“Memorial and Biographical History of Dallas County,” published:  Dallas;
  Walsworth Publishing Company, 1892.

JOHN W. MERRIFIELD,  deceased, settled in Dallas county in 1849, but 
was a native of Kentucky, born near Louisville March 12, 1823, a son of 
John and Sarah Merrifield, both of whom were born in the blue-grass 
regions of Kentucky.  John W. Merrifield, was brought up on a farm and 
upon his removal to Texas in the fall of 1849, he was thoroughly familiar 
with all the details of the business.  He at once located on a farm which he 
had previously secured about five miles west of Dallas, where he assisted his 
father, who had also come to this section, in improving the land.  After 
remaining with his father until 1853 he embarked in the grocery business, to 
which his attention was devoted for two years.  He then turned his business 
over to the management of a clerk, and upon a tract of 320 acres of wild land 
he began the task of improving.

He was married August 18, 1859, to Miss A.E. Hern, a native of Clay 
county, Missouri and a daughter of William and Elizabeth (Sloan) Hern, 
Tennesseeans by birth, who were of French and Irish descent respectively 
and who removed to Missouri in an early day.  The Herns came to Texas in 
1844 and settled in Red River county, where they resided four years; then he 
came to Dallas county, arriving May 10, 1849, where the father died in 
1859, at the age of fifty-two years, the mother being still a resident of Dallas.  
After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Merrifield settled on the headright he had 
purchased and he soon after closed up his business in Dallas and began 
giving his entire attention to agricultural pursuits, which he followed until 
his death.  They became the parents of six children, five of whom still 
survive:  Sarah Elizabeth, the wife of James Freeman;  William Jefferson;  
Thomas Alexander;  John Samuel, who died in 1878 at the age of eight 
months;  Charles Boone and Rachel J.

Mr. Merrifield was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and died 
while in full communion with that church, September 8, 1888, not only his 
immediate and sorrowing family mourning his loss, but also a large circle of 
friends.  He was a member of the A.F. and A.M., socially.  During the Civil 
was he served in the Commissary Department.  His widow, who is also a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, resides on the home place 
which is managed by one of her sons.  Mr. Merrifield first started out in life 
on borrowed capital, but by giving his closest attention to his business, and 
by good management, he accumulated a large property, becoming the owner 
of 1,080 acres of land, some of the most fertile of Dallas county.  He was a 
successful business man, and his honorable way of conducting his affairs 
won him the confidence and esteem of all who knew him.

Submitted by: L. Pingel