Ironically, little seems to have been written about the Wabash man who created one of the most prominent book publishing businesses in the country.
Samuel Merrill, Wabash Class of 1851, took over his father’s business and grew it into Bobbs-Merrill & Co, which published the works of James Whitcomb Riley, Ayn Rand, and perhaps most famously, the early works of L. Frank Baum, including The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Merrill fought alongside William Tecumseh Sherman in the Civil War and served in the foreign service. Yet, little more is known about him.
Merrill’s father, a prominent Hoosier who was state treasurer when the capital was moved from Corydon to Indianapolis in 1824, founded the family book business. Merrill and his family, along with others, formed a caravan of wagons and pedestrians to haul the possessions of the state to their new city. He later became a bank president, and with E.H. Hood, he opened a bookstore in Indianapolis.
Young Samuel graduated from Wabash in 1851 and received a master’s degree from Wabash the next year. In 1859 he married the daughter of the first President White, the second president of the College. Merrill’s bride was the great-great grand niece of Rev. Jonathan Edwards.
Merrill was managing the family business when the Civil War erupted. He enlisted, was commissioned a lieutenant colonel, and commanded the 70th Indiana Volunteer Infantry under Col. Benjamin Harrison, leading his regiment alongside Sherman in the historic “march to the sea.” In 1900, Merrill recounted his experiences in his book The Seventieth Indiana Volunteer Infantry in the War of the Rebellion.
After the war, Merrill rebuilt the family book business into a chain of retail bookstores and a publishing house. The company’s fortunes skyrocketed when it began to publish the poems of James Whitcomb Riley in 1888. The company gained national prominence by innovative advertising, and even more respect from the publishing community with the publication of The Wizard of Oz.
Harrison was elected president in 1888 and nominated Merrill to be United States Consul General at Calcutta, India, where he served under Ambassador Robert Lincoln. After Harrison left office, Merrill returned to the United States but relocated to California, where he had an orange and lemon ranch on the slopes of the Sierra Madre Mountains.
The first books that Merrill’s father had published were reprints of the case decisions of the early Indiana Supreme Court. The publication of law books continued as a staple for more than 100 years. The name “Bobbs Merrill” faded out of use after its acquisition by MacMillan toward the end of the 20th century.
Merrill died on September 2, 1924, at the age of 93. The Indianapolis Star posted the news on the front page. A few days later, The Indianapolis News ran a laudatory editorial: “He had been both soldier and citizen in the best sense, a man of character and ideals, with a deep wish to serve the public interest.”