The origin of the Miles Merwin Association can be traced to a meeting of 25 Merwins in New Haven, Connecticut, on December 7, 1957, convened largely at the initiative of Miles Merwin, of Milford, Connecticut and Frederiksted, St. Croix, Virgin Islands. In arranging this meeting, he was assisted by a group which included Ben F. Merwin, of Sudbury, Ontario, Canada; Gaius W. Merwin, Sr., of Hancock, New Hampshire;Miles W. Merwin, of White Plains, New York' and Robert F. Merwin of Erie, Pennsylvania. It was decided to form an Association of the descendants of our immigrant ancestor, Miles Merwin (1623-1697), with Officers and a Board of Directors, to preserve the tombstone of Miles1, to begin collection of family records and to carry out such other activities as the members may determine. Miles Merwin was declared Founding President, and Gaius W. Merwin, Jr. was named Treasurer. It was decided to meet again in Milford the next year. Invitations for a June 21, 1958 meeting went out to some 120 families known to be descended from Miles1. More than 60 Merwins attended this meeting. There have been "get-togethers" every year since except that in 1995, owing to a mix-up in hotel reservations, only the Directors were able to meet.
The Association proceeded forthwith to launch four major projects. First was the preservation of the tombstone of Miles1 in the Milford cemetery on gulf Street, entrusted to Richard Treat Merwin of Milford and Ben F. Merwin. The existing tombstone was determined to be beyond repair, so it was decided to reproduce it in brownstone and preserve the original by placing it in a plastic bag and encasing it in the cement base of the new stone. This was put into place in 1959. Second, preparation of a constitution and by-laws was intrusted to Walter S. Merwin, of Clarence Center, New York and was completed in 1959. Subsequently, the Association was incorporated. Third, Miles W. Merwin was named coordinator of genealogical information and all members of the Association were invited to send him information on their and other branches of the family. Finally, Lo ring C. Merwin, of Bloomington, Illinois, was put in charge of a membership drive and by 1965 there were 350 dues-paying members.
When Robert F. Merwin was elected President in 1962, he instituted a newsletter named Milestones which is the mainstay of the Association's publicity effort. Issued several times a year, it reports on activities of the Association and contains feature articles on Merwins everywhere, places of historical and genealogical interest in the United States and England of concern to members, as well as new, late discoveries of a genealogical nature. In recent years, it has also become a chronicle of births, deaths, and marriages reported by members of the Association. Also included in some issues are listings of the Association's publications which are available to members. Our Genealogist prepared an index of Milestones covering the first 100 issues, number 1 issued March 1962 through number 100 issued August, 1992. This was published in June 1993.
At the founders' meeting in 1957 in New Haven, initial operating funds for the Association were raised through voluntary contributions amounting to $140. Since then, operating funds required for stationery, postage, Milestones and various booklets have been provided through dues. To encourage membership, dues have been held at modest levels while projects, such as replacement of Miles' tombstone and compilation of the genealogy, have been financed through generous voluntary contributions. While annual dues were maintained at $2 for many years, it has become necessary to recognize the effects of inflation taking place in the national economy by raising dues.