Willis Perry Merrill
Willis Perry Merrill(8), Noel(7), Cyrenus(6), Aaron(5), Cyprian(4), John(3), John(2), Nathaniel(1), was born in Westport, New York October 5 1835 and died September 7, 1899, in Woodfords, California, was the eldest of the six children of Noel Merrill and Parmelia Cole of Westport, New York. Noel Merrill was a descendent of Nathaniel Merrill, who along with his brother John, immigrated to New England in 1635 and settled in Newbury, Massachusetts. Parmelia Cole was a descendent of James Cole of Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts, and has lineage to the Royal Families of the British Isles and Europe.
Willis P. Merrill came to the gold fields of California from Vermont in early 1853 and settled in Dogtown, which is now Marysville, California. Willis did very little mining, instead he found more of a fortune in carrying supplies to the various camps and settlements from the navigation head of the Yuba River in Northern California, through the Mother Lode and eventually into Nevada.
When Willis came to California he brought his trade with him. Descending from a family of weavers and tanners, Willis brought with him, by ship around the horn, a woolen mill given to him by his uncle, Prosper Merrill(7), Cyrenus(6), Aaron(5), Cyprian(4), John(3), John(2), Nathaniel(1), of Vermont. Coming to California with Willis, via the Isthmus of Panama, was a companion that is speculated by some Merrill Family researchers to be Hiram Seeley Cole, Willis's uncle.
Very soon after he arrived he sold his interest in the mill and began crossing the mountains with pack mules. Upon one return trip from the Mother Lode to Nevada he took a different route that took him through Woodfords, formerly Carey's Mill, California. Woodfords is located just west of the California-Nevada border, south of Lake Tahoe at the intersection of Carson Pass and Ebbetts Pass. Willis noticed on passing through that the Woodfords area reminded him of his beloved Vermont.
Woodfords was established as an outpost called Brannon Springs in 1847. It was named after Samuel Brannon, an early Morman settler. During 1849 a heavy influx of people settled in the area, one settler being a Daniel Woodfords. Up until 1851 the entire area was know as Brannon Springs until a sawmill was erected by a man named Carey. Soon after Carey erected his mill Brannon springs became became known as Carey's Mill. Meanwhile, at the upper section of town Daniel Woodfords had erected a Hotel and named it "The Sign of the Elephant." Soon after the hotel was erected the upper end of Carey's Mill became known as Woodfords. It wasn't much latter that the whole area became known as Woodfords.
In 1854-5 Willis Merrill returned to Woodfords and opened a trading post that later became a Wells Fargo Office and, for a short time, a Pony Express Stop before it was routed over Kingsbury Grade. After opening the trading post in Woodfords he opened trading posts in Gold Hill and Sheridan, Nevada, on the road to Genoa. Gradually he relinquished all but Woodfords post. He bought property there and conducted a General Store and Hotel. He also farmed land in the area for many years.
In 1867 he married Henries Kittridge from Moniter, Nevada. From this marriage he had four children, Willis Newton Merrill(9), 1869 - 1941, Edith May Merrill, 1871-1918, Franklin C. Merrill, 1874-1876, and Ruby Helen Merrill, 1878-ABT 1946. They were later divorced and she moved to San Francisco. According to one grandson, Willis took Henrietta to San Francisco and abandoned her there. However, according to another grandson she left on her own accord. Because of the hush-hush of divorce in those days, no one will really ever know. Willis did visit Henrietta in San Francisco when she became sick but no reconciliation was ever made.
Willis's second wife, Mary Pamelia O'Neil, 1857-1937, met Willis when she was visiting friends at Grover Hot Springs, by Markleville, not far from Woodfords. Learning that he needed a housekeeper for himself and his children, she took the job at Woodfords and 1884 they were married. From this marriage came two children, Grant Perry Merrill(9), 1885-1969, and Bernice Pamelia Merrill, 1887-1968. After Willis's death in 1899, Mary Merrill continued to run the store with help from her son's Willis and Grant. Both Willis and Mary are buried at the Woodford's Pioneer Cemetery.
Bernice Pamelia Merrill* By Alice Dangburg.
Bernice Pamelia Merrill was born in Woodfords, Ca. on May 28, 1887 and died at the age of 81 on August 26, 1968 at the Carson-Tahoe Hospital in Carson City, Nevada. She was the daughter of Willis Perry Merrill and his second wife, Mary Pamelia O'Niel.
Her marriage in 1914 united her with George Ferris Dangberg, son of Heinrick Frederick Dangberg and Margaret Gale Ferris, who were engaged in vast holdings of stock raising and agriculture in Minden, Nevada. To this marriage came a son George Ferris Dangberg, Jr., born on May 2 1917 in San Francisco, California. George and Bernice were later divorced and she never remarried.
Bernice spent her entire life at Woodfords where her father, Willis Perry Merrill came in 1854, Establishing a trading post in the house in which she made her home for 14 years. After a devastating fire, Mrs. Mary Merrill rebuilt the store at Woodfords in 1928 and for many years Bernice was active with her mother and Brother Grant in operation the Woodfords Hotel and Store.
In 1930 Bernice became a member of the Alpine County Board of Supervisors and during her 37 years on the board she served 15 consecutive years as Chairman. She served on numerous committees vital to Alpine County, including fire and prevention, forestry, fish and game, recreation, public land and health and hospitals. for many years she was instrumental in entering the exhibits for Alpine county at the California state fair held in Sacramento, Ca.
Bernice was nominated in 1958, to "Who is who" in California and "who's Who in America" in 1966. On June 16, 1965, Bernice was awarded a resolution by Assemblyman Eugene Chappie, (California legislature) honoring her as the County Supervisor serving the longest period of time on any board in the State of California.
Due to illness Bernice resigned from the county board of Supervisors in January 1968 and died the following August"
Willis Newton Merrill
Willis Newton Merrill(9), Willis Perry Merrill(8), Noel(7), Cyrenus(6), Aaron(5), Cyprian(4), John(3), John(2), Nathaniel(1), was born in Woodfords, California on May 5th 1869 and died September 20, 1941 in Lodi California. He was the eldest of the four children of Willis Perry Merrill and Henrietta Kittridge. Willis N. Merrill attended the district school at Woodfords and later went to Placerville where he graduated from high school, after which he assisted his father in his store in Woodfords and worked as a cowboy in the Lake Tahoe-Woodfords area. It was then that he became associated with the Chambers brothers, Myron and Bryon. Later on his daughter Shirley would marry Byron's son William Byron Chanbers.