by Alicia Kelso

There are some people who are diligent students of history – who know the background of yesteryear down to every last detail, recounting each on a whim.

Bill Merriman is one of them. And to ask him why he has such a commitment to the past is like asking soldiers why they’re committed to country, a writer to words, a gardener to Mother Earth.

“If one needs to be informed about why history is important, that doesn’t make sense to me. It shouldn’t be necessary to explain it, it’s just essential. But you have to feel it and some of it is instinct,” Merriman says.

He began as a history major at The Ohio State University and explored various career paths before coming full circle. Today, he serves as president of the Westerville Historical Society.

The space in-between is full of twists and turns, some surprising and some not. Merriman, an Orville native, spent six years as an Army Reservist and then embarked upon a sports writing career in Flint, Mich. Like history, writing has been one of his lifelong passions, so the progression was natural.

He stuck with it, earning his master’s degree in journalism at Northwestern University and then working as a general assignment reporter, politics editor and legislative correspondent in Canton. In 1970, he earned a spot at the Scripps Howard Bureau in Columbus as acting bureau chief. On a cold day in 1971, he and his wife Harriet moved to Westerville.

“I will never forget that day. I heard talk around the statehouse about how Westerville attracted a wide range of people, interesting people, who were woven through its strong history. That sold me and still does,” Merriman says.

It was during this time when Merriman found his third passion – politics. “Of course, they all complement each other well – politics, writing and history,” he says.

He spent five years as bureau chief – which he “enjoyed greatly” – and then returned to the OSU campus as director of communications, where it seems Merriman acquired another itch – teaching. “I always had an interest to go into higher education and my interest became teaching combined with public relations,” he says.

In 1979, Merriman left Ohio State for Battelle Memorial, where he served nine years as public information officer and institutional adviser. During this time, he went back to OSU as a graduate student of political science. His Battelle position offered a contractual spot in Texas, but he decided not to go. He had a family here.

And so the diverse timeline of Merriman’s life took another career twist and he began writing editorials for the Columbus Dispatch. “Simply put, there was a slot available and I went for it. But I still wanted to teach,” Merriman says. “So the next year I went to Olivet College in Michigan as assistant professor of journalism.”

Merriman spent two years up north, but returned to be with his wife, who had a tenured teaching position at Jonathan Alder School District (Harriet retired over the summer after 30 years).

As is the trend with Merriman, he found work he enjoyed, albeit nothing too consistent – a political campaign communications post here, a part-time teaching spot there. He taught at six different prisons as part of an Ohio University program, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

But Merriman’s career journey took another twist in the mid-1990s, when he was experiencing health problems. “That convinced me that a 9 to 5 job wasn’t for me,” he says. “People often referred to me as being an independent researcher, which is a polite way of saying I don’t have a job.”

Merriman relied on his first loves, devoting his time since to researching and writing about the social history of Westerville, particularly focusing on the Temperance Movement and Anti Saloon League.

“I began with the goal of publishing a book on the subject of the social history of this movement. There are other publications about the actual movements, but I have the desire to focus more on the people involved – from a social aspect – rather than the overall movement,” Merriman says.

Along the way, he became involved in the Westerville Historical Society and has served as president for the past two years. The position comes with a long list of obligations, including maintenance of the Hanby House, which, in Merriman’s opinion, is the “most important single historical site in Westerville.”

His other recent efforts with the society include lending an extensive hand in Westerville’s Sesquicentennial celebrations, which took place all year long, and in securing Temperance Row Historic District on The National Register of Historic Places. Merriman also hopes to secure another term as president, and to keep researching and writing about the city’s history with the goal of being published.


It seems Merriman has finally found a gig he’s comfortable settling down with, and the City of Westerville and all of its profound and extensive history will be well taken care of accordingly.

“The Historical Society is the perfect fit for me. My journey has been a somewhat concentrated erratic process. But I look back on all of it and my wife is key to this – she’s the stable one. I could have ended up crusading for something strange if I hadn’t gotten to know her over the past 44 years. But instead I ended up a family man in Westerville who happens to be fascinated with its history,” Merriman says. “This is a town with a unique history and it needs to be preserved and celebrated.”

Alicia Kelso is editor of Westerville Magazine.

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The Hanby House was part of the Underground Railroad during the Abolition Movement. Composer Ben Hanby wrote most of his songs, including Christmas favorite “Up on the Rooftop,” at his Westerville home. Bill Merriman refers to the location as the “Uncle Tom’s Cabin of Songs.”

Westerville’s Temperance Row Historic District is a predominantly early 20th century residential neighborhood that is noteworthy for its strong association with the leading organizers and promoters of the Anti-Saloon League of America (ASLA) during the period from 1910-1935. The district is comprised of 43 contributing resources, including 27 houses, one six-unit rowhouse apartment building and 10 garages. The primary district streets are West Park Street, South Grove Street, West Walnut Street and University Street.