Marriner Wood Merrill: A Logging Miracle

[Taken from the autobiography in chapter 2 of the book "Utah Pioneer and Apostle Marriner Wood Merrill and His Family," edited by Melvin Clarence Merrill, 1937, p. 44-46.]

Marriner Wood Merrill

During the winter of 1855 and '56 I worked in North Mill Creek Canyon as I had done the previous winter.  And in this connection I will here relate a circumstance that occurred with me that winter while working in the canyon.  During the month of January, 1856, the weather was very cold, the temperature ranging 20 to 30 degrees below zero at times. On one occasion I found myself in the canyon alone, as it was so cold no one else cared to risk going out in the canyon that day. I was at that time hauling house logs, usually five to a load. After getting my logs cut and dragged down to the loading place I commenced loading them on my bob sled, one end on the sled and the small end to drag on the snow. I had the five logs lying side by side. The loading place being very slippery, I was as I thought very careful. But after getting the first one loaded on the sled I turned around to load another one. The one I had on the sled slipped off like it was shot out of a gun and struck me in the hollow of the legs and threw me forward on my face across the four logs lying on the ground, or ice.

In falling, my hand spike, which I had used in loading the first log, slipped out of my hand and out of my reach. And thus I found myself with my body lying face downwards across the four logs and the fifth log lying across my legs, and I was pinned to the ground with a heavy red pine log 10 inches through at the large end and 22 feet long lying across my legs. And there I was with no visible means to extricate myself and there was no aid at hand, as no one but myself was in the canyon that day. I made up my mind that I must freeze and die all alone in the mountains of Utah. Many serious thoughts passed through my mind, as you may imagine. In falling on the logs my breast and stomach were hurt and it was difficult for me to breathe. I did not conceive what to do under the trying ordeal, but concluded to ask the Lord to help me, which I did in earnest prayer. After calling upon the Lord for some time I began to make an effort to extricate myself but all in vain, as I could not move the log that was lying on me. I, however, continued my efforts until I was exhausted and lost all recollection of my situation.

And the first I remembered afterward I was one mile down the canyon sitting on my load of logs and the oxen going gently along. My overcoat by the side of me, and feeling very cold, I spoke to my oxen and stopped them and looked around in wonder and astonishment. Then I remembered being under the log at the loading place some time previous. But how long I was there I could not determine, but supposed about two hours, as I was two hours later getting home than usual. I looked at the load and found I had the five logs on the sled, three on the bottom and two on the top, nicely bound, my ax sticking in the top log, my whip lying on the load by my side, my sheepskin (with the wool on, which I used to sit on) also on the load and I sitting on it. I made an effort to get off the load and put on my overcoat but found I could not do it, as I was so sore in my legs and breast that it was with great difficulty that I could move at all.

I put my overcoat on in a sitting position as I was, and wrapped it around my legs the best I could and started on down the canyon. My oxen being gentle and tractable and the road smooth and all down hill, I arrived home without difficulty. On arriving there I found my wife was anxiously waiting for me and quite uneasy about me, as I was so much later than usual. She lifted me from the load and helped me into the house, placed me by the fireside (as we had no stoves in those days), and made me as comfortable as possible and took care of my team, etc. I was confined to the house for some days before I could get around again.

Who it was that extricated me from under the log, loaded my sled, hitched my oxen to it, and placed me on it, I cannot say, as I do not now, or even then at the time, remember seeing anyone, and I know for a surety no one was in the canyon that day but myself. Hence I must give the Lord, or my Guardian Angel, credit for saving my life in extricating me from so perilous a situation.

(This account is also mentioned by Elder Dallin H. Oaks in the June 2001 Ensign.)

Marriner Wood Merrill: A Very Good Year

Marriner Wood Merrill joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada, in 1852, and then joined a wagon train on April 22, 1853 under William Atkinson, arriving in the Salt Lake Valley on September 11. When he arrived in the valley, he had $5 and one cow.

On November 11, 1853, he married Sarah Ann Atkinson, the eldest daughter of the captain of their wagon train.

Sarah Ann Atkinson and Marriner Wood Merrill, 1853

He worked where he could, and the following year obtained 100 acres of land, which he then divided with his father-in-law, William Atkinson, and an elderly man who needed some land. He then cut down trees in the canyon and hired Samuel Henrie to help him haul the lumber to the mill. "The mill got one-third for sawing, Brother Henrie one-third for hauling, and I one-third for cutting and sliding. Thus I soon got lumber to build my small house and some to spare."

