Horatio Harris Merrill

1837 - 1894

• Born	3 Jan 1837	Alden, Erie, New York
  Gender	Male
  Census	1850	Salt Lake, Great Salt Lake, Deseret   [1]
  	Austin S. Merrill, 48, born in Connecticut. Laura, Merrill, 40, born in Massachusetts. Lory C. Merrill, 17, born in New York. Laura Merrill, 16, laborer, born in New York. Horatio Merrill, 14, born in New York. Solomon Merrill, 10, born in Illinois. Sarah Merrill, 7, born in Illinois. Austin Merrill, 5, born in Illinois. Freeborn Merrill, 2, born in Deseret.
  Census	1850	Salt Lake, , Utah Territory   [2]
  	Austin S. Merrill, 48, born in Connecticut. Laura, Merrill, 40, born in Massachusetts. Lory C. Merrill, 17, born in New York. Laura Merrill, 16, laborer, born in New York. Horatio Merrill, 14, born in New York. Solomon Merrill, 10, born in Illinois. Sarah Merrill, 7, born in Illinois. Austin Merrill, 5, born in Illinois. Freeborn Merrill, 2, born in Deseret.
  Census	1880	Smithfield, Cache, Utah   [3]
  	Horatio H. Merrill, 42, carpenter, born in New York. Sarah A. Merrill, 21, keeping house, born in Utah. Laura M. Merrill, born in Utah. Horatio P. Merrill 14, born in Utah. Robert W. Merrill, 11 months, born in Utah. Margaret Smith, 54, mother-in-law, born in New York. Mary G. Smith, 15, sister-in-law, born in Utah.
  _UID	AB7727DF55644D03879039C1D86678C3BB0B
  Died	4 Dec 1894	Williams Springs, Graham, Arizona
  	The Graham County Bulletin Volume XIII Number 49 Solomonville, Graham County, Arizona Friday December 5, 1895 AWFUL MURDER H. H. MERRILL and DAUGHTER, of PIMA KILLED by INDIANS Found dead in the road six miles west of Ash Springs - Moccasin Marks discovered. The Corner's Inquest Wednesday morning Frank Courtney of Duncan, brought news to Solomonville that a man and a woman had been murdered on the Solomonville and Sheldon road six miles west of Ash Springs. It was at once surmised that the murdered parties were Mr. Horatio H. Merrill and his daughter, who had camped near the residence of John Parks, Monday night. The dead bodies were discovered in the road near their wagon by J. L. T. Watters about 7 o'clock Tuesday evening as he was going home from Solomonville. When he rode up the wagon was standing across the road and the horses had whirled and locked the front wheels and one of the horses had fallen under the tongue where it yet lay. The bodies of the man and woman were yet warm and the killing had only been a few moments before. Mr. Watters hurried on to Duncan and notified the Officers there and Justice Haynie and Deputy Sheriff Black gathered a Coroners jury and came at once to the scene of the murder. An examination showed that the parties who did the killing was composed of five or six persons. All wearing moccasins, from which the natural inference is that Indians are responsible for the bloody deed and have added two more atrocious murders to the long list of human butcheries in Arizona. The man was identified by papers found on his body as H. H. Merrill and his wagon was loaded with grain which he was hauling to the Clifton market. He was shot twice. Once through the heart and once through the head. His companion was his sixteen year old daughter. She was shot twice through the body. In the wagon was a provision box. It was carried away some two hundred yards and left empty. What provisions was not eaten was carried away. Further on the trail some distance a pocket book belonging to Mr. Merrill was picked up. It contained only some papers and a small ring. Coroner's Inquest The following is the proceedings of the coroner's inquest, held by Justice J. R.S. Haynie Inquest held on Solomonville, and Clifton road, six miles from Ash Springs toward Solomonville. The following jury was sworn to inquire into the cause of death of a man and a woman found in the road. Tom Windom, W. Holland, Joe Terrill, Lee Windom, John