DOB:  August 8, 1839 DOD:  September 17, 1876 Age at Enlistment: 21 Date of Enlistment:  May 9,1861; July 23, 1862 Place of Enlistment:  Franklin, TN; Tupelo, MS Rank at Enlistment:  Private Rank at Discharge:  Private Casualty:  None with 1st TN Comments:  John was born and raised in Williamson County.  On the 1850 Census he is living with his family in District 5 (area west and south of Franklin).  By the 1860 Census his family had moved to District 1 (western side of the county).  He is listed as attending school in 1860.  Schools back then did not have the age restrictions they have now.  So it is possible he was attending Harpeth Academy but he may have been enrolled in a college. When the war broke out he enlisted in the Williamson Grays but was discharged on December 4, 1861 at Staunton, VA.  He recovered and reenlisted in the regiment on July 23,1862 at Tupelo, MS.  He served another year before deserting to join the 11th Tennessee Cavalry on June 20, 1863.  While serving in the 11th TN Cavalry he was captured in East Tennessee in 1864.  He escaped but his unit had been ordered elsewhere so he joined a Kentucky Cavalry Regiment.  His Oath of Allegiance states he was in the 5th Kentucky Cavalry Company E, but has 3rd Kentucky Battalion written in the top corner.  He has no service record with the 5th Kentucky but he does have one with the 3rd Kentucky, so the regiment may have gone by two different names.  He was captured again with this regiment at Mount Sterling, KY on June 30, 1864.  John was sent to Camp Douglas, IL but took the Oath of Allegince on June 24, 1865 in Charleston, WV.  His oath describes him as Height: 5’11” ; Complexion: dark; Eyes: Gray; Hair: Dark After the war he married Virginia Neely (sister of James Neely of the Williamson Grays) on October 5, 1871.  The couple had one child.  According to his wife’s widows pension he was temporarily running a farm in Mississippi when he  passed away.  His body was brought back to Franklin and buried in Mount Hope Cemetery in Franklin, TN in Section D-9.

John Merrill’s grave at Mount Hope Cemetery

John Merrill’s Oath of Allegiance is here.