Samuel Merrill (Iowa)
| Samuel Merrill | |
|---|---|
 |
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| 7th Governor of Iowa | |
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In office January 16, 1868 – January 11, 1872 |
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| Preceded by | William M. Stone |
| Succeeded by | Cyrus C. Carpenter |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
August 7, 1822 Turner, Maine |
| Died | August 31, 1899 (aged 77) Los Angeles, California |
| Political party | Republican |
Samuel Merrill (August 7, 1822 – August 31, 1899) was the seventh Governor of Iowa from 1868–1872, as well as an officer in the Union army during the American Civil War.
Merrill was born in Turner, Maine. He was the second youngest child of Abel Merrill, Jr. and his wife Abigail. Early in life, he was a committed Whig and churchgoing Protestant, a strong supporter of prohibition and an equally vigorous opponent of the expansion of slavery. After deciding to become a teacher, he moved to the South, but found himself unpopular due to his strong abolitionist views. He returned to New England, tried farming, and then entered the mercantile business. In 1854 he was elected on the abolitionist ticket to the Legislature of New Hampshire.
In 1856 he decided to leave New England and moved to McGregor, Iowa. Before long, he was elected to the Iowa Legislature. In the summer of 1862, Merrill was commissioned Colonel of the 21st Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment, serving in that regiment until seriously wounded in the hip at the Battle of Big Black River Bridge on the Big Black River in May 1863. This was part of the Vicksburg Campaign in 1863, where Union forces captured 1,700 retreating Confederate troops. The battle would mean the Confederate troops were bottled up at Vicksburg, Miss., which was strategically vital. General Ulysses S. Grant, who led that campaign, referred to Merrill’s intrepidity as "eminently brilliant and daring" and that had Merrill not been a general officer at the time, he would have recommended him for the Medal of Honor. Merrill rejoined his regiment in January 1864, but the lingering effects of his hip wound forced him to terminate his military service the following June.
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