Abby Augusta Hill, the daughter of Levi Gerrish and Abigail Burnham (Shackford) Hill was born August 16, 1842 in Somersworth, New Hampshire. She lived with her parents until her marriage to Major William Neal Meserve on November 30, 1864.
William served another term in the military from December 14, 1864 to June 17, 1865 and then the new family lived in Roxbury, Massachusetts with William’s father Isaac in 1865. He must have needed time to rest as he had served at the Battles of South Mountain, Antietam, Sulphur Springs, Fredericksburg, Vicksburg, Jackson, Campbell’s Sta., Knoxville, Spottslyvania, North Anna, Cold Harbor, Petersburgh, Weldon R. R., and Peebles Farm. They moved to Norfolk, Virginia before 1870 where William worked as a dentist. He then pursued the ministry obtaining a degree from the Theological Institute and was ordained in 1874 in Santa Cruz, California. He lived in Oakland, Antioch, Philadelphia and Durango before the family settled in Litchfield, Connecticut in 1880 where William worked as a clergyman.
By 1881 the family was in Durango, Colorado and in June 1885 William moved the family to El Paso, Colorado. Sometime thereafter William abandoned the family and moved to California alone.
Abby remained in Colorado and around 1897 applied for and was accepted into the Daughters of the American Revolution as member 21103.
MRS. ABBY HILL MESERVE. 21103
Born in Somersetworth, New Hampshire [should probably be Somersworth, New Hampshire, jsp]
Wife of Maj. William Neal Meserve.
Descendant of Capt. Samuel Shackford and of Solomon
Buzell, of New Hampshire.
Daughter of Levi Gerrish Hill, A. M., M. D., and Abigail Burn-
ham Shackford, his wife.
Granddaughter of Andrew Neal Hill and Sallie Leighton, his wife;
Samuel Shackford and Nancy Buzell, his wife.
Gr.-granddaughter of Samuel Shackford, Jr., and Nancy Walker, his
wife; Solomon Buzell and Elizabeth Burnham, his wife.
Gr.-gr-grandaughter of Samuel Shackford and Mary Elizabeth
Marshall King, his wife.
Samuel Shackford (1728-1812), served in the Rhode Is-
land and Burgoyne campaignes. He was born in Newington;
died in Portsmouth, N.H.
Solomon Buzell, (1761-1812), served in the Rhode Island
campaign, 1778. He died in Northwood, N.H.
Also Nos. 14175, 15093, 19352
In 1900, Abby was living in Grand Junction, Colorado with her son Richard and a cousin, Mary Kingsley Shackford. She remained in Grand Junction until her death due to pneumonia at the age of 70 on December 21, 1912. She was buried with her parents in the Pine Hill Cemetery in Dover, New Hampshire. Her husband William Neal Meserve who had moved to California around 1886 died in San Diego and was buried there in the Mount Hope Cemetery
CHILDREN:
Frederick Hill Meserve (1865-1962) – dry goods, textile manufacturing, collector of civil war photographs, married Edith Turner
William Curtis Meserve (1868-1950) – married Olive A Dodgion
Richard Earle Meserve (1871-1953) – mechanical engineer, married Lola Eudora
John Shackford Meserve (1873-1955) – physician, married Edith Johnson Connor
Philip French Meserve (1876-????) – believe he died young
All posts on this website are a work in progress. We’d love to learn of any corrections or additions to the information shared. Also we’d love it if you’d like the post here or at http://www.facebook.com/shackfordgenealogy) as that helps share the post with others. Thanks!
Note: Information found in these older Lineage Books is not necessarily sufficient proof to use for a descendent’s application for acceptance into the Daughters of the American Revolution – a future DAR applicant may also need to provide additional information proving their descendent relationships.
SOURCES:
1850 United States Federal Census, Strafford County, New Hampshire, population schedule, Dover, page 109 (penned), 55 (stamped), dwelling 567, family number 857, Levi G Hill; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 21 November 2015).
1860 United States Federal Census, Strafford County, New Hampshire, population schedule, Ward 3, Dover City, Page No 103, dwelling 542, family 835, Levi G Hill; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 21 November 2015).
1865 Massachusetts State Census, Norfolk County, population schedule, Roxbury, dwelling 105, family 117, Isaac H Meserve; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 October 2017).
1870 United States Federal Census, Norfolk County, Virginia, population schedule, Norfolk, Page No 25, dwelling 171, family 226, Wm N Meserve; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 October 2017).
1880 United States Federal Census, Litchfield, County, Connecticut, population schedule, Harwinton, enumeration district (ED) Enumeration District No 28, Page No 1, dwelling 3, family 3, Wm N Meserve; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 11 August 2015).
1885 Colorado State Census, El Paso, population schedule, , William Meserve; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 October 2017)
1900 United States Federal Census, Mesa County, Colorado, population schedule, Grand Junction, enumeration district (ED) 74, Sheet No 7A, dwelling 182, family 163, Abby H Meserve; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 October 2017).
1910 United States Federal Census, Mesa County, Colorado, population schedule, Grand Junction, enumeration district (ED) 94, Sheet 5A, dwelling 91 family 97; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 October 2017).
Dolliver Louise Pearsons, Historian General, Lineage Book National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution Vol XXII. 21001-22000 1897 (Washington, D.C.: 1906), page 37; digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com :
Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States San Francisco (San Francisco: 20 November 1895), Meeting Agenda Nov 20, 1895; digital images, HathiTrust (https://babel.hathitrust.org : accessed 23 October 2017.
New Hampshire, New Hampshire, Marriage Records, 1637-1947, , Wm. N. Meserve and Abbie A. Hill, 30 November 1864; index and images, Family Search (http://familysearch.org : accessed 11 August 2015).
“North American Cemetery Transcriptions from NEHGS Manuscripts, 1642-1977: NH, Strafford: Dover-Pine Hill,” digital images, AmericanAncestors (https://www.americanancestors.org : accessed 13 September 2017), Buckleys buried in Pine Hill (no 1074, p, 256).
Note: Update re proper spelling of Somersworth NH thanks to a suggestion by Janice at Genealogy Bloggers on 1 Nov 2017.
Copyright 2017 Joanne Shackford Parkes (sharing a link to this post is appreciated but please do not copy this material and paste it elsewhere)
SHACKFORD Family History 