Rash's Surname Index
Notes for Samuel Vaughn MERRICK
MERRICK, Samual Vaughan, philanthropist, was born in Hallowell, Maine, May 4, 1801; son of John and Rebecca (Vaughan) Merrick, and grandson of Samuel Vaughan, a London merchant. John Merrick was educated for the Unitarian ministry, came from England in 1798, and settled in Hallowell Maine, where he married and led a life of leisure, and received the honorary degree of A.M. from Bowdoin college in 1807. Samuel Vaughan Merrick attended the public schools of Hallowell, removed to Philadelphia, Pa., in 1816, and entered the employ of his uncle, Samuel Vaughan, a wine merchant. He resigned his position in 1820, and studied mechanical engineering. He engaged in manufacturing improved fire engines under the firm name of Merrick & Agnew, and introduced his steam fire engines into Philadelphia. He was married, Dec. 25, 1823, to Sarah, daughter of Nathaniel Thomas, of Philadelphia. In 1835 he established the Southwark Iron foundry in Philadelphia with Mr. Towne, who retired in 1849, when he took into partnership his eldest son, J. Vaughan Merrick. The firm continued as Merrick & Son, and after 1852 as Merrick & Sons, which title it retained after he retired in 1860. He built the iron lighthouses erected along the Florida reefs, which included some of the largest in the world. His firm also constructed steam hammers, sugar refining apparatus and the machinery of the U.S.S. Mississippi, Princeton, San Jacinto, Wabash and numerous others. The most notable achievement of the firm, however, was the construction of the New Ironsides, the first armor-clad war vessel ever built. He was a member of the city council when the matter of introducing illuminating gas was before that body, and was commissioned to visit Europe in 1834 to examine into and report the method of its manufacture. On his return he superintended the building of the Philadelphia gas-works, which were completed in 1837. He was the first president of the Pennsylvania railroad, 1846-49; of the Sunbury and Erie railroad, 1856-68; and was influential in establiShing the Catawissa railroad on a firm basis. He was a founder and for many years president of the Franklin Institute and of the Union League club, a member of the American Philosophical society, 1833-70, and gave large sums to the sanitary commissions, and to the cause of education in the south. He enerected and endowed the Episcopal hospital and aided in the erection of the Episcopal residence. He died in Philadelphia, Pa., Aug. 18, 1870.
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