Merrill W. Harris
{{Short description|American businessman and politician}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = Merrill W. Harris
|image =
|alt =
|caption =
|office1 = President pro tempore of the Vermont State Senate
|term_start1 = 1951
|term_end1 = 1953
|predecessor1 = Asa S. Bloomer
|successor1 = Carleton G. Howe
|office2 = Member of the Vermont Senate from Washington County
|term_start2 = 1949
|term_end2 = 1953
|alongside2 = Mildred M. Hayden, Donald W. Smith
|predecessor2 = Willsie Brisbin, Carroll L. Coburn, Mildred M. Hayden
|successor2 = Mildred M. Hayden, Gerald R. Fitzpatrick, H. William Scott
|office3 = Member of the Vermont House of Representatives from Montpelier
|term_start3 = 1965
|term_end3 = 1967
|predecessor3 = Dorothy Shea
|successor3 = David F. Hoxie (District 9-1)
|term_start4 = 1944
|term_end4 = 1945
|predecessor4 = Webster Evans Miller
|successor4 = Birney Hall
|term_start5 = 1939
|term_end5 = 1941
|predecessor5 = Edward Leo Heney
|successor5 = Webster Evans Miller
|birth_date = {{Birth date |1894|05|10}}
|birth_place = Montpelier, Vermont
|death_date = {{Death date and age|1967|05|03|1894|05|10}}
|death_place = Montpelier, Vermont
|resting_place = Green Mount Cemetery, Montpelier, Vermont
|party = Republican
|spouse = Genevieve B. Damon (m. 1920–1967, his death)
|children = 1
|occupation = Insurance company executive
|allegiance = United States
|branch = United States Army
|branch_label = Branch
|serviceyears = 1917–1919
|rank = Corporal
|unit = Company F, 101st Ammunition Train, 26th Division
|battles = World War I
|battles_label = Wars
}}
Merrill W. Harris (May 10, 1894 – May 3, 1967), was a Vermont businessman and politician who served as President of the Vermont State Senate.
Biography
Merrill Wallace Harris was born in Montpelier, Vermont on May 10, 1894.U.S. World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 Record for Merrill Wallace Harris. Retrieved July 1. 2012 He was educated in Montpelier, and graduated from Montpelier High School in 1912.[https://books.google.com/books?id=_aUcAQAAMAAJ&q=%22merrill+wallace+harris%22 Vermont Secretary of State], Vermont Legislative Directory, 1939, page 484
Harris enlisted for World War I in May 1917. He served in Company H, 1st Vermont Infantry, which was federalized as Company F, 101st Ammunition Train, a unit of the 26th Division. Joining the Army at Fort Ethan Allen in Colchester, Vermont, Harris served in France and attained the rank of Corporal before being discharged at Fort Devens, Massachusetts in April 1919.U.S. Army Adjutant General, Roster of Vermont Men and Women in the World War, entry for Merrill Wallace Harris, 1919, page 570
In 1923 Harris joined Montpelier's Union Mutual Fire Insurance Company.[https://books.google.com/books?id=mVkPAQAAIAAJ&q=%22harris,+merrill+w%22+montpelier Index Publishing], Cyclopedia of Insurance in the United States, 1958, page 939 He rose through the executive ranks as special agent, adjuster, secretary and treasurer, and became the company's President in 1938.[https://books.google.com/books?id=fKTPAAAAMAAJ&q=%22merrill+w+harris%22+union+mutual+president+1938 A. M. Best Company], Best's Insurance News, Volume 39, 1938, page 501[https://books.google.com/books?id=5obPAAAAMAAJ&q=%22merrill+w+harris%22+union+mutual+president+1938 A. M. Best Co.], Best's Insurance Reports, Issue 43, 1942, page 980 Harris later served as Union Mutual's chairman of the board of directors.[https://books.google.com/books?id=w04MAQAAMAAJ&q=%22merrill+w+harris%22 A.M. Best Company], Best's Insurance Reports, 1965, page 785Union Mutual Fire Insurance Company Annual Statement, Bennington Banner, January 26, 1955
Harris was also a Vice President and member of the board of directors of the Montpelier Savings and Trust Company.National Survey, Vermont Year Book, 1965National Survey, Vermont Year Book, 1967
A Republican, Harris represented Montpelier in the Vermont House from 1939 to 1941. He served again in the Vermont House from 1944 to 1945.United Press International, Merril W. Harris Obituary, Bennington Banner, May 4, 1967
Harris served in the Vermont Senate from 1949 to 1953, and was Senate President pro tem from 1951 to 1953.Vermont Secretary of State, Vermont Legislative Directory, 1949Vermont Secretary of State, Vermont Legislative Directory, 1951[http://vermont-archives.org/govhistory/Officials/PDF/PresProTempore.pdf Vermont State Archives and Records Administration] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415001559/http://vermont-archives.org/govhistory/Officials/PDF/PresProTempore.pdf |date=April 15, 2012 }}, Presidents Pro Tempore of the Vermont Senate Since 1870, 2011, page 6
Harris was elected to the Vermont House again in 1964. In 1965 he was elected Majority Leader, the first time Vermont's House Republicans formally appointed an official spokesman. (From the founding of the Republican party in the 1850s until demographic and other changes in the 1960s, Vermont had been a one party (Republican) state, so there was no need for parties to offer competing agendas.)North Adams Transcript, GOP Elects House Leader, January 18, 1965
Harris was reelected to the House in 1966, but resigned in 1967 because of failing health.United Press International, Rep. Harris Resigns, Bennington Banner, January 3, 1967
Merrill Harris died in Montpelier on May 3, 1967.Social Security Death Index, entry for Merrill W. Harris. Retrieved July 1, 2012 He was buried in Montpelier's Green Mount Cemetery.Vermont Death Records, 1909–2008, entry for Merrill W. Harris. Retrieved July 1, 2012
References
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{{succession box | before=Asa S. Bloomer |title=President pro tempore of the Vermont State Senate | years=1951–1953 | after=Carleton G. Howe}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Merrill W.}}
Category:Businesspeople from Montpelier, Vermont
Category:Politicians from Montpelier, Vermont
Category:United States Army personnel of World War I
Category:Republican Party members of the Vermont House of Representatives
Category:Republican Party Vermont state senators
Category:Presidents pro tempore of the Vermont Senate
Category:United States Army soldiers
Category:Burials at Green Mount Cemetery (Montpelier, Vermont)
Category:20th-century members of the Vermont General Assembly