Samuel Vaughan Merrick (1801–1870). American manufacturer, the first president of
the Pennsylvania Railroad. He co-founded
the Franklin Institute and built the engines for Matthew Perry’s flagship on
his voyage to Japan.
Document Signed, 1 page very large folio (about 18X22
inches) on fine vellum, June 4, 1867 selling a property on the corner of
Juniper and Pine Streets in Philadelphia consisting of a 4-story brick house
and the land to noted physician and professor Dr. Samuel Jackson for what was
then the huge sum of $12,000. Fine other
than a piece about 5 inches square cut out beneath the signatures of Merrick
and his wife which was probably blank.
Born near Hallowell, Maine, on May 4, 1801, Merrick left
school 1816 and moved to Philadelphia, where he worked for his merchant uncle
John Vaughan. He subsequently studied
engineering, and in 1824 founded, with scientist William Keating, The Franklin
Institute of the State of Pennsylvania for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts,
of which he was President from 1832 until 1854.
He also established the firm of Merrick and Agnew, which manufactured
fire engines.
In 1836, Merrick established the Southwark Iron Foundry,
which became one of the most advanced manufacturing plants of its kind in this
country. Operated by the firm of Merrick & Towne (later renamed Merrick
& Sons), the foundry built the engines for the USS Mississippi.
Merrick took a deep interest in public affairs and was
instrumental to the introduction of illuminating gas into Philadelphia, being
the chairman of a Committee of the Common Council that reported on the benefits
of gaslighting. He also served as the first president of the Pennsylvania
Railroad, which he had advocated as a means to connect Philadelphia to the
west, and was also president of the Sunbury and Erie Railroad (later part of
the PRR) and the Catawissa Railroad (later part of the Reading Railroad).
Merrick was a member of the American Philosophical Society from 1833 until his
death.