Merrill W. Harris (May 10, 1894 – May 3, 1967), was a

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

businessman and politician who served as

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

of the

Vermont State Senate The Vermont Senate is the upper house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The senate consists of 30 members. Senate districting divides the 30 members into three single-member districts, six two-m ...

Biography

Merrill Wallace Harris was born in

Montpelier, Vermont Montpelier () is the capital city of the U.S. state of Vermont and the seat of Washington County. The site of Vermont's state government, it is the least populous state capital in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population w ...

on May 10, 1894. He was educated in Montpelier, and graduated from Montpelier High School in 1912. Harris enlisted for

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

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 Fort Ethan Allen was a United States Army installation in Vermont, named for American Revolutionary War figure Ethan Allen. Established as a cavalry post in 1894 and closed in 1944, today it is the center of a designated national historic distric ...

Colchester, Vermont Colchester is a town in Chittenden County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Colchester was 17,524. It is the fourth-most populous municipality and second-most populous town in the state of Vermont. Colchester bor ...

, Harris served in France and attained the rank of

Corporal Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non ...

before being discharged at

Fort Devens, Massachusetts Fort Devens is a United States Army Reserve military installation in the towns of Ayer and Shirley, in Middlesex County and Harvard in Worcester County in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. Due to extensive environmental contamination it was li ...

in April 1919. In 1923 Harris joined Montpelier's Union Mutual Fire Insurance Company. He rose through the executive ranks as special agent, adjuster, secretary and treasurer, and became the company's President in 1938. Harris later served as Union Mutual's chairman of the board of directors. Harris was also a Vice President and member of the board of directors of the Montpelier Savings and Trust Company. A

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, Harris represented Montpelier in the Vermont House from 1939 to 1941. He served again in the Vermont House from 1944 to 1945. Harris served in the Vermont Senate from 1949 to 1953, and was Senate President pro tem from 1951 to 1953. 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.) Harris was reelected to the House in 1966, but resigned in 1967 because of failing health. Merrill Harris died in Montpelier on May 3, 1967. He was buried in Montpelier's

Green Mount Cemetery Green Mount Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Established on March 15, 1838, and dedicated on July 13, 1839, it is noted for the large number of historical figures interred in its grounds as well as many ...

.Vermont Death Records, 1909–2008, entry for Merrill W. Harris. Retrieved July 1, 2012

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Merrill W. 1894 births 1967 deaths People from Montpelier, Vermont United States Army personnel of World War I Republican Party members of the Vermont House of Representatives Republican Party Vermont state senators Presidents pro tempore of the Vermont Senate United States Army soldiers Burials at Green Mount Cemetery (Montpelier, Vermont) 20th-century American legislators