Merritt, Thomas Rodman

  • DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: Peter D. A. Warwick, “MERRITT, THOMAS RODMAN,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 13, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–. https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/merritt_thomas_rodman_13E.html
  • DCB profile notes:
    • Businessman and politician; b. 17 Oct. 1824 in Mayville, N.Y., youngest son of William Hamilton Merritt and Catharine Rodman Prendergast; m. 17 Jan. 1853 Mary Benson in St Catharines, Upper Canada; they had no children; d. there 11 Jan. 1906.
    • Having returned to St Catharines, in 1843 he formed a partnership with James Rea Benson, Benson and Merritt, and they opened a general store. Business was evidently good, for in 1845 cash sales totalled about $56,000. The partners soon expanded into flour-milling, acquiring the Lincoln Frame from Samuel Farnsworth and the Welland Stone Mills from Merritt’s father. Merritt managed the mills, both situated on the Welland Canal in St Catharines, and looked after the financial and banking business of the partnership. The milling industry was expanding at this time because of the construction of the second Welland Canal. As a result, in 1847 Benson and Merritt had Louis Shickluna build two schooners, the Shickluna and the Welland, with capacities of 2,400 and 3,000 barrels of flour respectively. Upon the dissolution of the partnership two years later, Merritt got the mills and the ships, Benson the store.
    • Over the years Merritt pursued other business interests in the Niagara region. With his father and others he had reorganized the Niagara District Bank in 1854 at St Catharines, and he served as vice-president until its merger in 1875 into the Imperial Bank of Canada, of which he also became vice-president and, in 1902, president. In 1860 he had been appointed chairman and managing director of the Canadian board of the Welland Railway, promoted by his father and built between 1853 and 1856. 
    • Thomas Rodman Merritt had played an important role in the economic life of St Catharines for more than half a century. His house, Rodman Hall, constructed in 1853 near the junction of Twelve Mile Creek and the second Welland Canal, now serves as a public art gallery.
  • Grandson of United Empire Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=5812
  • Find a GRAVE: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/200834808/thomas_rodman-merritt