Сэмюэл Меррилл: Политик, банкир и издатель Индианы

American politician

Samuel Merrill (October 29, 1792 – August 24, 1855), a native of Peacham, Vermont, was an early lawyer and leading citizen of Indiana, who served as state treasurer from 1822 to 1834. Merrill attended Dartmouth College, and in 1816 settled in Vevay, Indiana, where he established a law practice and served in the Indiana General Assembly as a representative from Switzerland County (1821–22). Merrill resigned his position as state treasurer in 1834 to become the president of the State Bank of Indiana (1834–44); he also served as the president of the Madison and Indianapolis Railroad Company (1844–48) and head of the Merrill Publishing Company, which later became the Bobbs Merrill Company. In addition to his government service and business ventures, Merrill was the second president of the Indiana Historical Society (1835–48), a founder and trustee of Wabash College, and an elder in the Second Presbyterian and Fourth Presbyterian churches in Indianapolis.

Merrill was born on October 29, 1792, in Peacham, Vermont, the second son of Jesse and Priscilla (Kimball) Merrill. Jesse Merrill was a farmer and town officer who also served for years as a member of the Vermont legislature; his wife, Priscilla, was a homemaker and the mother of seven children (six boys and one girl). In 1813 Merrill followed his older brother, James, to York, Pennsylvania, where he spent three years studying law and teaching school. In 1816, at the age of twenty four, Merrill settled in Vevay, Switzerland County, Indiana. After his admission to the bar in 1817, Merrell established a law practice in Vevay.

In 1818 Merrill married Lydia Jane Anderson, the daughter of Robert and Catherine (Dumont) Anderson of Vevay. Samuel and Lydia Jane Merrill had ten children: Jane (1819–1911, mother of William A. Ketcham), Pricilla, Catharine "Kate" (1824–1900), Julia Dumont, Samuel Jr., Mary, Anna Maria "Mina", and three others (Sophia, "Jimmie," and Elizabeth) who died young. Merrill's wife, Lydia Jane, died in 1847. In 1849 he married Elizabeth Young of Madison, Indiana.

Merrill's career included government service as a representative in the Indiana General Assembly (1821–22) and as the Indiana State Treasurer (1822–34). He was also involved in banking and other business ventures. Merrill was president of State Bank of Indiana (1834–44) and the Madison and Indianapolis Railroad Company (1844–48). He also owned an Indianapolis bookstore and publishing company that later became the Bobbs Merrill Company.

Merrill moved to Vevay, Indiana, in 1816, and was elected to the Indiana General Assembly in 1821 as the representative of Switzerland County. While serving in the state legislature, Merrill was elected as Indiana State Treasurer. After the decision was made to relocate the seat of state government on January 20, 1824, Merrill had a role in helping to the name the new state capital. He seconded the motion to adopt the name of Indianapolis for the state capital of Indiana. Merrill also oversaw the transfer of the state treasury and state government's records to Indianapolis from Corydon. The arduous task included Merrill's and his young family's eleven day journey of about by horseback and wagon caravan from Corydon to the new state capital in November 1824. Merrill's caravan of four, four horse wagons and two or three saddle horses brought the state treasury, governmental records, a printing press, and furniture for the Indiana General Assembly, the Indiana Supreme Court, and the state's executive offices, as well as two families, including his own, their personal goods, and implements and supplies for the caravan. He also arranged for the transfer of the state archives and state library to Indianapolis. After relocating to Indianapolis, Merrill and his family lived in a two story brick building, later demolished, that the state government had constructed at the southwest corner of Washington Street and present day Capitol Avenue to house the state treasurer's office and residence, as well as the state auditor's office. Merrill continued to serve as state treasurer until 1834, when he was named president of the State Bank of Indiana. He was also a partner in the trading firm of Yandes and Merrill and was active in other business ventures and civic affairs.

Merrill served as president of the Madison and Indianapolis Railroad Company from 1844 to 1848. With additional funding from investors in the East, Merrill expanded the railroad to complete the line, which extended from Madison, Indiana, to Indianapolis. More track was laid during his first two years as president than had been done in the previous ten years of its state owned management. Merrill resigned from the railroad in 1848 after disagreements with H. R. Hall, the rail line's superintendent. The following year he bought Hood and Noble's bookstore, one of four bookstores located in Indianapolis at that time, and oversaw its merger with his publishing business.

In addition to his banking and business ventures, Merrill, a temperance and abolitionist, was interested in education and religious work. He was also an outspoken abolitionist. On one occasion, a pro slavery man entered the Indianapolis branch of the State Bank of Indiana and challenged Merrill to a fist fight, which Merrill won. Because of his interest in education, Merrill helped to establish Wabash College in 1833 and served as a trustee. Merrill also taught school in York, Pennsylvania, and on occasion in Vevay, Indiana, and served as the superintendent of Sunday Schools for Indianapolis's Second Presbyterian and Fourth Presbyterian churches. Merrill was also an elder in the Second and Fourth Presbyterian churches, the latter of which he helped establish in 1851. In addition, Merrill served as the second president of the Indiana Historical Society (1835–48). Merrill was known among his contemporaries as an able businessman and for his sound judgment and attention to detail. Although Merrill was not a skilled orator, he was an avid storyteller and a valued counselor to his peers. Merrill was a modest individual, but he could also be impulsive in his actions and outspoken in expressing his opinions. As a public servant, Merrill oversaw the successful transfer in 1824 of the state treasury, state library, and state archives, which remain at Indianapolis, the permanent seat of Indiana's state government. He was also successful in banking, the railroad industry, and publishing. Merrill became the first president of the State Bank of Indiana, which continued to operate until 1859, and a president of the Madison and Indianapolis Railroad Company, provider of an early rail transportation link to Indianapolis. He also founded the Merrill Publishing Company, which later became known as the Bobbs Merrill Company. The publishing company's backlist of titles and publishing rights were sold to Macmillan Company in 1985. Merrill was also an early civic leader, serving as the second president of the Indiana Historical Society, whose headquarters remain in Indianapolis. He was also a founder and trustee of Wabash College, which continues to operate in Crawfordsville, Indiana; and served as an elder in two of Indianapolis's Presbyterian congregations. The Second Presbyterian Church is located on North Meridian Street; the Fourth Presbyterian Church later merged with other congregations.

The State Bank of Indiana featured an engraved image of Merrill on the front of its one dollar bank note in the late 1850s.