THE MERRILL & HOUSTON IRON WORKS
Notes for Chapter 2
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1 The 0. E. Merrill, J. B. Merrill, and George Houston made up the few hundred dollars difference to an even $100,000 capitalization with their private notes. All were later paid. Houston Testimony. All testimony refers to the court case noted in Chapter I.
2 Technically it was $150,400 as four extra shares were issued to J. B. Merrill's daughter in lieu of pay owed her.
3 In retrospect, after the failure of the company and his own personal troubles, S. T. Merrill thought the water wheel val uation "cheated the company somewhat."
4 S. T. Merrill Testimony.
5 S. T. Merrill Testimony.6 S. T. Merrill Testimony.
7 S. T. Merrill had no background in the manufacture of water wheels, but he had a good general mechanical background with expertise in paper machines. "I could have gone into the shop and manufactured a whole paper machine from beginning to end." S. T. Merrill Testimony.
8 S. T. Merrill Testimony; Houston Testimony.
9 Beloit Free Press, May 24, 1873; June 28, 1873; July 12, 1873; September 20, 1873.10 Houston Testimony.
11 S. T. Merrill Testimony.
12 A number of lenders made this comment in testimony during the court case against Sereno T. Merrill after Merrill and Houston failed.13 John Garraty, The New Commonwealth (NY: Harper & Row, 1968), p. 96. By the 1880s, Thomas Edison's dynamos were making steam power obsolete. Incidentally, in 1873 the Wisconsin State Legislature offered a prize of $10,000 to any Wisconsin citizen who could develop a machine to take the place of the horse. Whether they ever paid off is unknown.
14 Tower pp. 22-25.
15 Houston said the shares he sold to 0. E. Merrill were at a slight discount of 90 to 95. "I don't think it was quite par." Houston Testimony.
16 Also during those years, Wild Bill Hickok was gunned down in a Deadwood Saloon in the middle of a poker game. Since his cards included two aces and two eights, this hand is known to poker buffs as the dead man's hand.
17 Beloit Weekly Free Press, December 28, 1876; History of Rock County, 1879, p. 105
18 History of Rock County, 1879, pp. 254-258; Reprint of Chicago Times article in Beloit Weekly Free Press, Feb. 3, 1876.
19 5. T. Merrill Testimony; Wisconsin State Journal reprinted in Beloit Weekly Free Press, July 12, 1877.
20 Bennington (Vermont) Banner reprinted in Beloit Weekly Free Press, December 2, l875; Beloit Weekly Free Press, June 29, 1876; Fred Messer Testimony.
21 Houston Testimony.
22 It isn't clear from individuals' testimony who was Superinten dent in 1877. Messer said he was; S. T. Merrill said 0. E. Merrill was Superintendent. Other files support S. T. Merrill's position.
23 0. E. Merrill retained some stock but had effectively been forced out of management. Shortly afterwards he moved to Chicago to superintend the erection of the William E. Hale Water Elevator. What Houston paid for the stock is unknown.
24 Houston Testimony. Houston bought the stock back from 0. E. Merrill at a price cheaper than he sold it in 1875 -- about 80 cents on the dollar.25 Beloit Weekly Free Press, August 16, 1877.
26 Actually about six acres.
27 Beloit Weekly Free Press, August 16, 1877; July 5, 1877.
28 Beloit Weekly Free Press, August 16, 1877.
29 S. T. Merrill, as President, did not receive a salary probably because he was a mere figurehead, but the Superintendent was paid $1800, and C. F. G. Collins as Secretary-Treasurer received $2400. Messer Testimony.
30 Beloit Weekly Free Press, August 21, 1877.
31 Beloit Weekly Free Press, May 10, 1877; May 17, 1877.
32 Houston Testimony; S. T. Merrill Testimony. 0. E. Merrill who had been Superintendent left Beloit in October 1877 to work in Chicago. Beloit Weekly Free Press, October 18, 1877.
33 Beloit Weekly Free Press, February 7, 1878; March 7, 1878.
34 Beloit Weekly Free Press, April 18; April 25, 1878.
35 Beloit Weekly Free Press, June 6, 1878; June 13, 1878; September 5, 1878; September 26, 1878. While the company was concentrating on this project, President Rutherford B. Hayes visited Beloit to attend the Southern Wisconsin Fair thus becoming the first President to honor the city with his presence.36 Tower, p. 26.
