Merrill, Henry

Born: 1804-08-07 Utica, New York

Died: 1874-05-06 Wisconsin

Alternate name: Merrell

Henry Merrill was a businessman and county and state politician. Merrill lived in his hometown of Utica, New York, until the age of fifteen, when he moved with his parents to Sacketts Harbor, New York. He remained in Sacketts Harbor until the spring of 1834, when he left New York for the Michigan Territory, hoping to enter business as a sutler. Arriving at Green Bay in what would become the Wisconsin Territory, he established a supply route for his goods from Green Bay up the Fox River to Fort Winnebago. He settled at Fort Winnebago, receiving appointment as both sutler and postmaster for the fort. He also served as justice of the peace, and in 1840, he helped conduct the U.S. census of the Wisconsin Territory. In 1842, he received appointment as clerk of the county court for Portage County. In 1848 and 1849, he represented Fort Winnebago and Columbia County, as a Whig, in the Wisconsin Senate. After his term in the Senate, Merrill returned to Fort Winnebago, where he lived the remainder of his life. He was an active member of the Episcopal Church of Portage, Wisconsin. He died from heart disease.

J. D. Beck, comp., The Blue Book of the State of Wisconsin (Madison, WI: Democratic Printing, 1909), 894; Hon. Henry Merrell, "Pioneer Life in Wisconsin," Report and Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin 7 (Madison, WI: E. B. Bolens, 1876), 366-402.