The Merrill-Magowan Family Papers represent the activities of the family beginning with Charles Morton Merrill and his wife Octavia Wilson Merrill and following the family primarily through Charles Edward Merrill (1885-1956; AC 1908), his son Charles Edward Merrill, Jr. and daughter Doris Merrill Magowan, her husband Robert Anderson Magowan and their children. The following biographical sketches describe family members most represented in the collection. See the
Charles Morton Merrill (1856-1928), was the son of Abigail Livermore and Riley Mead Merrill and father of Charles Edward Merrill. He was a country physician and drug-store proprietor in Glen Cove Springs, Florida.
Octavia Wilson Merrill (1861-1933) was the daughter of Emily Grace and Edward Alvah Wilson and mother of Charles Edward Merrill.
Charles Edward Merrill (1885-1956) was an American investment banker and founder of the company that became Merrill Lynch & Co., Pierce, Fenner & Beane, Inc., one of the largest and most successful brokerage firms in the United States. At the time of Merrill's death, Merrill Lynch & Co. had offices in more than 100 cities and was responsible for 10 percent of all business conducted on the New York Stock exchange. The many partners of Merrill Lynch led it to be known as "We the People" and "the Thundering Herd." In addition to his financial success, Charles Merrill's career on Wall Street was notable for two contributions: he was one of the first to appeal to the small investor, members of the middle class who had previously been discouraged from investing in stocks and bonds, and he was one of the few financiers who predicted the stock market crash of 1929. Due to Merrill's foresight, Merrill Lynch & Co., its partners and investors lost less in the crash than many others and fared better in the subsequent depression. Merrill also played an important role in the creation of Safeway Stores, Inc., under which he founded
Born in Glen Cove Springs, Florida in 1885, Charles E. Merrill attended a preparatory school affiliated with Stetson University and later accepted an athletic scholarship at the Worcester Academy in Massachusetts. Merrill attended Amherst College from 1904-1906 (AC 1908). Though he never graduated, Merrill stayed involved in Amherst alumni activities and committees as well as with Chi Psi, his fraternity. He was awarded an honorary master's degree from Amherst in 1935 and an honorary doctorate in 1948. He became a major donor to Amherst College, and after his death in 1956 his Trust continued to support projects at the college, the largest beneficiary of Merrill's will. Merrill was the father of Doris Merrill Magowan, Charles E. Merrill, Jr. and writer James I. Merrill (AC 1948).
Eliza Church Merrill (1912-1973) was the first wife of Charles Edward Merrill, and mother of Doris Merrill Magowan and Charles Edward Merrill, Jr.
Doris Merrill Magowan (1914-2001) was the first child of Charles Edward Merrill and Eliza Church Merrill. Born in Montclair, N.J. in 1914, she was the sister of Charles E. Merrill, Jr. and half-sister of James I. Merrill. Magowan attended the Ethel Walker School and the Florentine School for Girls in Florence, Italy. In 1935 she married Robert Anderson Magowan and had five children, Robert, Jr. ("Robin"), Merrill, Stephen, Peter and Mark. Magowan became an active philanthropist and worked with charitable organizations in the cities where she lived. In San Francisco, she worked with the Children's Hospital, Fine Arts Museum, Strybing Arboretum and Grace Cathedral; in New York City, she served on the boards for the Greenwich House, Lenox Hill Neighborhood Association and New York Infirmary; in Southampton, she sat on the boards of the Fresh Air Home, St. Andrews Dune Church and Southampton Hospital; in Palm Beach, she was on the board for nonprofits such as Bethesda-by-the-Sea and the Society of the Four Arts. She also served on the board of national and international groups including the National Tropical Botanical Garden, Smithsonian Institution, World Wildlife Fund and the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, where she was promoted to the rank of Dame in 1982 in recognition of her support of the St. John Eye Hospital. An avid antiques collector, she founded the San Francisco Antique Show in 1979. Doris Merrill Magowan died in 2001.
