"The best history of a community is the one that deals with the lives and activities of its people, especially those who, by their own endeavor, have forged to the front and placed themselves where they well deserve the title of progressive men. Among this number is Edson Charles Merritt, who was born in Gilman, Iroquois County, Illinois, October 21, 1869. He was the son of Ambler Edson and Amanda (Russell) Merritt, both natives of Illinois, and among the esteemed citizens of that state.

The grandfather of the subject of this sketch was a descendent of one of the early pioneer families of the Empire state. The grandmother also was a descendent of the earliest settlers from Kentucky and North Carolina. The father died August 18, 1924 and his wife April 27, 1926. They resided in Santa Rosa at the time of their death.

Their only child, Edson Charles, acquired his education in the public schools of Gilman, Illinois, where he graduated from high school, and later from the Evergreen City college at Bloomington, Illinois. At the age of 19 he came to California and became identified with the Santa Fe railroad at San Bernardino and Riverside. In 1891 he came to Santa Rosa. For nearly three years he was associated with Hunt Brothers fruit packing company. He then joined Castle Brothers of San Francisco for two years in the fruit drying business after which he became connected with Santa Rosa National bank as assistant cashier. Being qualified, he was made cashier in a short time.

Mr. Merritt was one of the organizers of the Union Trust and Savings Bank of Santa Rosa. He was also one of the organizers of the Sebastopol Apple Growers association. In 1914 he was made manager of the association, which position he held until his death, February 26, 1937.

He was a member in the Masonic lodge, and was a charter member of the Scottish Rite body, also a charter member of the B. P. O. E. of Santa Rosa. Mr. Merritt was united in marriage to Marie Brush, November 7, 1894. She died June 30, 1899. They had one son, Clifford E. Merritt, born February, 1896. He died August, 1915. December 16, 1901 at Santa Rosa, California, he married Edith Whitney Olson. To this union were born Russell Staples, June 14, 1903, and Whitney Porter, December 8, 1906. The family are members of the Congregational Church of Santa Rosa." (HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY CALIFORNIA, edited by Ernest Latimer Finley, The Press Democrat Publishing Company 1937, p. 375.)

"Santa Rosa resident Edson Merritt was a key figure in the increasing importance of fruit-growing in Sonoma County in the early part of the (20th) century. His first job in Santa Rosa, before 1900, was as a bookkeeper for Hunt Brothers. Later, while employed as a banker (for both Santa Rosa Bank and Santa Rosa National Bank). Merritt organized his own fruit brokerage, specializing in prunes and other dried fruits, and in 1922 became manager of the Sebastopol Apple Growers' Union, which marketed the bulk of Sonoma County's apple crop.

Merritt, who was recognized as an authority on fruit marketing, made annual trips to eastern cities in the interest of the Sonoma County fruit trade. He is credited with establishing nationwide markets for the Gravenstein apple." (Santa Rosa - A Twentieth Century Town, Gaye LeBaron & JoAnn Mitchell, Historia Ltd., 1993, p.93. Warehouse photo: Turrill & Miller Photo, Finley Collection.)