Clay, Chas. Holmes, Sam McMillan, John Woods, J. J. Putnam. After viewing the ground around the dead bodies and wagon, and discovering moccasin tracks of six persons. J. L. T. Watters of Duncan, Graham County, Arizona was sworn in and testified. J. L. Waters J. T. Black of Duncan, was sworn and testified. I passed these two persons on this wagon on the mesa below here about 4 or 4:30 o'clock, and exchanged a few remarks with them. I was on my way to Duncan from Solomonville. J. T. Black The verdict of the coroner's jury was as follows: "We the jury, find this man and woman came to their death from the effects of gunshot wounds fired by persons to us unknown, supposed to be Indians." Sheriff Wight organized a posse immediately after receiving the news and started early Wednesday morning to take the trail. The posse consisted of James V. Parks, W. H. Parks, John H. Parks, Joe Terrel and Johnny Woods. Horatio H. Merrill, the murdered man has been a resident of this valley for the past five years, living in the vicinity of Pima. He was probably 60 years old, a hard worker and a tender father to his family. He came here from Utah and settled on a piece of land in the vicinity of Cottonwood Wash where he spent his last dollar trying to make a home. He made a failure and moved into Pima where he has since lived. His daughter who was murdered with him, was only fifteen years old, and was going to Clifton to work for W. M. Whipple and family. Father and daughter left Pima Monday morning in a wagon loaded with grain, and camped at the residence of John Parks above Solomonville the same night. Mr. Merrill leaves a wife and five children in dire circumstances. The oldest child is a boy 17 or 18 years of age. April 19, 1962 Explanation following murders, according to Ira Lafayette Merrill, son of Horatio Harris Merrill, as given to Ira Elwin Merrill, his son. "After the Army posse got on the trail of the Indians within about two weeks after the killing, they came into the camp of a man and wife and a 12 year old girl, Indians in Old Mexico, and ordered them to surrender. They ran towards a cliff near by and the man in charge ordered the pair shot when he saw they were going over the cliff. They fired and the Indians dropped over the cliff dead. The troops went around below the cliff and found the bodies dead and buried them. The 12 year old girl was still in camp and the posse took her back to Fort Grant. In the camp they found a suit case of clothes, which was sent by a man to my mother, who identified them as the clothes as belonging to Eliza Ann, my sister." IN MEMORY OF HORATIO HARRIS MERRILL, born January 3. 1837 and his daughter, ELIZA ANN MERRILL, born July 27, 1881 who, while traveling by team and wagon from Pima, Arizona to Clifton, Arizona, were ambushed and killed by Indians with rifles, December 3, 1895, shortly after sundown. Erected by the Merrill family organization in cooperation with the Arizona Highway Department. http://www.geocities.com/shefferfamily/history/merrill-hh.html
  Buried	6 Dec 1894	Pima, Graham, Arizona
  Notes	Murdered by Indians near Williams Springs, Arizona. ************************************* Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel, 1847–1868 Horatio Harris Merrill Birth Date: Unknown Death Date: Unknown Gender: Male Age: 11 Company: Brigham Young Company (1848) ********************************** Horatio Harris Merrill Son of Austin T. Merrill and Laura Wilder Harris. Born Jan. 3, 1834, Alden, Erie Co., N.Y. Came to Utah in 1850. Carpenter; Wheelwright. *********************************** Merrill, Horatio Harris Birth Date: 3 Jan. 1837 Death Date: 4 Dec. 1894 Gender: Male Age: 11 Company: Brigham Young Company (1848) http://www.lds.org/churchhistory/library/pioneerdetails/0,15791,4018-1-2306,00.html
  Person ID	I6165127	7_families
  Last Modified	30 Sep 2006

