Introduction

Biography

Frederick was the son of No­ah Mer­rick, and hus­band of Fi­de­lia Gris­wold.

After com­ing to Christ, he stu­died at the Wes­ley­an Aca­de­my near Wil­bra­ham, then at Wes­ley­an Uni­ver­si­ty, Mid­dle­town, Con­nec­ti­cut.

In 1836, he was elect­ed prin­ci­pal of the Con­fer­ence Se­mi­na­ry in Ame­nia, New York. In 1838, he was called to the chair of Na­tur­al Sci­ence at Oh­io Un­i­ve­rs­ity in Ath­ens, Ohio.

In 1842, Mer­rick joined the Ohio Con­fer­ence, and be­came pas­tor of a church in Ma­ri­et­ta, Ohio.

In 1843, the Con­fer­ence ap­point­ed him a fi­nan­cial agent for Wes­ley­an Uni­ver­si­ty in De­la­ware, Ohio, which had op­ened the pre­vi­ous year.

Merrick served the uni­ver­si­ty for ov­er five de­cades: two years as agent, 15 as pro­fess­or, 13 as pre­si­dent (1860–73), and 21 as emer­i­tus pro­fess­or and lec­tur­er on Na­tur­al and Re­vealed Re­li­gion. Mer­rick Hall at the school is named for him.