Catharine Rodman Prendergast Merritt (1793-1862)

Catharine Rodman Prendergast Merritt - courtesy St. Catharines Museum - Estate of Marigold Merritt Young, 2001.134.33

Catharine Rodman Prendergast was the only child of Dr. Jedidiah and Penelope (Chase) Prendergast.  She was born in Mayville, Chautauqua County, New York on 5 August 1793.  

The Prendergast family lived in St. Catharines prior to 1811 at which point the family returned to Chautauqua County, New York.   It was while living in St. Catharines that Catharine met William Hamilton Merritt, her future husband.  After the end of the War of 1812, Catharine and William Hamilton would reunite and marry in 1815.   They would have 6 children, 3 of who would survive to adulthood. 

Catharine Prendergast Merritt died on 10 January 1862 at the age of 68 and is buried in Victoria Lawn Cemetery in St. Catharines. 

Of all the Catharine's in this exhibit, she is the only one with a known portrait.  

A drawing of the tombstone of Catharine Merritt.

A photograph of the tombstone of Catharine Rodman Prendergast Merritt, 2020.