Robert Anderson Magowan (1903-1985) was born in Chester, PA and graduated from Harvard University in 1927. During his years at Harvard he was Editor of the Harvard Crimson and manager of the baseball team, and earned a living as a stringer for the Boston Globe and the New York Times. He began his business career as a men's wear buyer with R.H. Macy & Co. (Macy's) and became a vice president of the advertising agency N.W. Ayer & Co. in 1934. Magowan married Doris Merrill in 1935 and was hired by Charles E. Merrill to work for the supermarket chain Safeway Stores, Inc. In 1938 he left Safeway to become a Vice President of Merrill Lynch. From 1942-44, he took a leave from Merrill Lynch to serve as a Navy air combat intelligence officer during World War II. He remained with Merrill Lynch until 1955, when he returned to Safeway as chairman and CEO, a post he held until he retired in 1971. Under Magowan's leadership, Safeway laid the groundwork to become the nation's largest food retailer. Robert Anderson Magowan died in 1985.
Charles E. Merrill Jr. (1920- ) attended Harvard University from 1938-1941 and 1945-1946, and obtained an AB degree in 1946. From 1942-1945 he served in World War II forces, first as part of the Canadian military and then for the U.S Army. In 1946 Merrill co-founded the Thomas Jefferson School in St. Louis, and in 1957 founded The Commonwealth School in Boston. He served as The Commonwealth School's headmaster until his retirement in 1981 and remains a member of the Board of Trustees. Merrill wrote a history of the School's first twenty-three years, "The Walled Garden." Merrill was also Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Morehouse College in Atlanta and has been a trustee at Hampshire and Marlboro Colleges, and faculty at Spelman, Guilford, Warren Wilson, and Moravian Colleges.
Hellen Ingram Merrill Plummer (1926-1956) was born in Jacksonville, Florida. She was the second wife of Charles E. Merrill and the mother of James Ingram Merrill. Charles and Hellen Merrill divorced in 1939. Hellen's second marriage was to Colonel Plummer, who she survived by more than 30 years. She lived in Atlanta, Georgia and was a strong supporter of the arts there. Plummer's trust established the The Hellen Plummer Charitable Foundation.
James Ingram Merrill (1926-1995) was born in New York City on March 3, 1926, the son of Charles Merrill and his second wife, Hellen Ingram. He was raised in Manhattan and Southampton. He was enrolled at Amherst College from 1943 to 1947, with a leave from 1944-1945 to serve in the U.S. Army. Merrill taught for a year at Bard College following his graduation from Amherst in 1947. His volume of poetry First Poems was published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1951. Over the next decade he authored two novels, The Seraglio (1957) and The (Diblos) Notebook (1965) and two books of poems, The Country of a Thousand Years of Peace (1959) and Water Street (1962). His 1966 collection of poems, Nights and Days, won the National Book Award and he earned numerous other awards in his lifetime, including the Bollingen Prize for Braving the Elements (1972), the Pulitzer Prize for Divine Comedies (1976), and a second National Book Award for Mirabell (1978). In 1983, his epic poem The Changing Light at Sandover (1982) won the National Book Critics Circle Award. James I. Merrill died on February 6, 1995.
The Merrill-Magowan Family Papers consist of 32 linear feet of material documenting the personal and professional activities and relationships of three generations of family members, dating from 1880 to 2002. The bulk of the material dates from the 1920s through the 1970s. In addition to illustrating relationships between family members, the papers are an extremely rich source for the study of United States social history, providing a view of the personal impact of economic, social and cultural issues on an upper class American family in the twentieth century. The collection also contains genealogical materials and reports.
The bulk of the collection relates to Charles Edward Merrill, his daughter Doris Merrill Magowan and her husband Robert Anderson Magowan. Also included in the collection are papers of Eliza Church Merrill and other family members. Family correspondence makes up the largest portion of the material, with business records appearing in bulk in the papers of Charles E. Merrill, founder of the investment banking and brokerage firm Merrill Lynch. Merrill also had a practice of sending copies of his letters to family members to his daughter Doris, and these can be found in her papers. Merrill's business correspondence provides a view of Wall Street culture before, during and after the Stock Market crash of 1929 and the following years of the Great Depression. Family members' World War II service is well represented by extensive correspondence, a scrapbook and a diary kept regularly by Robert A. Magowan during his time in the Navy. These materials are supplemented with artworks, diaries, memorabilia, photographs, writings and newspaper clippings, and a set of Family Heritage Albums.