  
  

  Father	Austin Shepherd Merrill,   b. 25 Sep 1802, East Windsor, Hartford, Connecticut ,   d. 16 Jan 1874, Smithfield, Cache, Utah
  Mother	Laura Wilder Harris,   b. 21 Dec 1810, Chesterfield, Hampshire, Massachusetts ,   d. 19 Sep 1883, Smithfield, Cache, Utah
  Married	26 Mar 1827	Alden, Erie, New York
  Family ID	F1907949	Group Sheet

  
  

  Family 1	Janette Webb,   b. 24 Oct 1846, Council Bluffs, Pottawattamie, Iowa ,   d. 17 Dec 1865, Smithfield, Cache, Utah
  Married	28 Jul 1861
  Children	1. Laura Margaret Merrill,   b. 13 Oct 1863, Smithfield, Cache, Utah ,   d. 5 Aug 1934, Idaho Falls, Bonneville, Idaho   2. Horatio Epaphras Merrill,   b. 13 Dec 1865, Smithfield, Cache, Utah ,   d. 12 Sep 1884
  Last Modified	29 Sep 2006
  Family ID	F1907947	Group Sheet

  
  

  Family 2	Martine Mouritsen,   b. 11 Nov 1851, Staun, Farstrup, Aalborg, Denmark ,   d. 11 Jan 1870, Smithfield, Cache, Utah
  Married	24 Dec 1866	Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah
  Children	> 1. Joseph Harris Merrill,   b. 10 Mar 1868, Smithfield, Cache, Utah ,   d. 19 Sep 1961, Thomas, Bingham, Idaho   2. Martin Herman Merrill,   b. 10 Jan 1870, Smithfield, Cache, Utah ,   d. 10 Jan 1870, Smithfield, Cache, Utah
  Last Modified	29 Sep 2006
  Family ID	F1907933	Group Sheet

  
  

  Family 3	Sarah Ann Smith,   b. 4 Sep 1858, Mill Creek, Salt Lake, Utah ,   d. 28 Oct 1952, Burley, Cassia, Idaho
  Married	11 Aug 1876	Saint George, Washington, Utah
  Children	1. Robert Wilson Merrill,   b. 4 Jun 1879, Smithfield, Cache, Utah ,   d. 13 Nov 1955, Springville, Utah, Utah   2. Eliza Ann Merrill,   b. 27 Jul 1881, Smithfield, Cache, Utah ,   d. 3 Dec 1894, Williams Springs, Graham, Arizona   3. Ira Lafayette Merrill,   b. 27 Jan 1885, Smithfield, Cache, Utah ,   d. 25 Mar 1968, Mesa, Maricopa, Arizona   4. Ivin Allen Merrill,   b. 30 Aug 1886, Smithfield, Cache, Utah ,   d. 30 Jun 1953   5. Margaret Merrill,   b. 13 Oct 1888, Smithfield, Cache, Utah ,   d. 17 May 1974, Blackfoot, Bingham, Idaho   6. Austin Smith Merrill,   b. 4 Sep 1891, Pima, Graham, Arizona ,   d. 23 Aug 1960, Provo, Utah, Utah
  Last Modified	29 Sep 2006
  Family ID	F1907948	Group Sheet

  
  

• Event Map		Born - 3 Jan 1837 - Alden, Erie, New York Married - 24 Dec 1866 - Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah Married - 11 Aug 1876 - Saint George, Washington, Utah Census - 1880 - Smithfield, Cache, Utah Died - 4 Dec 1894 - Williams Springs, Graham, Arizona Buried - 6 Dec 1894 - Pima, Graham, Arizona  = Link to Google Maps   = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Photos		Horatio Harris Merrill
  		Horatio Harris Merrill

  
  

• Sources

  [S110076] Deseret, Great Salt Lake, Salt Lake, Deseret, Great Salt Lake, Salt Lake, (www.ancestry.com). [S1116438] Deseret, Great Salt Lake, Salt Lake, Deseret, Great Salt Lake, Salt Lake, (www.ancestry.com). [S110074] Utah, Cache, Smithfield - 1880 - Federal Census, Utah, Cache, Smithfield, (www.ancestry.com).