Marriner and his wife Sarah worked hard on building the house, and they were able to move in on September 16, 1854. On October 24, 1854, their first daughter Phebe Ann was born in their house.

Near wing, first home, 1854

In his autobiography, he summarized the past year's events:

"Thus in a little over one year after I came to the Salt Lake Valley a young boy penniless, with no one in the Territory I had ever seen before (save those who came in the same company), through the blessings of our Heavenly Father I had a kind, good wife, one nice girl baby, a house and home of my own, an unbroken farm of 33 and 1/3 acres, one yoke of splendid, well-broken oxen, and a good new wagon with only $70 due on it, 90 bushels of good wheat, 20 bushels of nice potatoes, a fat hog to kill (for we had raised one), a cow, and other small things for the house and farm. Thus it was demonstrated in my case that the Lord helps those who make an effort to help themselves."

I would have to say that Marriner Wood Merrill had a Very Good Year.

Marriner Wood Merrill: Pioneer Trek

Malcolm's father Edgar Merrill's father was Marriner Wood Merrill. He was a pioneer, apostle, polygamist, and temple president. There are a few stories that all of his descendants should be familiar with. In this episode, we read his own account of crossing the plains.

Marriner Wood Merrill joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on 3 April 1852 in Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada. He then crossed the plains to Utah in 1853. In his autobiography he wrote the following.

On the 22nd day of April [1853] I left Sackville, N.B., in company with William Atkinson and family for the gathering place of the Saints, viz., Salt Lake City, Utah. I had in my possession $120 currency and gold, which amount I had previously saved by hard work to defray my expenses to Utah. My clothing was at this time very limited. Besides paying my fare I spent a small amount in purchasing clothing, one cow, and provisions to cross the Plains, etc.

Our journey was by way of St. John, N. B., East Port, Portland, Boston, Troy, Buffalo, Detroit, Chicago, La Salle, Saint Louis and from there up the Mississippi River to Keokuk, our starting point by team for the West. We arrived at Keokuk on May 9, 1853, and at this point found others ready for starting by team across the then Territory of Iowa and the Great Plains of the West. At this point ox teams were bought, usually two yoke or pairs of oxen to a wagon. In some cases the cows were yoked up and placed in the teams to assist in pulling the wagons. Wm. Atkinson was elected Captain of the Company, and I was elected Captain of the Guard, and Jesse W. Crosby was elected President of the Company. We rode out of Keokuk, which was 12 miles below Nauvoo on the west side of the Mississippi River, on the 18th day of May, 1853. On May 19th Profinda Atkinson died, which detained us one day. She was the then youngest child of William and Phebe Atkinson, about 2 1/2 years old.

We had a somewhat difficult journey across Iowa, 330 miles, owing principally to the country being new and the lack of bridges, rains, etc. However, on June 17 we arrived at Council Bluffs with our company of eight wagons and camped near the Missouri River. We made our arrangements to be ferried across on a large flat boat managed by oarsmen. In a few days we succeeded in all getting across the river safely with our wagons, teams, and outfit. On the first day of July we left the Missouri River with 13 wagons in our company and wended our way slowly to the Rocky Mountains, nothing serious occurring to impede our progress.

However, some little incidents occurred occasionally to cause a sad feeling in camp. On one occasion I came near to being drowned in the Platte River, but through the blessings of the Lord and the kind aid and assistance of one Brother John Reese, a Welsh Brother with one eye and who now lives in Benson Ward, Cache Stake. He being an excellent swimmer, saved me from a watery grave by assisting me from the middle of the river where I had lodged on a sand bar. I being thus saved, we proceeded on our way with joy and thanksgiving.

On another occasion we were stopped by a large band of some 500 hostile Sioux Indians who placed themselves across the road and stopped our teams. They made a demand on us for coffee, flour, sugar, tobacco, etc. We complied cheerfully with their wishes because we had to, and it was our only safety. After receiving our presents they reluctantly let us pass on our way. We also had one small stampede with our teams as they were hitched to the wagons, but without serious damage. We also encountered many large herds of wild buffalo, which at times came near stampeding our teams. But by using caution and stopping our teams, what seemed to be a pending calamity was averted. These herds of wild buffalo were often seen on the Laramie Plains and west of them by the thousands, probably 10 or 15 thousand in a drove and covering many acres of ground....

