[http://home.nycap.rr.com/pflass/Merrill/index.html accessed 15 February 2008] .]Merrill was born in Sandusky, New York, attended high school near Buffalo,and attended for one year in 1915 Hobart College in Geneva, New York. After one year of college Merrill enlisted in the Army and served in Franceduring World War I. Upon returning to the States after the war, Merrill worked as a newspaper journalist in Washington, D.C., Detroit, Michigan; and New York City. While working in New York he married Katherine Marie Towell. The Merrill's had a daughter named Marion who was born in 1923[http://www.rootsweb.com/~nymonroe/cem/brighton.htm accessed 15 February 2008] . He retired from the D&C in 1963, but continued to write a history column for the paper. He is buried in the Old Brighton Cemetery at the end of Hoyt Place in Rochester, New York][http://academic.hws.edu/library/archives/pdfs/Merrill.pdf accessed 15 February 2008] .]He was sometimes called "The Poet Laureate of Upstate New York"[http://campus.hws.edu/NEW/pss/lake/lake-cs8.html accessed 15 February 2008] .]He authored a number of books, most of which are collections of his articles. Possibly his most famous was the 1943 "A River Ramble", which is an account of his walk of the entire length of the Genesee River, along with his notes on local history, folk tales, and people he met along the route.
Bibliography
Original publishers and publication dates are listed below. Where shown below ISBN numbers are usually from reprints often published by another company at a later time.
*(1943) "A River Ramble: Saga of the Genesee Valley", 108 pp., Louis Heindl and Son; Rochester, NY.
*(1944) "The Ridge: Ontario's Blossom Country", 112 pp., Louis Heindl and Son; Rochester, NY.
*(1944) "The Lakes Country", 154 pp., Louis Heindl and Son; Rochester, NY.
*(1945) "Historic Tales of Western New York", Louis Heindl and Son; Rochester, NY. A republication of the three previous works in one volume.
*(1945) "The Towpath" (Arch Merrill's New York part 4), 179 pp., Louis Heindl and Son; Rochester, NY; ISBN 978-1557870018
*(1946) "Rochester Sketchbook" (Arch Merrill's New York part 5), Louis Heindl and Son; Rochester, NY.
*(1947) "Stagecoach Towns" (Arch Merrill's New York part 6), 186 pp., Louis Heindl and Son; Rochester, NY; ISBN 978-1557870025.
*(1948) "Tomahawks and Old Lace: Tales of Western New York" (Arch Merrill's New York part 7), 157 pp., Henderson-Mosher Inc., Rochester, NY.
*(1949) "Land of the Senecas" (Arch Merrill's New York part 8), 146 pp., American Book-Stratford Press, ISBN 978-0932334824
*(1950) "Upstate Echoes" (Arch Merrill's New York part 9), 152 pp., American Book, New York.
*(1951) "Slim Fingers Beckon" (Arch Merrill's New York part 10), 184 pp., American Book-Stratford Press, New York.
*(1952) "Shadows on the Wall: Tales of York State" (Arch Merrill's New York part 11), 152 pp., American Book-Stratford Press, New York.
*(1954) "Southern Tier - New York State (Vol II)" (Arch Merrill's New York part 12), 212 pp., Stratford Press.
*(1957) "Our Goodly Heritage", 216 pp., American Book-Stratford Press, New York.
*(1957) "Pioneer Profiles", 215 pp. American Book-Stratford Press, New York.
*(1958) "Bloomers and Bugles", 214 pp., American Book-Stratford Press, New York.
*(1959) "Gaslights and Gingerbread", 227 pp., American Book-Stratford Press, New York.
*(1960) "Fame in Our Time", 202 pp., American Book-Stratford Press, New York.
*(1961) "The White Woman and Her Valley", 207 pp., American Book-Stratford Press, New York, ISBN 978-0932334886
*(1961) "Down the Lore Lanes: Oddities in Upstate History", 198 pp., American Book-Stratford Press, New York.
*(1963) "The Underground: Freedom's Road and Other Upstate Tales", 181 pp., American Book-Stratford Press, New York.
*(1967) "The Changing Years", 194 pp., American Book-Stratford Press, New York.
*(1969) "From Pumpkin Hook to Dumpling Hill", 212 pp., American Book-Stratford Press, New York.
References