Several members of the Merrill family attended Amherst College, including Charles E. Merrill (AC 1908), James Ingram Merrill (AC 1947) and Charles E. Merrill's nephew, Charles Merrill Matzinger (AC 1937). Material related to Amherst College can be found throughout the collection, especially in the Charles Edward Merrill papers and the family heritage albums (Series 11).
This collection is organized into eleven series:
The Merrill-Magowan Family Papers are arranged by family member. Materials are arranged by type within each series. Oversize items are stored separately. Cross reference sheets to materials stored in these locations are placed throughout the papers and a listing of the contents of the oversize boxes is available as part of the folder-title list.
There is no restriction on access to the Merrill-Magowan Family Papers for research use. Material written by James I. Merrill is not available for duplication. Particularly fragile items may be restricted for preservation purposes.
Requests for permission to publish material from the Merrill-Magowan Family Papers should be directed to the Archives and Special Collections. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights.
Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:
[Identification of item], in Merrill-Magowan Family Papers [Box #, Folder #], Amherst College Archives and Special Collections, Amherst College Library
The majority of the material in this collection was gathered and maintained by Doris Merrill Magowan (1914-2001), with additional compilation by other family members. The collection was gifted to the Amherst College Archives and Special Collections in 2004 by Mark, Merrill, Peter and Robin Magowan.
Processed 2004-2011 by Sara Smith, Archives &Special Collections Specialist; Seth Laymon, AC 2005, Student Assistant; and William Miglore, AC 2006, Student Assistant.
Series 1, MERRILL-MAGOWAN FAMILY [1894-1982], contains material associated with multiple family members or with the entire family. It is divided into five sub-series:
A: Merrill Family Genealogies [1894-1938, n.d.]
B: Merrill Magowan Family Finances and Businesses [1927-1982]
C: Family Properties [1932-1980, n.d.]
D: Magowan Children [1930s-1964]
E: Matzinger-Findlay Family [1929-1947]
F: Kinta Des Mare Merrill [n.d.]
G: Realia [1932, n.d.]
Merrill Family Genealogies (sub-series A) contains Merrill family genealogies, including
This sub-series contains documents relating directly or indirectly to Merrill and Magowan family finances, Merrill Lynch & Co. and Safeway Stores, Inc. These include Merrill Family Foundation materials, financial statements concerning Helen Ingram Merrill and Kinta Des Mare Merrill, and material related to the 1956 construction of the Merrill Place faculty apartments at Amherst College.
See also Series 11: Family Heritage Albums
Family Properties (sub-series C) contains documents and images related to The Orchard, the family home in Southampton, New York, and Merrill's Landing, the home in Palm Beach, Florida.
See also Series 11: Family Heritage Albums
Magowan Children (sub-series D) includes images and some materials related to the childhood and early education of Mark, Merrill, Peter, Robin and Stephen Magowan, the sons of Doris and Robert Magowan.
See also Series 11: Family Heritage Albums
Matzinger-Findlay Family (sub-series E) includes materials related to Charles E. Merrill's sister Edith Findlay and her son, Charles Merrill Matzinger ("Merrill"). Correspondence with Edith's first husband, Harold S. Matzinger and second husband, Douglas C. Findlay, can be found in Series 4 and Series 7.
See also Series 11: Family Heritage Albums
Kinta Des Mare Merrill (sub-series F) contains one folder of texts of speeches and toasts from unknown occasions. Correspondence between Kinta Des Mare Merrill and other family members is found throughout the collection.
Realia (sub-series G) contains objects collected by members of the Merrill-Magowan family.
Series 2, CHARLES MORTON MERRILL [1884-1928], is divided into three sub-series:
A: Personal Affairs [1884]
B: Images [ca. 1900-1928]
C: Outgoing Correspondence [1918]
Personal Affairs contains Charles Morton Merrill's Bible, an 1884 edition published by the American Bible Society.
See also Series 11: Family Heritage Albums
Outgoing Correspondence contains one letter written to Edmund C. Lynch in 1918.
