- DAVID MERRILL, farmer, Sec. 10; P.O. Beloit; born in Shelburne,
Mass., in 1812; he left
- there in 1836, and went to Michigan in 1841; came to Wisconsin
and located at Beloit; the first land he bought was 100 acres
where the city now stands, on the west side of the river; he
sold it out at different times, and it is now all laid out in
city lots; he built the first stone house on the west side of
the river, the oldest house now standing, and his family was
the first on the west side of the river; he also built the new
brick block at the west end of the bridge, on the north side
of the street, and also owns six stores and dwellings adjoining
this block; he bought the farm he now lives on, known as the
CLUTE farm, 240 acres, in Section 10; the residence and barns
on it were built by Mr. CLUTE, but Mr. MERRILL greatly improved
it while he lived in the city and suburbs; he built twenty-four
dwellings and barns in Beloit, and has broken and improved five
farms in the township, and built a residence and barn on each
one; he has broken over 1,200 acres of land, which he owned and
sold; he built over twenty miles of rail and board fence; he
now owns 240 acres in Section 10, with residence and barns, and
twenty-five lots in Beloit, valued at $20,000. He married, in
Beloit, in 1842, Agnes FONDA, and this was the first public wedding
in Beloit. They had seven children, six now living.
-
- Taken from "The History of Rock County, Wis."
(c)1879, p. 758.
-
- Courtesy of Carol
|