Merrill, A. P. (Ayres Phillips), 1793-1873

A.P. Merrill (1787-1873) of Natchez, Miss., was a physician and the cashier of the Agricultural Bank, Natchez, Miss. He married Jane Moore, and the Merrill family home was Elmscourt. Jane Dunbar Ferguson, born near Natchez and a planter of Washington, Miss., was the wife of George Ferguson. Their children included: Dr. George Ferguson, Margaret, Ann, and Charlotte (died ca. 1886), and another son.

Ann married prominent Natchez planter David Hunt. Their family lived at Woodlawn, Natchez. Charlotte married Aylett Buckner. Buckner was born in Virginia, moved to Kentucky with his parents, and settled in Natchez around 1830, where he was a prominent attorney, cotton factor, and director of the Commercial Bank of Natchez.

He was a partner in the law firm Buckner and Stuart, and the firm Buckner, Barrow, and Stuart. He then entered the cotton commission business with Frederick Stanton, and they later expanded into planting. One of their plantations was in Waterproof, Tensas Parish, La.

Charlotte and Aylett Buckner had two daughters, Jane and Elizabeth. The family resided at Airlie in Natchez. Jane, who died during the Civil War, married a Dr. Walter, and their daughter, Pauline married A.P. Merrill III, grandson of Dr. A.P. Merrill.