The father of Harvey Merrifield is not known but his mother was Barsheba/Basheba Merrifield, probably the daughter of Samuel Merrifield, son of Richard, a Revolutionary War soldier. Richard's father, Samuel Merrifield, was born about 1720 and came to the America in 1747, originally settling in Winchester, Virginia. - Perhaps Barsheba was unmarried when she had sons, Calvin and Harvey Calvin Merrifield. About 1830, Barsheba married Benjamin Satterfield, a widower. She is found in the 1860 Census of Marion County, (West) Virginia living with Elijah Satterfield, presumably her son. The house listed before Elijah's was that of Barsheba's son, Nimrod Satterfield. The house listed after Elijah's was the home of Harvey Merrifield. In the house after Harvey's was Calvin Merrifield, probably Barsheba's older son.

Ida L. Merrifield, daughter of the Civil War veteran, attended one of the oldest churches in Marion County, the Pitcher Methodist Church at Dakota. She attended a one-room school which still stands on the hill above Route 19, near Rivesville.

On 28 Sep 1910, in Oakland, Garrett County, Maryland, Ida married Howard Napoleon Stewart, the son of Bushrod N. and Mary Jane (Swartz) Stewart. Howard was a widower and had two children, John and Gladys.

For many years Howard and Ida lived on a small farm in the Hampton Road area of Marion County. Howard worked in a coal mine by day and farmed in the evening. Tragically, on 29 August 1929, he was killed in an accident at the mine. At that time, he had seven children at home, the youngest only four years old.

The 1929 Accident Report from the State of West Virginia, #1507, details the circumstances of Howard Stewart's death:

     "What was the cause of the injury?
     "The injured with two other tipple men was pulling railroad cars back above the cross over switch on #2 track to bring over to #1 track so they could be loaded with run of mine coal and the rope was not long enough to pull the cars back above the switch the first car pull so they had to make the hitch in order to get the cars back far enough to clear the switch. Stewart cut off one car and went over across the tracks and waved to Davis who was running the yard engine, to pull them back and told the two men to let them come on in to the tipple as soon as they were back above the switch. As soon as the cars cleared the switch he waved Davis down and went back over to the car he had cut off and got up to the brake so when the cars bumped he could stop the car under the tipple and as the cars were coming over the cross over they struct the car that he was standing on over far enough to catch him and mashed him between the cars."

Howard N. Stewart did not die at the scene, according to his daughter, Esta. He was taken to Cook Hospital where he died of "traumatic fracture left 4th, 5th, 6th & 7th ribs - left Pneumothorax - Compound fracture of left humorus, radius and ulna."

When Howard Stewart first moved to Fairmont from Jefferson County, West Virginia, he was employed as a veterinarian for the horses that were used in the mines. Esta said she walked past the mine on her way home from school and sometimes the horses were being brought out of the mine. She said she was very afraid because she had been told that they went crazy when they there were first brought out.

The children of Howard and Ida L. Stewart: Wilmer W., Arnold W., Howard N., Jack (WWII veteran, dec.), Dorothea J., Marguerite C. & Esta B.

Esta Stewart, a student in the school of nursing at the Fairmont Emergency Hospital, was named Miss Fairmont, 1936.

Marguerite Stewart is a retired West Fairmont High School science teacher. In 1959, she became the first person in Marion County to receive the Valley Forge Classroom Teachers medal awarded by the Freedom's Foundation at Valley Forge, Pa. The award was designed to honor classroom teachers who have gone beyond the call of duty in inspiring young people to a better appreciation of freedom fundamentals (Newspaper clipping). She was also named "Marion County Teacher of the Year" by the Classroom Teachers Association. [Marguerite died 8 Aug 2004.]

Esta (Stewart) Brower, R. N., married Oliver Brower and moved to Pittsburgh, Pa. Following Oliver's death in 1967, Esta resumed her nursing career. She was a private duty nurse for a number of patients from old and distinguished Pittsburgh families. Her only child, Larry, is a retired U.S.A.F. Colonel.

Howard N. Stewart is currently serving as a supervisor for Vernon Township, Crawford County, Pa. During his career, he was a policeman and later served numerous terms as sheriff of Crawford County.

Jack Stewart, a World War II veteran, died in 1996. He was a sergeant and served as an airplane mechanic with the U. S. Marines.

Arnold W. Stewart, a millwright, died in 1999.

Wilmer W. Stewart, a mine worker, died in 1995.