Hiram Merrill

Surnames: Ballard, Durkee, Lord, Wiggin

Source: The Portrait and Biographical Album of Rock County, Wis.,

Publ, 1889 - page 567, 568

HIRAM MERRILL, Superintendent of the Janesville Gas Company, and a resident of the city, was born Jan. 14, 1829, in the town of Adams, Jefferson Co., N.Y. His parents, David and Eunice (LORD) MERRILL, were natives of the State of Maine, and became pioneers in Wisconsin. The first ancestor of the family in this country was Nathaniel MERRILL, who came from England in 1635, and settled at Newbury, Mass. Here was born his son, Abraham, in 1637. The succeeding generations in the line of this genealogy, with date of birth, are represented by the following: David, Feb. 20, 1677; David, May 1, 1708; Melatiah, July 29, 1741; William, April 12, 1767. The last was the grandfather of our subject, and dwelt in Maine. The time of the removal of the family to that State is not known. David MERRILL kept a hotel for a time in Massena, St. Lawrence Co., N.Y., and removed thence to Cleveland, Ohio. In 1837 he drove with horse teams to Milwaukee, Wis., arriving in November of that year. He was identified with the business of our state metropolis from that time on during the balance of his active life. He kept the Traveler's Inn, on Walker's Point, for many years, and kept a store for general merchandize; also maintained a ship-yard, where he constructed many lake vessels. He died at the residence of his son in Janesville, March 12, 1872, aged seventy-nine years. For over seventeen years he had been bereft of his life companion, who passed away, at the age of sixty-six, Nov. 10, 1855. Of their seven children but three are now living; William P. and John B. are well-known business men of Milwaukee. Hiram, the sixth of this family, was reared chiefly in Milwaukee, receiving his education in the public schools of the city. Much of his early labors were given to his father's ship-yard. On the 5th of March, 1849, he started in a party with ox-teams for California. They crossed the summit of the Sierras on the 27th of September, For three years Mr. MERRILL engaged in mining, and spent two years in conducting water by ditches from the mountains, which he sold to miners for hydraulic mining. Returning by the Nicaragua route, he arrived in Milwaukee in June, 1854. For ten years he dealt there in grain and real estate, and in 1864 went to Washington, N.J., where he engaged in milling. In all these enterprises he was successful, and has now been for some time a stockholder in the gas works at Janesville. In July, 1866, he came to Janesville to take the management of the establishment, and has been a resident ever since. He soon purchased a controlling interest in the stock of the concern, and in other ways has identified himself with the growth and prosperity of the place. He has helped inaugurate several of the industries and is now a stockholder in many of them. For several years Mr. MERRILL was a vestryman in Christ Episcopal Church, of which himself and wife are members. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and an independent Republican. While a resident of Milwaukee he was elected a member for the South Side of the Board of Three Commissioners, who controlled all the public works of the city. He also served as Assessor for the South Side. The people of Janesville have honored him with their selection as Mayor, and he has also served as a member of the State Legislature for Rock County. At Machias, Cattaraugus Co., N.Y., on the 20th of October, 1856, Mr. MERRILL was married to Miss Louise BALLARD, a native of Corydon, Warren Co., Pa., and daughter of Lorenzo and Caroline (DURKEE) BALLARD, of early Western New York families. To Mr. and Mrs. MERRILL have been born three children, viz: Harry E., in business in Janesville; Louise Adele, wife of Dr. T. B. WIGGIN, resident in Chicago; and Jessie Eugenie, at home with her parents.

Submitted By Carol