Merris, William Walkup "Bill"

Died. Born Aug 13, 1849 Bucyus, Ohio. Died Dec 13, 1930, age 81, Miami Oklahoma. Father Joseph Sheffiedl Merris. Mother Sarah Walkup Merris. Spouse Justine Paschal Merris. Cooper funeral home, Miami Oklahoma. Burial G.A.R. cemetery, Miami.

Merris, was widely known, and one of Ottawa County's earliest settlers, a resident of this area for most of his life, died at 8 pm Saturday night at his home, 116 F street northeast. He had been ill for several and his death was not unexpected. A stroke of paralysis was the direct cause of his death. Mr Merris was a deputy United States Marshal who faced the task of being a policeman, sheriff, and sometimes almost every other official for this part of the Indian Territory, before it became the state of Oklahoma. He played an important part in the early history of Oklahoma, and of Miami. In 1868 he joined Company L of the 19th Kansas Cavalry and served under the command of General George Armstrong Custer in the "Washita Campaign" in the winter of 1868-69. He later applied for and received a pension for his service. Bill and Justine were married in July 1875 in Kansas and they soon moved to Texas where their first child was born. Returning to Miami in Ottawa County with the Peoria Indian Tribe. Merris was commissioned and served as Deputy U.S. Marshal in Miami, Indian Territory from 1902 to 1907 and effectively held various positions in the Miami City government. His wife, Justine Merriss, died about three years ago. He is survived by three sons and two daughters. A further note on his history: He was the first man in Ottawa County to operate a Steam-powered Threshing Machine. His biography, which includes information about his family, appears in a book entitled History of Indian Territory, written by D. C. Gibeon, published in 1901.