators are Noel Barton, Dr. Jim Mershon, Weedie Stokes, and Grant Simmons. Trish Baker, Senior Writer for television programs and spouse of Grant Simmons directed the video shooting. This 44 minute video complements our popular 2005 Video Tour of the Andrew Mershon Tavern. This is an important addition to our Mershon archives. The featured sites are all significant parts of our legacy. The video recordings are superb and the narrations offer wonderful insights to our heritage. You can order this DVD for $25, including postage, from Clare Mershon, 3809 NE 136th Place, Portland, OR 97230-2720.

3. DOCUMENTS FROM THE MERSHON ASSOCIATION ARCHIVES' DVD contains most of our historic documents including old wills and parchment papers referred to by Lucille Mershon in our Mershon genealogy books. The information is instructive and valuable for research. This DVD is available for $20, including postage, and may be ordered from Noel Barton at 410 N. Main St., Farmington, Utah 84025 or nrbarton13@yahoo.com

4. MERSHON FAMILY BIBLES - DVD contains information from 23 Mershon Bibles. It contains the title pages of the bibles along with any page in the bible containing family information. Some are actual Bible records, others are photocopies of Bible records, and some are transcriptions of Bible records. They cover from 1705-1962. There are also extracts from family Bibles that are not in the Mershon Archives, but were submitted to the Association or its researchers and were included in the research files. This DVD is available for $20, including postage, and may be ordered from Noel Barton at 410 N. Main St., Farmington, Utah 84025 or nrbarton13@yahoo.com

Polo Shirt
This polo shirt with the Mershon crest was designed by Grant Simmons in 2006. The caption under the crest reads "The Mershon's - An American Family Since 1685." This attractive item is still available in small, medium, large, and extra large sizes. The price is $16.00, plus postage. Please contact Gayle Murphy, yankeemurphy@mac.com.

Mershon Crest
Full color crest is now available. The smaller crest is 5"x 6.5" and is free with a book purchase or purchase the large crest is 9.5"x12.5 for $10 (including postage and handling). Order from Bill Trott (read above for contact info).

Bill Trott to Retire as Mershon Historian/Genealogist

Bill Trott of Cantonment, FL, has announced his desire to retire soon as our Mershon Association Historian/ Genealogist. We all owe a debt of gratitude to Bill for performing this important job since 1990 when he started working with Clara Buroff to transfer our previous handwritten genealogy charts into a Personal Ancestry File computer database. By 1996, Bill had entered all the existing Mershon genealogy charts compiled over the previous 65 years into his computer and the paper charts were discontinued. The paper charts still exist in the Mershon Room at the Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville.

With new information continually being added, our Mershon family genealogy database now totals over 30,000 individual records. Bill says he still enjoys building the Mershon family database and helping family members research their Mershon ancestry. However, macular degeneration compounded by cataracts in both eyes has decreased Bill's ability to read. Therefore, Bill is ready to turn over this job to another family member with a strong interest to continue his work.

Bill has also been our primary contact for persons ordering Mershon genealogy books by mail. Bill has handled this assignment because the same persons contacting him for Mershon genealogy data often also order books. Possibly, this part of the job could be split off. Traditionally, the genealogist is a member of the Executive Committee.

Bill is willing to provide training as appropriate to the individual taking on this important job. If you are interested in being considered for this important position, please contact Clare Mershon at ECMershon@aol.com or phone him at (503) 252-7139.

THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Listed are the contributors for the past year. Cash contributions at the annual meeting may not be included. If some contributions are not included, we apologize and ask you to notify our corresponding secretary, Beverly Mershon. We rely almost exclusively on your generous contributions to sustain this organization. Thank you!

     Gift
          Diane Buroff
          Carol Bevier
          Martha Graham
          Huckfeldt (Wyoming)
          Lillian Mershon

     $25 and over
          Arliene Adams
          Donald Heumier

     $50 and over
           Michael and Gayle Murphy

     $100 and over
          Bonnie Ahrens
          Alan Craft
          James and Beverly Mershon
          Beverly M. Smith

     $500 and over
          Lowell Bursch

Your donations are our principal source of income.

Costs of Mailing Newsletters (and how you are affected)

Repetitive increases of mailing costs are hurting our treasury. For printing, handling, and postage our costs run about one dollar per newsletter, but our donations remain constant. We have 850 member-families on our mailing list. We want to send as many newsletters as there people interested in receiving them (and this includes you!). About 300 members have provided email addresses and this saves money, and, the emailed copies are in living color! We encourage you to provide us with your email addresses. Send them to packardjimbev@cox.net.

Another concern is failure of members to advise of us mailing and email address changes. We hope you want to continue to receive the letter and for this reason our corresponding secretary makes the effort to find correct addresses (by using the internet). In spite of this effort, we "lose" 30 members each year. Please send the necessary updates to bsmershon@aol.com.

J. Mershon, President
7617 Donegal Ln
Wichita, KS 67216