Images includes two large charcoal portraits by Iredell, a photographic reproduction of a charcoal portrait and two group photographs in which Charles Morton Merrill appears.
See also Series 4: Charles Edward Merrill; Series 11: Family Heritage Albums
Series 3, OCTAVIA WILSON MERRILL [1901-1933], is divided into five sub-series:
A: Personal Affairs [1929-1932]
B: Financial Affairs [1922-1933]
C: Images [ca. 1900s-1920s]
D: Incoming Correspondence [1901-1932]
E: Outgoing Correspondence [1901-1925, n.d.]
Personal Affairs (sub-series A) consists of a prediction issued by a Budapest fortuneteller and Octavia Wilson Merrill's 1929 passport.
See also Series 11: Family Heritage Albums
Financial Affairs (sub-series B) contains several years of income tax returns and bills and letters from Tiffany & Co. involving a dispute over the price of two pearls.
Images (sub-series C) includes portrait photographs and a photographic reproduction of a painted portrait.
See also Series 2: Charles Morton Merrill; Series 4: Charles Edward Merrill; Series 11: Family Heritage Albums
Incoming Correspondence [1901-1932] (sub-series D) is arranged alphabetically by sender and chronologically within each set.
Outgoing Correspondence [1901-1925, n.d.] (sub-series E) is arranged alphabetically by addressee and chronologically within each set.
Series 4, CHARLES EDWARD MERRILL, is divided into six sub-series:
A: Personal Affairs [1912-1955, n.d.]
B: Writings about [1946-1997]
C: Images [ca. 1900-1950]
D: Death of Charles Edward Merrill [1936-1957]
E: Incoming Correspondence [1913-1956]
F: Outgoing Correspondence [1901-1956]
Personal Affairs (sub-series A) includes Charles E. Merrill's certificates of membership in the Order of Daedalians and the Cenacle Crusade of Prayer and several letters of introduction written on his behalf in preparation for his 1932 trip to Europe. Non-correspondence material related to Merrill's involvement with Amherst College is in this series and in Series 11: Family Heritage Albums.
See also Series 11: Family Heritage Albums
Sub-series B includes publications and essays prepared for celebrations and memorials of Merrill's life and a folder of news clippings, tear sheets, and offprints.
See also Series 11: Family Heritage Albums
See also Series 11: Family Heritage Albums
Death of Charles Edward Merrill (sub-series D) contains Merrill's letters and instructions to family and friends regarding dispersal of his estate, obituaries, resolutions and records of memorial services held in his honor and charitable donations made in his memory, and condolences and correspondence received and sent by the family after his death. Correspondence is arranged alphabetically by sender or addressee. Carbon copies of replies by Robert Anderson Magowan or Doris Merrill Magowan are attached to many of these letters. Also included, as found, is additional correspondence from this period, including some mail sent to Charles E. Merrill after his death.
See also Series 11: Family Heritage Albums
Incoming and outgoing correspondence (sub-series E and F) contains letters on personal and business matters written to and from Charles E. Merrill. Correspondents include family members, friends, and business associates. Many letters from the period of 1929-1935 reflect financial difficulties felt by friends and associates during the period of the Great Depression. Scattered throughout the correspondence are typed excerpts from letters, some of the originals of these are found elsewhere in this collection, in other cases the original is not found in the collection. It is not known who compiled and typed these excerpts.
Arranged alphabetically by sender and chronologically within each set.
See also Series 11: Family Heritage Albums
About one third of the letters are written to Doris Merrill Magowan.
Arranged alphabetically by addressee and chronologically within each set.
See also Series 11: Family Heritage Albums
Series 5, ELIZA CHURCH MERRILL, is divided into four sub-series:
A: Personal Affairs [1912]
B: Images [ca. 1910s-1920s]
C: Incoming Correspondence [1972, n.d.]
D: Outgoing Correspondence [1925-1956, n.d.]
Personal Affairs (sub-series A) contains of the announcement of the marriage of Eliza Church Merrill to Charles E. Merrill.
Images (sub-series B) includes several copies of a wedding photo of Eliza Church Merrill, the photo negative for this image, and a group photo in which she appears.
