H. A. Merrill

Rv Henry A Merrill USA 1816-1883. Born in Utica, NY, the son of an influential printer, he was an evangelical industrialist who contributed to the development of AR & GA. He began working at the Oneida textile factory in Whitesboro, NY, at age 14. He participated in the religious movement of ‘The Second Great Awakening’, and he attended the abolitionist Oneida Institute in Whitesboro. In 1839 he left NY to work in Roswell, GA, managing the Roswell Mfg. Co., owned by the city founder, Roswell King. In 1841 he married Elizabeth Pye Magill, daughter of a wealthy GA planter family, whose brother, Charles A Magill, later became his business partner in AR. They had no children. While in Roswell, GA, Merrell became close to the Smith family, whose son, William,would later work for Merrell in Pike County, AR. The Smith’s were Merrell’s friends and heirs, and Merrell’s writings were later found in their historic Roswell home. Merrell wrote that he had a calling to fulfill.. promote manufacturing in the South to help reconcile southern and northern interests to neutralize political differences of both sides. In 1845 he left Roswell Mfg. Co. and became the builder and operator of the Curtright Mfg. Co., Long Shoals Factory, on the Oconee River in GA. He also began a steam-powered plant in Greensboro, GA, but its financial difficulties convinced him to move once more. Using an 1847 map of the U.S., and drawing data from the 1850 Census, Merrell decided he would move to AR. He relocated to AR in 1856 and chose a site on the Little Missouri River north of Murfreesboro. He bought a site and named it Royston, after meeting General Grandison D Royston while traveling. To power his new textile mill, Merrell began building a dam on the Little Missouri River, completed it later that year. Built with local labor and materials, it held back 10-12 feet of water, and his company was chartered in 1857. In 1863 he sold the Royston mill and was soon commissioned a Major in the Confederate army. He was sent to build a blockade on the Arkansas River to protect Little Rock from attack by Federal ships. After finishing this task later that year he moved to Camden, AR. The Confederacy again sought his help to begin a manufacturing establishment in Mound {Prairie, TX, and eventually sent Merrell to England, where he traveled around before returning to the U.S. During the remainder of his life in Camden, he was a powerful elder in the Presbyterian Church. He was also a trustee of Presbyterian-affiliated Arkansas College (Lyon College today).. He entered the mercantile business in Camden with his brother-in-law, Charles Magill, in 1867. By 1872 he had contracted tuberculosis, after which he died there the following year. He was buried in a Confederate cemetery. He was considered an industrial missionary to the South. He wrote an autobiography in AR. He had authored several works. He wrote about a geological survey done in WI, IA, and MN and pioneering life in WI. He also wrote (in another volume) about textile industry endeavors in the South (primarily AR and GA) and about the American Civil War in AR. He is credited with the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. He authored the books: “Alexander Gifford” or “Vi’let’s Boy”. And “To climb a shadow”.

John Perry