I just returned home from a trip to Washington to search for ancestors. I am particularly interested in William Stilley 1804-1882 and his daughter Mary Lucretia Stilley 1846-1903. Wm lived in Chocowinity and was at some point elected to the lower house for Beaufort Co.

Lucretia married my great great great grandfather James Elliot Merriam who may have owned a hotel in Washington or Elizabeth City "Merriam Hotel" on Water Street. He has also been credited as the lighthouse keeper at Pamlico Sound but I cannot find any evidence to back that up.

Mary owned property in Washington which she sold after the death of James Elliot when she went to live out her remaining years in Bristol, Conn.

Any historians that can help me out?