Henry was a building contractor all his life and build many homes in Genoa and many farm houses and farm buildings in the surrounding area. Leroy remembered taking him for car rides around the area and he would point out the different buildings he had build. He build many barns for the farmers in the Genoa area.
Grandpa chewed tobacco, Redman brand, and had at least one cigar a day. Of course Grandma made him go to the basement to enjoy his "vices". He had a chair in the basement in front of the furnace where he would sit chewing his "Redman" and spitting tobacco juice into the tub of ashes the old coal furnace had generated or he would sit there enjoying his cigar that he would smoke until it was so short he had to stick a match stick in it in order to hold it for those last few puffs.
My great grandfather, Henry, was a big man who wore a thin strip shirt, suspenders and always had peppermint candy in his shirt pocket which I, at the age of 3, retrieved when sitting on his lap. My dad, Orrin Jr., talked about Henry's love of his garden. Sharing planting experiences with neighbors, Henry would plant his potatoes with the full moon. In the winter he would take his collected walnuts to the third floor in the house and with an anvil crack them open and retrieve the nut meats so Nettie could make cookies. He had a bed in the third floor with a window that looked out over the garden. Most of the backyard was his garden, a small barn and raspberry bushes next to the barn. I recall that the cookies were kept on top of the refrigerator. I especially liked the ginger snaps which I think were store bought. ...stated by Orrin Merritt III in 2021
ept 14 1900 Genoa Journal https://www.genoalibrary.org/files/ba41004a1/GJ_19000914.pdf
During the high wind last Tuesday,Henry Merritt laid two thousand shingles. The work was performed on Andrew Olmsted’s mill and considering the fearful gale and at the elevated position it is considered quite a fete.
Nov 22 1900 Genoa Journal https://www.genoalibrary.org/files/8cdbd9b89/GJ_19001122.pdf
Henry Merritt and wife are in Springfield this week attending the state meeting of the Odd Fellows and Rebeccas. Henry representing the former and Mrs. Merritt the latter, orders of this city.
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Grandpa chewed tobacco, Redman brand, and had at least one cigar a day. Of course Grandma made him go to the basement to enjoy his "vices". He had a chair in the basement in front of the furnace where he would sit chewing his "Redman" and spitting tobacco juice into the tub of ashes the old coal furnace had generated or he would sit there enjoying his cigar that he would smoke until it was so short he had to stick a match stick in it in order to hold it for those last few puffs. My great grandfather, Henry, was a big man who wore a thin strip shirt, suspenders and always had peppermint candy in his shirt pocket which I, at the age of 3, retrieved when sitting on his lap. My dad, Orrin Jr., talked about Henry's love of his garden. Sharing planting experiences with neighbors, Henry would plant his potatoes with the full moon. In the winter he would take his collected walnuts to the third floor in the house and with an anvil crack them open and retrieve the nut meats so Nettie could make cookies. He had a bed in the third floor with a window that looked out over the garden. Most of the backyard was his garden, a small barn and raspberry bushes next to the barn. I recall that the cookies were kept on top of the refrigerator. I especially liked the ginger snaps which I think were store bought. ...stated by Orrin Merritt III in 2021
ept 14 1900 Genoa Journal https://www.genoalibrary.org/files/ba41004a1/GJ_19000914.pdf During the high wind last Tuesday,Henry Merritt laid two thousand shingles. The work was performed on Andrew Olmsted’s mill and considering the fearful gale and at the elevated position it is considered quite a fete.
Nov 22 1900 Genoa Journal https://www.genoalibrary.org/files/8cdbd9b89/GJ_19001122.pdf Henry Merritt and wife are in Springfield this week attending the state meeting of the Odd Fellows and Rebeccas. Henry representing the former and Mrs. Merritt the latter, orders of this city.