Bio of MERRILL, Albert Young (b.1857), Hennepin Co., MN
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EXTRACTED FROM: History of Minneapolis, Gateway to the Northwest; 
Chicago-Minneapolis, The S J Clarke Publishing Co, 1923; Edited by: Rev. 
Marion Daniel Shutter, D.D., LL.D.; Volume I - Shutter (Historical); 
volume II - Biographical; volume III - Biographical
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Vol II, pg 616-617
ALBERT YOUNG MERRILL
The court records of Minneapolis bear testimony to the high position which
Albert Young Merrill occupied at the bar of this city. In a profession where
advancement depends entirely upon individual merit and ability he made steady
progresc. He was ever a close student of legal principles and he displayed
notable power in correctly applying these principles to the points in
litigation. In various ways he left the impress of his individuality upon the
annals of Minneapolis and is well entitled to mention among those who have been
numbered among her representative citizens.
Albert Young Merrill came to the upper Mississippi valley from New England, his
birth having occurred in Orono, Maine, in 1857. There he resided to the age of
eighteen years, when in 1875 he made his way westward to Milwaukee, Wisconsin,
where he engaged in teaching school for a year or more. He afterward took up his
abode at Princeton, Minnesota, where he continued to follow the teaching
profession for two years, and in 1879 he became a resident of Aitkin, Minnesota,
where he entered upon the study of law. After thorough preliminary training he
was admitted to the bar in 1883 and for ten years thereafter he continued to
practice law in Aitkin, where he gained a liberal and representative clientage.
He served as county attorney for two terms and his official record was also most
creditable.
It was in the year 1893 that Mr. Merrill took up his abode in Minneapolis, where
he opened a law office, and soon after his arrival here he entered into
partnership with A. B. Choate. At a later date he became a partner in the firm
of Brown, Reed, Merrill & Buffington and for a few years he was associated in
practice with R. J. Powell. He was a most discriminating student of law and he
possessed almost in­tuitive wisdom concerning the relation of ca,use and effect.
He became prominently known in connection with the lumber industry and
litigation arising therefrom. When he removed to Aitkin, extensive lumber
operations were being carried on in that part of the state and he soon acquired
a practical and intimate knowledge of the business through personal observation,
so that he became a valuable legal adviser for the lumbermen of that section who
became involved in law suits. Mr. Men-ill's name was closely associated with
many important trials having for their basis the lumber interests of the
northwest and his ability was early manifest in this connection. In a memorial
prepared by the bar association at the time of Mr. Men-ill's death it was
further said, concerning his business and public career, that "during his
residence at Aitkin Mr. Merrill became the author of what was known as the
Anderson bill, which inaugurated the gross earning system of taxation of
railroad companies in Minnesota. The contest for the adoption of this system of
taxation in Minnesota was vigorously led by Mr. Merrill for a period of ten
years before the Anderson bill became a law in 1903, during which time Mr.
Men-ill's formerly cordial relations with the railway companies of the state was
somewhat disturbed. The railway companies immediately contested in the courts
the validity of the gross earnings tax, and the pending of this litigation,
together with Mr. Merrill's high standing as a lawyer throughout the state,
resulted in a demand that he stand as a candidate for attorney general of the
state, which he consented to do. A strong opposition to his candidacy defeated
Mr. Merrill as attorney general.
"Born in comparative poverty and with a constitution not rugged, Mr. Merrill
struggled against adverse circumstances until he reached a position at the bar
of the state worthy of the ambition of any man."
In 1900 Mr. Merrill was united in marriage to Miss Bertha Lillibridge and they
became the parents of three children: John Quincy, Marian and Mary H. Mr.
Merrill was extremely kindly in nature and generous in disposition and his
geniality and many admirable qualities won for him a circle of friends almost
coextensive with the circle of his acquaintance. In fact, so pleasing were his
personal qualities that he won the warm regard and goodwill of his most vigorous
opponents in business or in politics and it is said that comparatively few men
have accomplished more than Mr. Merrill, considering his opportunities. His
demise occurred at Rockford, Illinois, on the 17th of September, 1910.