37 This figure could be about $8500 if you consider the company had purchased about $10,000 in shares of its own stock -- all at a discount. Houston Testimony.
38 In his court testimony in 1886, 5. T. Merrill said, "My health was broken down and I was out of employment on account of my health." It is interesting to note that his health was not bad enough to prevent him from traveling to Mexico or to Mississippi where he was proud to have met Jefferson Davis, the former President of the Confederacy during the Civil War.
39 Beloit Weekly Free Press, February 13, 1879; February 20, 1879.
40 One wonders if the newspaperman was worried that the "unknown world" might have produced an even bigger machine.
41 Beloit Weekly Free Press, March 27, 1879.
42 Beloit Weekly Free Press, May 22, 1879.
43 Beloit Weekly Free Press, June 26, 1879.
44 Beloit Weekly Free Press, June 19, 1879.
45 Beloit Weekly Free Press, Sept. 18, 1879.
46 0. E. Merrill Testimony; S. T. Merrill Testimony; Houston Testimony. Since S. T. Merrill was rather vague about his finances, it is difficult if not impossible to know exactly what he owned at a particular time. His vagueness hid a very dubious and self—serving attitude towards company financial transactions.
47 Beloit Weekly Free Press, Jan. 15, 1880; Houston Testimony.
48 They quickly set up another 0. E. Merrill & Co. that very fall. It occasionally was in competition with Merrill and Houston.
49 Houston Testimony; S. T. Merrill Testimony.
50 Houston Testimony. Wisconsin Law said the legal rate of interest was 7%. Interest up to 10% was permitted but must be written in a contract. If more than 10% was paid, the party so paying could have a court award him treble damages on the amount paid above 10%. History of Rock County 1879, p. 277.
51 Houston Testimony.
52 Beloit Weekly Free Press, Feb. 19, 1880, and March 4, 1880.
53 Beloit Weekly Free Press, March 18, 1880.
54 Houston Testimony.55 Tower, p. 28; U. S. Tenth Census, Manufacturers, Vol. III; Houston Testimony.
56 Messer Testimony.
57 Houston Testimony. S. T. Merrill claimed that they had made over $19,000 but this contradicts other, more reliable, sources.
58 Beloit Weekly Free Press, April 21, 1881; April 28, 1881.
59 Beloit Weekly Free Press, June 9, 1881; June 23, 1881.
60 Beloit Weekly Free Press, July 14, 1881
61 Reprinted in Beloit Weekly Free Press, July 14, 1881. Ironically, although many industries were mentioned in the article, including Houston & Whitford and the 0. E. Merrill & Co., Merrill and Houston was ignored.
62 Beloit Weekly Free Press, Sept. 22, 1881; October 13, 1881; December 8, 1881. During the early part of this period the country was preoccupied with the shooting of President Garfield on July 2. He lingered for two and a half months before dying on September 19. His assassin, Charles Guiteau, was tried and convicted in November and executed on June 30, 1882.
63 Beloit Weekly Free Press, April 13, 1882; Garraty, The New Commonwealth, p. 79.
64 Houston Testimony. Available assets had increased $29,000 but liabilities were up $34,000. The profit could be shown in the additions to real and personal property which increased about $22,500.
65 Beloit Weekly Free Press, Dec. 7, 1882; 5. T. Merrill Testimony.66 W. T. Hall Testimony; Messer Testimony.
67 Beloit Weekly Free Press, May 4, 1882. This was the new 0. E. Merrill & Company. See Footnote 48.
68 Beloit Weekly Free Press, Sept. 21, 1882; Nov. 2, 1882; Nov. 16, 1882; Nov. 30, 1882. What was missing in 1882 that had been common during previous years was newspaper accounts of M & H's business. The only notation in 1882 was a short article telling of the decision by M & H's foreman to leave for a new job in Appleton. Perhaps he knew the truth about M & H's financial problems.