We arrived in Salt Lake City on the 11th day of September, 1853, and it was a pleasing spectacle to behold civilization again, and houses wherein people lived with home comforts around them, even if they were in a rude state. For it must be remembered that the Pioneers or first settlers had only been in the country a little over six years, landing in the Great Salt Lake Valley on the 24th of July, 1847, and the country at that time was a barren waste, the home of the wild Indian, with the coyote, large grey wolves, crickets, and grasshoppers for neighbors. For one emerging from the Great Plains of the West and crossing the Rocky Mountains by ox teams it was indeed a pleasant change of vision, and the reflecting mind would be led to exclaim, "Surely the God of Israel has been a counselor to this poor exiled people and has blessed the land and country for their sake." What then seemed to be comfortable homes were met with on every hand, and peace and good will and brotherly kindness seemed to prevail in all the land.

San Francisco

After Malcolm had been doing research at the Rockefeller Institute in Princeton, New Jersey for 3 years he realized that he had to get an internship. He said:

It was beginning to be evident that if you got your M.D. and didn’t get your internship within a 5 year period, there may be real problems in getting licenses to practice medicine. So after I had been 3 years at the Rockefeller Institute—that’s 3 years after I got my M.D.—it became evident that I just had to figure out some way of getting back and get my internship. So they allowed us at the Rockefeller Institute that they would give me a fellowship...They said any place in the country you want to select—we’ll cover you for. So they covered me for my internship at the University of California hospital.

If you'll recall, he was impressed by the beautiful weather he saw in California while at a conference there one February, while attending school in snow-laden Logan. So this was an opportunity to get there.

Bruce, Don, Thelma and Malcolm Merrill. Golden Gate State Park, San Francisco, California, about 1936.

Malcolm told about his first year there:

And then after the internship they offered me an assistantship in dermatology to head up the syphilis clinic at the UC hospital in San Francisco....So I didn’t actually get to complete my first full year of residency, because they kind of drafted me to go into the state health department and head up the venereal disease control program in the state health department. And that’s where I got "sunk" for 29 years, in the California State Health Department.

(Everyone laughed when he said "sunk"). Thelma expounded on his position there:

Malcolm was director of this department of venereal disease control. Then he was director of the state laboratories. Then he was assistant director of the state department of public health. And then he was the director of the state department of public health, for nearly 12 years.

Thelma and Malcolm Merrill with Bruce and Don.
Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California. About 1937.

Bruce with "gun". (Early military training?)

Don suffered from rheumatic fever and had to miss six weeks of school.

Don Merrill with Rheumatic fever.

Wesley J. O'Dell, Claude Lindsay, Serge Lauper, Malcolm H. Merrill.  Sunset Ward, San Francisco, CA, about 1938.

Apparently Golden Gate Park was a favorite place for the annual family photo.

Thelma and Malcolm Merrill with Bruce and Don, about 1938.

Bruce, Don, Thelma and Malcolm Merrill. Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. About 1939.

Don Merrill, about 1939.

Bruce Merrill, about 1939.

Malcolm and Don Merrill in suits.

In the "69 Questions" episode of Mark's recordings of "Pearls from the Past", Thelma was asked "What were your feelings about moving?" and she said,

Loved it.  We thought it was great.  I couldn’t count how many houses I lived in.  We lived in a house in San Francisco first, at the foot of the hospital where Malcolm did his internship.  We lived in a house on the 3rd  floor, and Don and Bruce’s feet got pretty big from running up and down those stairs.  And I got pretty heavy because Jeanie was on the way.  So that’s why we moved to Cragmont.

In our next episode, we'll meet "Jeanie"!

Scientists in Princeton, New Jersey

So far in our story, Malcolm Merrill

• Grew up in Richmond, Utah, where he graduated from 8th grade and finished high school a year early, 
• was concertmaster in the Utah Agricultural College orchestra, 
• graduated with a B.S. (as valedictorian) in 1925, 
• went to medical school for a year before coming back to marry Thelma in August 1926,
• returned with Thelma to St. Louis, where he got a master's degree in bacteriology in 1927,
• and got his M.D. in 1932.

Don and Bruce were also born during their time in St. Louis.

Malcolm, Bruce, Thelma and Don Merrill.

Princeton, New Jersey

After receiving his medical degree, Malcolm was offered a job doing research with the Rockefeller Institute in Princeton, New Jersey, so they moved there.

