Nathaniel Meserve: from carpenter to colonel

Some time ago, a member of the Messervey Heritage Facebook group provided information on Colonel Nathaniel Meserve, part of the American entourage of Jersey emigrants.  I always meant to do a post on him, and today noted that it was two years ago that Marilyn Griffin Turner provided the post!

Nathaniel Meserve was born in Newington, New Hampshire about 1705, the son of Clement Meserve and Elizabeth Jones.  Nathaniel’s grandparents were original New Hampshire settlers from Jersey, Channel Islands.  Following in his father’s footsteps, Nathaniel became a carpenter and joiner and eventually a ship’s carpenter (shipwright).  On 16 December 1725, Nathaniel married his first wife Jane (Sarah) Libby [1] and they had ten children.  His wife died in 1747 and he married a second time to Mary Jackson a widow and daughter of Judge Jotham Odiorne. 

The story goes that Nathaniel enjoyed great success as a shipbuilder and became very wealthy.  He purchased land in Portsmouth where he built a rather fine Georgian style home . 

On the same land he built a large shipyard operation. However, he lived a quiet life until 1745, when he was about 40 years of age, and became a Lt. Colonel of the New Hampshire Regiment. He excelled in his participation in the first Siege of Louisbourg and was well-respected as a result. He was particularly singled out for his innovation of wooden sledges for carrying ship’s cannon. 

Upon return to Portsmouth, Nathaniel was asked to build a ship of war that would carry forty-four guns.  Called the America, it was considered one of the best frigates in the British Navy.  The name was later changed to Boston.  

Model of the America frigate

When the Seven Years War[2] officially launched in 1756, Meserve was called into active service again, as commander of 700 in the New Hampshire regiment.  He spent time in Halifax but no active service occurred and he returned home in November of 1757.  However, by 1758 he was sent back to Halifax, this time in command of 108 carpenters and on to the second siege of Louisbourg at the beginning of June.   This is where the story ends, as on 28 June 1758 Nathaniel succumbed to smallpox, along with his son Nathaniel.   All but sixteen of his carpenters were ill, according to General Amherst’s notes, who added in a great example of understatement that “This is particularly unlucky at this time.”[3]  

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[1] Many sources refer to Jane Libby –however, there is no record of a Jane Libby marrying Nathaniel and an excerpt from marriage records shows Nathaniel marrying Sarah Libby (Leby) on that specific date.  It is a possibility that her name was Sarah Jane and Jane was what she was commonly called. Her gravestone refers to her as Jane.  Reference: Marriages by Rev. William Allen. Excerpt from p. 353, Vital Records from the NEHGS Register, Vol. 65 (1911).  Accessed at Americanancestors.org.  

[2] The Seven Years War is referred to in the USA as the French and Indian War.

[3] Tuttle, Charles W. New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Vol. 23, 1869. p.201-203