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Samuel
Merrill, 1928, reprint 1983
Three
Students of the Family History - Chapter I,
pp1-16
Gen.
Lewis Merrill
 The
third in the group of students of the family history to
whom especial credit should be given in this place is
Gen. Lewis Merrill of Philadelphia. In the ‘80s of
the last century he became physically incapacitated for
active military service. Thereafter he devoted much time,
for two years or more, to the more sedentary employment
of genealogical research, and conducted wide correspondence
to gather data. Gyles Merrill of Haverhill placed at his
disposal all his own genealogical papers, as well as the
papers of Rev. Samuel H. Merrill. Gen. Merrill retained
these books and papers for a considerable time, adding
greatly to his own records from these sources.
Gen.
Merrill never visited Newbury, Haverhill, and the other
places in that vicinity where the earlier generations
of the family lived, but when it was necessary to solve
any knotty question, or supply missing facts, he had the
ready assistance of Gyles Merrill, in whose judgment he
had the greatest confidence. In Gen. Merrill’s later
years failing eyesight made even genealogical work impracticable,
and his task was far from finished at his death.
In
1892, having undertaken to prepare for publication, from
the papers in Gyles Merrill’s possession, a brief
account of the first five generations of the family in
America, I submitted my manuscript to Gen. Merrill. He
had kindly agreed to make such additions to my records
as he could, and did so, but these additions were not
carried beyond the fifth generation. His records of the
sixth and subsequent generations were quite extensive,
and these remained in the hands of his son after his death.
Gen.
Lewis8 Merrill was born 24 Oct. 1834, at New
Berlin, Pa.(*) His father, James7 Merrill (1790-1841),
a native of Peacham, Vt., was a prominent lawyer in New
Berlin, and a member of the State Constitutional Convention
in 1838.(**) The General’s grandfather and great-grandfather,
Jesse6 and Samuel5 Merrill, both
served in the Revolution, the younger of the two, as a
boy of 15, being a member of the company of which his
father was captain at the surrender of Burgoyne. Samuel5
Merrill was a son of Samuel4 (Nathaniel3,2),
and lived in the West Parish of Haverhill, Mass.
Three
brothers of Gen. Merrill, Charles8, George8
and Jesse8, served with distinction in the
War of the Rebellion. George8 was a major.
Jesse8 held the rank of General, and served on the staff
of Gen. Rosecrans. Charles and Jesse were lawyers, the
latter being a resident of Lockhaven, Pa.
Gen.
Merrill’s wife was Anna Rhoda Houston, a descendant
of Dr. John Houston, a surgeon in the Revolution. She
died in 1882. He was survived by a son and two daughters.
His son, John-Houston9 Merrill, is a lawyer in Philadelphia,
editor of the American and English Encyclopedia of Law,
and author of “Memoranda Relating to the Mifflin
Family,” published in 1890.
Gen.
Merrill graduated at the United States Military Academy
at West Point in 1855, and for some time thereafter served
in the First Dragoons on the Western frontier. The Civil
War having broken out he became, in August, 1861, colonel
and chief of cavalry on the staff of Gen. Fr’mont.
Soon after this he organized a regiment of Missouri volunteer
cavalry, which was known as Merrill’s Horse, and
was appointed colonel of the regiment. In 1862 he undertook
operations against the guerrillas of western and northern
Missouri, and from 1863 to the close of the war commanded
brigades of cavalry in Arkansas, Missouri, Georgia and
Alabama. March 13, 1865, he was brevetted brigadier-general
of volunteers for “gallant and meritorious service
during the war.” In 1866 he was appointed inspector-general
of the Department of the Platte, and later judge-advocate
of that department. He commanded a military district in
South Carolina, where he had to deal with the Ku-Klux
outlaws, (about 1871), and for this service received the
thanks of the War Department and of the Legislature of
South Carolina. In 1875-6 he performed similar duty in
the Red River district of Louisiana.
During
the Indian troubles in the Northwest, at the time when
the Northern Pacific Railroad was under construction,
Gen. Merrill was assigned to duty there, in command of
the Seventh Cavalry. In his honor a station on the Northern
Pacific Railroad in Montana was named Merrill. (See page
121.)
He
was promoted major in the Regular Army in 1868. The service
which he had performed in South Carolina, however, breaking
up the Ku-Klux conspiracy and supporting the so-called
“carpet-bag” government, was considered by certain
interests in Washington as political, and for this reason
his further promotion was delayed. He was retired from
active service in 1885 for disability from wounds received
in battle, and in 1891 was given the rank of lieutenant-colonel
on the the retired list of the Regular Army. Following
his retirement Gen. Merrill made his home in Philadelphia.
He was a member of the Loyal Legion, the Grand Army of
the Republic and the Masonic order. He was of a genial
disposition, and very popular in his club, the Union League,
where much of his leisure in his later years was spent.
Gen.
Merrill had suffered from nephritis, or inflammation of
the kidneys, for some years. His death, from this cause,
was quite sudden, however, and he breathed his last on
the morning of 27 Feb. 1896, at the Presbyterian Hospital
in Philadelphia.
Gen.
Merrill was a thorough soldier, and uncompromising in
the discharge of his duties. An episode of his cadet life
at West Point was related to me, many years ago, by Maj.-Gen.
George L. Andrews, who, at the time of the narration,
was professor of modern languages at the Military Academy.
As a young man Gen. Andrews was an instructor at West
Point, he said. There was more or less trouble in the
Academy from hazing at the time, and finally a cadet named
Gordon was taken to the post hospital as a consequence.
After his discharge from the hospital a court martial
was convened. The fact was brought out that Cadet Gordon
in the course of a hazing escapade was challenged by Cadet
Merrill, who was on sentry duty, and refusing to halt
when ordered received a flesh wound from a thrust of the
sentry’s bayonet.
Cadet
Gordon was disciplined for his misdemeanor, while Cadet
Merrill was commended by the court for the correct performance
of his duty.
*
See p485
**
See “American Ancestry,” vol. iii. (1888), p.
89.
Chapter
II
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