Incoming Correspondence (sub-series C) includes short notes from Harden Church, Florence Dinter, and Mary Merrill.
Consists primarily of letters from Eliza Church Merrill to Doris Merrill Magowan dated 1925 to 1956, with additional letters to Charles E. Merrill and Robert Anderson Merrill. Topics include home life, health, education, Charles E. Merrill, Jr., family properties, and family news including Doris and Robert Magowan's marriage and family, and Charles E. Merrill's divorce from Hellen Ingram Merrill and marriage to Kinta Des Mare.
Arranged alphabetically by addressee and chronologically within each set.
Series 6, DORIS MERRILL MAGOWAN, is divided into six sub-series:
A: Personal Affairs [1914-2001]
B: Financial Affairs [1955-1956, n.d.]
C: Death and Estate [2001-2002]
D: Images [1920s-1980s]
E: Incoming Correspondence [1930-1957, n.d.]
F: Outgoing Correspondence [1932-1973, n.d.]
Personal Affairs (sub-series A) contains Doris Merrill Magowan's biographical materials, including diaries and appointment books, reminiscences of Charles E. Merrill, a typescript of memoirs, news clippings related to her debut in 1932, albums and journals from European travel, and gift registers and letters from her marriage to Robert Anderson Magowan and their 50th wedding anniversary celebration. Also included in this series are a program and photograph album from the opening event of the 1985 Merrill Lynch & Co. exhibit at the New York Historical Society, "A Legacy of Leadership, Merrill Lynch 1885-1985," newspaper clippings, and a folder of materials relating to Doris Merrill Magowan's collection of Dorothy Doughty porcelain bird sculptures.
Financial Affairs (sub-series B) contains Doris Merrill Magowan's Merrill Lynch bond and stock register, and Merrill Lynch memoranda to partners regarding taxes and charitable contributions.
Death and Estate (sub-series C) includes guest registers from Doris Merrill Magowan's funeral and the catalogue from Christie's 2002 sale of Doris Merrill Magowan's estate.
Images (sub-series D) contains photographs of Doris Merrill Magowan, including a photograph of the portrait by Gerald L. Brockhurst.
See also Series 11: Family Heritage Albums
Incoming Correspondence (sub-series E) includes notes and letters from friends, family and business associates.
Arranged alphabetically by sender and chronologically within each set.
See also Series 11: Family Heritage Albums
See also Series 11, Family heritage albums 9 and 10.
Outgoing Correspondence (sub-series F) is dominated by letters from Doris Merrill Magowan to Robert Anderson Magowan, written between their engagement in early 1935 and his 1944 military service. Here also are letters to other family members, friends and associates, and two letters to Charles E. Merrill biographers, Stanley Frank (abridged Terrance Keenan's work "Chain of Fortune: The Life and Work of Charles E. Merrill," unpublished) and Stanton Griffis ("Biography of Charles Merrill: A Saga of Wall Street," unpublished).
Arranged alphabetically by addressee and chronologically within each set.
See also Series 11: Family Heritage Albums
Series 7, ROBERT ANDERSON MAGOWAN, is divided into seven sub-series:
A: Personal Affairs [1940s-1977]
B: Military Service [1942-1944]
C: Writings about Robert A. Magowan [1955-1986]
D: Death of Robert A. Magowan [1985-1986]
E: Images [1935-1960s]
F: Incoming Correspondence [1927-1967]
G: Outgoing Correspondence [1935-1970]
Personal Affairs (sub-series A) contains biographical materials, including a biographical questionnaire and autobiographical statement dating from the late 1940s or early 1950s, materials related to his Harvard University education and activities, career, honors and awards, and various notes and keepsakes.
Military Service (sub-series B) consists of paperwork relating to Robert A. Magowan's draft status and commission as a Naval officer during World War II, incoming and outgoing correspondence, a scrapbook containing photographs, publications and documents from 1942-1946 and the original typescript and transcript of the diary kept between 1943-1944.
Writings about Robert Anderson Magowan (sub-series C) includes tributes and memorials from celebrations of Magowan's life and work and clippings from newspapers and magazines.
