Biographical Memoirs of Wells County, Indiana, 1903. pp. 542-544.

ALFRED T. MERRIMAN.

The gentleman whose name introduces this review enjoys worthy prestige as a successful farmer and stock raiser and as a neighbor and citizen is held in the highest esteem by the people of the township in which he lives. Mr. Merriman is the scion of an old Maryland family whose history in this country antedates the Revolutionary period. His great-grandfather, William Merriman, was born in Maryland about the year 1756 and there married Elizabeth Gooin, whose ancestors were also among the earliest settlers of that colony. From Maryland William Merriman moved his family to Union county, Pennsylvania, thence, about 1850, migrated to Wayne county, Ohio, where he entered six hundred and forty acres of land which he subsequently divided among his eight children. He became a prominent farmer and leading citizen and departed this life a number of years ago in the county of Wayne. Among the children of William and Elizabeth Merriman was a son by the name of Elijah, whose birth occurred in Maryland in the year 1788. He married Mary McCoy, who was born in 1792 in the same state, and in 1816 moved to Wayne county, Ohio, where his father had settled the previous year. This couple reared sons and daughters, one of the former being James Merriman, whose birth occurred in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, on the 23d of December, 1814. When two years old James was taken by his parents to Wayne county, Ohio, and it was there that he grew to manhood amid the hard work and stirring scenes of pioneer times. On the 6th of April, 1837, he was joined in wedlock to Miss Anna Tracy, daughter of George and Leah Tracy, early settlers of Wayne county, Mrs. Merriman having been born there on the 8th day of February, 1818. One year prior to his marriage James Merriman entered eighty acres of land in Huntington county, Indiana, but for some reason he never moved to this place, returning to his home in Ohio immediately after making the purchase. In October, 1839, he moved his family, consisting of a wife and one child, to Wells county, entering one hundred and sixty acres in section 20, in what is now Liberty township, there being no township organization at that date. The country at the time was a dense wilderness, uncheered by the slightest presence of civilization, and for several years following the pioneer family experienced their full share of the vicissitudes and hardships incident to life in the backwoods. Mr. Merriman built a log cabin which answered the purposes for which intended until a more comfortable dwelling took its place and in due time cleared a fine farm, which became one of the best cultivated and most valuable places in the township of Liberty. He continued to reside on this farm until about 1889, when he became an inmate of the household of his son, the subject of this sketch, where his death occurred on the 27th of February, 1896. Mrs. Merriman preceded her husband to the grave, departing this life May 15, 1889. They were the parents of eleven children, namely: Samantha, widow of Ruel Wright; Mahala, deceased wife of George McElhaney; Bruce, a resident of Smith county, Kansas; John, a farmer of Liberty township, Wells county; Tracy, who also lives in the township of Liberty; Anna, widow of Asberry Luce; Dallas, who lives in Huntington county; Mary L., deceased, was the wife of William Heckman; Joseph H., a farmer of Wells county; George O., of Pulaski county, and Alfred T. James Merriman was for many years prominent in the public affairs of Wells county and in his immediate neighborhood was to a large extent a leader among his follow citizens. He served three years as magistrate, was always an active worker in the Democratic party and contributed much to its success in an early day. Mrs. Merriman was a devout Christian, having been a member of the Disciples church from early womanhood.

Alfred T. Merriman was born on the old homestead in Liberty township, December 20, 1865. From the age of six to his seventeenth year he attended winter seasons the district schools near which he lived, spending the other months assisting his father with the labors of the farm. In his eighteenth year he entered a normal school at Bluffton and after attending one term was sufficiently advanced in his studies to pass successfully the required examination for a teacher's license. During the next five years he divided his time between teaching and attending school and from the expiration of that period until 1894 devoted the greater part of his attention to teaching. With the exception of one term, Mr. Merriman's educational work w as confined to Liberty township and his retention year after year in the same district speaks louder than words in praise of his efficiency and success as an instructor. While engaged in teaching he spent his vacations at home helping with the farm work until 1894, when he abandoned the educational field for the purpose of engaging in agricultural pursuits upon his own responsibility. In 1892 Mr. Merriman purchased the farm of eighty acres on which he now lives, going in debt to the amount of two thousand dollars, the greater part of which he has since paid, besides buying forty-eight acres of the home place, making the sum total of his real estate at this time one hundred and twenty-eight acres, all but sixteen being in cultivation. He has made many improvements on his farm and is justly considered one of the most enterprising agriculturists of the county, as well as one of its representative men.

Mr. Merriman was married December 31, 1888, to Miss Josephine Petty, who was born in Hocking county, Ohio, on the 25th of July, 1868, the daughter of Joseph and Lucinda Petty, and their home has been brightened by the advent of three children: Justin, born June 6, 1891, Don G., born September 3, 1893, and Floyd V., who first saw the light of day on the 18th of December, 1896. In his political views Mr. Merriman is a Democrat, but in local affairs he pays little heed to party claims, voting for the man best qualified for office. In matters religious he subscribes to the belief of the Methodist Protestant church and for a number of years has been one of the pillars of the congregation worshiping at Liberty Center. In 1899 he was elected secretary of the quarterly conference, which position he still holds, and since the year 1894 he has been the efficient superintendent of the Liberty Center Sunday school. He is also superintendent of the Liberty township Sunday school convention and as such has been instrumental in promoting the work in this part of the county. Like her husband, Mrs. Merriman is a Sunday school worker. Socially both are popular with a large circle of friends and their wholesome moral influence has added much to the high standing of the community in which they reside. It is to such people that the body politic is indebted for its moral tone and stability and the hope of every good citizen is that men and women of this type may ever increase in number.