69 Messer Testimony. The liabilities would increase to about $90,000 by July 1, 1883.
70 Messer Testimony.
71 W. T. Hall Testimony.
72 S. T. Merrill Testimony.73 Sereno claimed his living expenses were about $4000 so this left a tidy sum for investment. S. T. Merrill Testimony.
74 s. T. Merrill Testimony. Sereno was also President of the Beloit Savings Bank from its charter in 1881 through the assignment of Merrill & Houston. He had promoted savings banks since the mid—70s, and it was his bill in the legis lature that allowed them. It is not known whether he was paid a salary as President, but it seems unlikely.
75 Messer Testimony; S. T. Merrill Testimony.
76 Beloit Weekly Free Press, Jan. 26, 1883. Reprint of December 23, 1882 interview.
77 O. E. Merrill was also interviewed, and his company was des cribed as employing 80 men and busy. They had just put in one of the largest paper machines in the U.S.A. in Akron, Ohio. It is clear that 0. E. Merrill & Co. was a strong competitor for Merrill & Houston in the paper mill machinery business. Since 0. E. Merrill had been forced out of Merrill & Houston and his company would survive 1883, his use to Merrill & Houston, had he still been affiliated with it in 1883, is one unknown that is intriguing to speculate about.
78 Beloit Weekly Free Press, Feb. 1, 1883; Feb. 15, 1883.
79 Beloit Weekly Outlook, March 2, 1883.
80 Houston Testimony. S. T. Merrill testified inexplicably that Merrill & Houston made a $10,600 profit in the 1882 fiscal year. However, his testimony often was unreliable and self—serving.
81 Houston Testimony.
82 Beloit Weekly Outlook, May 25, 1883. Other news in that period included the withdrawal of the University of Michigan from a baseball league, that included Beloit College, because of legislation which ruled out "five of her professional players. The more things change the more they stay the same.
83 5. T. Merrill Testimony.
84 5. T. Merrill Testimony.
85 0. E. Merrill Testimony.
86 This assignment was to last about 18 months, during which Burdge was to do his best to keep the men at work. While he probably succeeded more than he failed in running the company, ultimately, the works closed down.
87 Beloit Daily Free Press, November 27, 1883.
88 Beloit Weekly Outlook, November 30, 1883.
89 On the very day that Merrill and Houston failed, Sereno continued to transfer tangible assets to his family in return for worthless Merrill and Houston stock. However, information about this would not become public knowledge for over three years.
90 Beloit Daily Free Press, December 1, 1883; December 3, 1883.
91 Beloit Daily Free Press, December 18, 1883; Beloit Weekly Outlook, December 21, 1883. Apoplexy is a term seld om used now. Stroke or cerebral hemorrhage are the equivalents.
92 This is an interesting figure since he never claimed to have more than about $41,000 in the company.
93 S. T. Merrill, Narrative of Experiences, p. 40.
94 H. C. Hyde Testimony. Hyde was the President of the 1st National Bank of Beloit.
95 As a result of Merrill and Houston's failure, S. T. Merrills' reputation in Beloit plummeted. Nearly everything he had touched financially had failed. Besides Merrill and Houston, the others were the Rock River Paper Company, The Citizens National Bank, and the Eclipse Wind Mill Company. S. T. Merrill, Narrative of Experiences, p. 40.
96 R. J. Burdge Testimony.
97 Beloit Weekly Outlook, December 28, 1883; Burdge Testimony. 98 Burdge Testimony.
98 Burdge Testimony.99 Burdge Testimony.
100 Burdge Testimony; Beloit Daily Free Press, March 27, 1884.
101 Beloit Daily Free Press, April 30, 1884.
102 Beloit Daily Free Press, May 15, 1884; May 22, 1884; June 7, 1884.
103 Beloit Weekly Free Press, October 13, 1884.
104 Beloit Daily Free Press, December 11, 1884.
105 Beloit Daily Free Press, January 7, 1885; Burdge Testimony.
106 Beloit Daily Free Press, January 20, 1885; March 9, 1885.
107 Beloit Daily Free Press, April 11, 1885; June 18, 1885.
108 Beloit Daily Free Press, July 23, 1885. U. S. Grant died the day the Beloit Iron Works began.
End Notes