Death of Robert Anderson Magowan (sub-series D) consists of copies of the eulogies delivered at Magowan's funeral, the guest register, and a color photograph of the chapel window dedicated in his honor.
Images (sub-series E) includes photographs taken between 1935 and the 1960s, largely publicity photographs related to Magowan's duties at Merrill Lynch & Co. and Safeway Stores, Inc. Also includes a photo album from 1983.
Incoming Correspondence (sub-series F) includes notes and letters to Robert A. Magowan from friends, family and business associates.
Arranged alphabetically by sender and chronologically within each set.
Outgoing Correspondence (sub-series G) primarily consists of letters written by Robert A. Magowan to Doris Merrill Magowan from 1934 through 1970. Remaining are letters on personal and business matters written to family, friends, and business associates.
Arranged alphabetically by addressee and chronologically within each set.
Series 8, CHARLES EDWARD MERRILL, JR. is divided into three sub-series:
A: Personal Affairs [1928-1968]
B: Images [1920s, 1970s]
C: Correspondence [ca. 1925-1985]
Personal Affairs (sub-series A) contains a citation from Morehouse College and a manuscript of a novella written by Charles E. Merrill, Jr.
Images (sub-series B) includes portrait and family photographs of Charles E. Merrill, Jr. from the 1920s and 1970s.
Correspondence (sub-series C) primarily consists of letters and notes written by Charles E. Merrill, Jr. to family members. Some correspondence includes photographs from his World War II service and a letter to Eliza Church Merrill contains Merrill's essay "Time and the Teacher." Also included is a letter to Stanton Griffis containing Charles E. Merrill, Jr.'s reflections on Charles E. Merrill Sr.
Arranged alphabetically by addressee and chronologically within each set.
Series 9, HELLEN INGRAM MERRILL PLUMMER is divided into two sub-series:
A: Incoming Correspondence [1931, 1950]
B: Outgoing Correspondence [1926-1956]
Incoming Correspondence (sub-series A) includes notes and letters to Hellen Ingram Merrill Plummer from friends and associates.
Arranged alphabetically by sender and chronologically within each set.
Outgoing Correspondence (sub-series B) contains letters written by Hellen Ingram Merrill Plummer to family members.
Arranged alphabetically by sender and chronologically within each set.
Series 10, JAMES INGRAM MERRILL (AC 1947) is divided into five sub-series:
A: Writings [1955, ca. 1980]
B: Financial Papers [1945]
C: Death of James Ingram Merrill [1995]
D: Images [1950s]
E: Correspondence [1938-55]
Writings (sub-series A) contains typescripts of "Scripts for the pageant" and "Epilogue: Birth of the Musician," which became "July 1978" in Merrill's "The Changing Light at Sandover." Also includes a playbill and announcement from the 1955 production of Merrill's play "The Immortal Husband."
Financial papers (sub-series B) contains memoranda related to James I. Merrill's account with Merrill Lynch & Co.
Death of James Ingram Merrill (sub-series C) contains the register from James I. Merrill's funeral in 1995.
Correspondence (sub-series E) contains incoming and outgoing correspondence between James I. Merrill and family members.
Arranged alphabetically by sender or addressee and chronologically within each set.
See also Series 11: Family Heritage Albums
The Merrill-Magowan Family Heritage Albums are a set of 36 albums containing photographs, records, news clippings, letters, and other materials illustrating the lives and history of the Church, Joyce, Magowan, Merrill and Wilson families. The albums include significant material relating to the careers of Charles E. Merrill and Robert Anderson Magowan at Merrill Lynch, Inc. and Safeway Stores, Inc. and the World-War II military service of Robert Anderson Magowan and Charles E. Merrill, Jr. Friends of the family are also well represented. Along with photographs and memorabilia, the heritage albums contain important correspondence and legal documents from milestones in family and business life.
Some documents have been removed from the albums and placed in archives boxes to address preservation concerns. Materials in these boxes are arranged by album number and arranged in the order in which they appeared in the album. Albums should be viewed with accompanying folders as indicated in the box and folder list.
Heritage album number 29 remains with the Magowan family.