Malcolm, Bruce, Don and Thelma Merrill, hitting the road.

Bruce, Malcolm and Don Merrill. Princeton, New Jersey.

Bruce, Thelma and Don. Princeton, New Jersey.

While they lived in Princeton, they attended a tiny branch of the LDS church. Malcolm served in the branch presidency with Henry Eyring, an internationally famous LDS chemist, and the father of Henry B. Eyring, who is currently in the first presidency of the LDS church. (Henry B. Eyring was born in 1933, and so would have been about three years old when the Merrills moved away). I believe they met for church in the Eyring's living room.

Henry and Henry B. Eyring

Below is a photo from February 1933 of the New Bedford Sunday school class, featuring Don Merrill (left), Joan Bean, Alwyn Sessions, and Edward M. "Teddy" Eyring (top right), who is the oldest son of Henry Eyring (and oldest brother of Henry B. Eyring).

While there, Malcolm did research that helped to identify the eastern strain of the equine encephalomyelitis virus. Thelma said that Malcolm "went down to the swamps and got the mosquitoes and fed them to the little guinea pigs" and so on.

Malcolm reported:

I was, with my boss, involved in the identification of a new strain of the encephalomyelitis virus—the eastern strain. The western strain was already identified. There was some question about how the disease was transmitted. It was suspected that it was mosquitoes, but nobody had ever proved that it was. But we were able to prove that mosquitoes were the vectors that transmitted the virus from one agent to another....The most important thing I figured out while I was there was the fact that the virus actually multiplies in the mosquitoes. It had been known for many years that yellow fever was transmitted by mosquitoes—that was demonstrated back in 1898 and 1899, in the Cuba days. But they never knew whether the mosquito was simply a transmitter from one person to another, or whether the virus actually multiplied in the mosquito. They suspected it did, but no one had ever been able to demonstrate that. And by a very simple technique I was able to prove that the virus multiplies very rapidly in the mosquito. That is, the encephalitis virus did, and then the presumption was that the same phenomenon carried on with other viruses.

Thelma recalled:

I remember sitting one time at the dinner table and he was thinking and thinking.  He was lost and then suddenly he said – That’s it!  And he got up and he went to the laboratory, and that’s when he had decided about the transmission of the equine encephalomyelitis. Horse sleeping sickness – in case you wonder what that is.  And he is internationally known for that work.

Malcolm H. Merrill. Princeton, New Jersey.

You can read his 1934 article on the subject.

Meanwhile, the family enjoyed their time growing up on the east coast.

Don and Thelma Merrill.

Don and Bruce Merrill.

Don Merrill. Princeton, New Jersey.

Bruce, Malcolm and Don Merrill. Princeton, New Jersey.

Malcolm and Thelma Merrill, 1933.

Don and Bruce Merrill, Christmas 1935, Princeton, New Jersey.

Don, Thelma, Bruce, Malcolm Merrill. Christmas 1935, Princeton, New Jersey.

Don Merrill.

And here are a couple of letters Thelma wrote home with pictures of Don and Bruce.

Don and Bruce Merrill.

Don and Bruce Merrill, with identical twin cousins, Erma and Elma Merrill.

A Brush with Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein developed the theory of relativity, the mass-energy equivalence formula (E=mc²), and received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921. In 1933 he visited the United States, and when Hilter rose to power, he realized that he could not return to Germany.

And so it was that in October 1933 he took up a position at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey.

This was almost the last thing he did! For, one day, Thelma Merrill was driving across campus in Princeton when a man walked out in front of her car and she had to slam on the brakes. When the man looked up, it was Albert Einstein! Grandma almost ran him over!

Albert's wife Elsa once told Charlie Chaplin about the time Einstein conceived his theory of relativity. During breakfast one morning, he seemed lost in thought and ignored his food. She asked him if something was bothering him. He sat down at his piano and started playing. He continued playing and writing notes for half an hour, then went upstairs to his study, where he remained for two weeks, with Elsa bringing up his food. At the end of the two weeks he came downstairs with two sheets of paper bearing his theory.

Einstein also played the violin quite nicely.

I thought it was interesting that Malcolm Merrill and Albert Einstein both played the violin, and both made some of their big discoveries while lost in thought during a meal. And then, of course, it was hilarious that Thelma almost ran him over!

In the next episode, we travel all the way across the country to San Francisco.