Samuel Merrill III

• American

Samuel Merrill Jr was born in Indianapolis, the grandson of one of the founding partners of the Bobbs-Merrill Publishing Company. He attended public schools in Indiana and moved to California in 1884. As a young man, Merrill had become a friend of naturalist John Muir when his family took Muir in after a mill accident that had left him blinded in one eye. It is said that Muir encouraged Merrill to attend Stanford University. After attending Wabash College for a time, Merrill entered Stanford as a member of its pioneer class, and graduated with a degree in law in 1895. Herbert Hoover was one of his classmates. Merrill then served for three years as vice-consul under his father, Samuel Merrill, Sr in Calcutta, India.

Around the turn-of-the-20th-century, Merrill, Jr, came to Southern California and set himself up as a rancher in the La Crescenta area, growing mainly citrus and apples. While in La Crescenta, he met and married his wife Emilie S Merrill. They were to have one daughter and three sons. In 1908, Merrill moved his family to Pasadena.

Merrill worked in downtown Los Angeles for 27 years as a clerk of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. He retired in 1942. While living in Pasadena, he assisted in the founding of the local Boy Scout troop.

Perhaps influenced by his friendship with Muir, Merrill took an active role in the Sierra Club, serving on its national board of directors in 1936 and 1937. Also a one-time chairman of the Southern California chapter, he remained active in its affairs until his death. Merrill took a particular interest in the San Gabriel Mountains and for thirteen years was the unpaid keeper of trails at Echo Mountain, Castle Canyon, and Sunset in Altadena. His gregariousness and good humor were long remembered by those hikers who would pass him as he pursued his maintenance work every Sunday morning. - NRHP, 15 August 2000

Lineage

• Father Samuel Merrill II