Moody Merrill

Merrill was born on June 27, 1836 Campton, New Hampshire. He was the ninth of 14 children born to Winthrop and Martha (Noyes) Merrill.^[1] He attended local schools and the Thetford Academy, Vermont. He taught in Ellsworth, New Hampshire in 1856 and Thornton, New Hampshire in 1857.^[2] Merrill moved to Boston's Roxbury neighborhood in 1859.^[2] On May 10, 1860, Merrill married Martha M. Burgess, the widow of his older brother Jeremiah. They had one son, Winthrop Minot Merrill. Martha Burgess Merrill died on June 8, 1892.^[1]

In December 1859, Merrill entered the law office of William Minot.^[2] He was admitted to the Suffolk County, Massachusetts bar on January 7, 1863, and began practicing law. In 1867, Merrill was a junior member on the defense team for John Moran, who had been indicted for murder.^[2][3] Moran was found guilty but Merrill, who disagreed with how the defense had been handled by his superiors, brought the case before the Governor and the Massachusetts Governor's Council. Although the council had previously denied commutation based on the defense presented at trial, they unanimously commuted the sentence from death to life imprisonment after hearing Merrill's argument. Merrill was able to get Moran a pardon several years later from a different Council.^[2]

From 1865 to 1874, Merrill served on the Boston School Committee. From 1869 to 1871, Merrill was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. In 1873 and 1874 he represented the 1st Norfolk District in the Massachusetts Senate. In 1874, Merrill, who was chairman of the committee on the state constabulary, passed legislation abolishing the agency over the veto of acting governor Thomas Talbot. Merrill's presentation was so persuasive that Senator Nathaniel P. Banks, who had spoken against the bill, voted in favor of it after hearing Merrill. Merrill also served as chairman of the committee in charge of memorial services for Charles Sumner.^[2] Merrill pushed for the creation of the Boston park system and petitioned the city council for many years for the purchase of land that became Franklin Park.^[4]

Merrill was the founding president of the Highland Street Railway, which received its charter on April 12, 1872, and opened on October 24, 1872. Five miles of road and two large stables were constructed for the horse railroad. In 1886, Merrill was able to secure passage of legislation allowing the consolidation of the Highland Street Railway and the Middlesex Railroad.^[5] Charles Edward Powers of the Middlesex Railroad was elected president of the new Boston Consolidated Street Railway and Merrill became its vice president.^[6] With the merger, the new company became the second largest street railway operating in Boston (after the Metropolitan Railroad).^[7][8] In 1888 the Consolidated Railway was again consolidated, this time into the West End Street Railway.^[9]

Merrill purchased land opposite Franklin Park and opened an amusement park called Oakland Garden. The venture was unsuccessful and Merrill founded the Franklin Park Land Company to manage the land formerly occupied by Oakland Garden as well as an adjoining lot that stretched to the Mt. Bowdoin Station.^[4]

Merrill was also the proprietor of the Hotel Bellevue in Boston and was president of the Magneso-Calcite Company, a fire proofing business.^[10][11][12]

In 1888, Merrill was a candidate for Mayor of Boston. He lost the Republican nomination to former alderman Thomas N. Hart 165 votes to 133 at the city Republican convention.^[13] Hart went on to win that year's mayoral election. At the 1889 convention, Merrill, who was mentioned as a possible challenger to Hart, moved that Hart be unanimously declared the nominee for Mayor.^[14] In 1890, Merrill defeated Hart 167 votes to 131 to win the Republican nomination for mayor.^[15] During the campaign, Merrill's involvement with the Tremont Water Meter Company came under scrutiny. Tremont provided defective water meters to the city of Boston after Merrill came on as a director and helped secure the contract to be the exclusive provider of water meters to the city.^[16] Merrill lost the 1890 Boston mayoral election to Democrat Nathan Matthews Jr. 59% to 37%.^[17] Merrill indicated that the lack of support from Hart aided in his loss.^[18]

By 1892, Merrill was heavily invested in the Boston Gas Company, a venture that provided a profit for the majority shareholder, J. Edward Addicks, but not for Merrill and the other Boston men who invested in it. According to Merrill, this put him in a desperate position.^[4] The Panic of 1893 left him financially devastated and that May it was found that he was insolvent.^[19][4] On June 7, 1893, the Boston Daily Globe reported that he had a total of $157,000 in attachments on his property and was being sued for nearly $75,000 by his sister-in-law.^[10] On June 11, an attorney who represented three women who were owed money by Merrill petitioned in insolvency court seeking to have Merrill's estate seized.^[20] On June 23, at a meeting of the Magneso-Calcite Company creditors, the assignee revealed that Merrill placed $50,000 in bonds in circulation despite Merrill's statements to the contrary.^[11] On June 30, Edgar S. Hill, Louis W. Raycroft, and James Hewins were assigned by the court to resolve Merrill's affairs.^[21] On December 18 and 19, Merrill's furniture, paintings, and other household goods were sold at auction.^[22] Merrill's total liabilities were estimated to be around $300,000. However, because most of his creditors were wealthy, they chose to take the loss rather than face public embarrassment.^[12]