Daniel Merriman

Daniel Merriman (Dec. 3, 1838 - Sept. 18, 1912) was an American Congregational minister and art collector. With his wife, Helen Bigelow Merriman, he was a cofounder of the Worcester Art Museum and served as its first president.

Biography

Daniel Merriman was born in Bennington, Vermont, to Addison Merriman and Prudence (Adams) Merriman. He was educated at Williams College, from which he graduated in 1863.[1] During the Civil War, he served as a first lieutenant and as an adjutant to an Illinois regiment.[1] At war's end, he entered Andover Theological Seminary, graduating with a Doctor of Divinity degree in 1868.[1]

Merriman's first ministry was in Norwich, Connecticut, at the Broadway Congregational Church.[1] In 1874, he married the artist and philanthropist Helen Bigelow Merriman, and they had a son, Roger Bigelow Merriman, who became a historian.[2] They settled in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1878, where he served for 22 years as minister at the Central Congregational Church.[1][3] Merriman and his wife led the drive to construct a new building for the Congregational Church at the corner of Grove St. and Institute Rd. Designed by architect Stephen C. Earle in the Romanesque Revival style, it was completed in 1885; today the building is known as the United Congregational Church.[3][4][5][6]

Merriman was one of the original founders and trustees of the Worcester Art Museum, and he drafted the museum's bylaws.[3] When it opened in 1898, he served as its first president, and he sat on various administrative committees.[3] When he died, the trustees wrote that next to Stephen Salisbury III, "the Worcester Art Museum owes most to Daniel Merriman, under whose administration it has won position, prestige, and the confidence of the public".[1]

In 1910, Joseph DeCamp painted a portrait of Merriman that was later donated to the museum.[3]

Merriman also served as a trustee for the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Williams College, and Atlanta University.[1]

He died of heart disease in Intervale, New Hampshire.[1]

Notes and references
  1. "Daniel Merriman, D.D.". The Journal of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute 16:1 (November 1912), pp 25–28. Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
  2. "Merriman Family Papers". Massachusetts Historical Society.
  3. Welu, James. "Helen Bigelow Merriman and the Worcester Art Museum". Holy Cross College website., n.d.
  4. Strahan, Derek. "Central Congregational Church, Worcester, Mass". Lost New England, Sept.r 14, 2016.
  5. "Two Congregational Churches". Worcester and Its People, Holy Cross College website, n.d.
  6. Note that United Congregational Church is not the same as Union Congregational Church, another Worcester church designed by Stephen Earle.
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