Clifford H. Merritt [1884-1962]
American
Windham center, PA, ca.1920s
Oil on board
12 x 16 inches
Signed at lower left : ‘Clifford Merritt’.
BIOGRAPHY
Clifford H. Merritt [1884-1962]
Clifford H. Merritt was an American dog breeder, conservationist, writer and painter. Merritt was born in 1884 in the town of Ledyard, Cayuga County, CT to George E. and Clarissa Merritt, early settlers of the area. He was one of three children with a brother Howard R. Merritt and sister M Edna Merritt. The family owned a large homestead farm where they bred hound dogs for fox and game hunting. The black and tan dogs where known as Merritt hounds. Merritt stayed with his family business and on the farm till the age of 35 before marrying and moving to Windham Center, PA. During his work on the family farm, Merritt would paint and write stories. In 1913, one of his stories, “The blue goblet’s poison”, appeared in Collier’s. The fiction was a story of romance and crime.
It is unknown if the Merritt sought art training or was completely self-taught. He was part of several conservation clubs including: the Amrita Club and the Wester Sierra Club.
Merritt died in a hospital after a month long battle with pneumonia and eventually had a heart attack in 1962.
CLUBS
– Amrita Club
– Western Sierra Club
SOURCES
– The Post-Standard, Syracuse, NY, “C. H. Merritt dies in hospital”, Friday October 26, 1962, page 7, not illustrated.
– Poughkeepsie Journal, Poughkeepsie, NY, “Augmented choir to sing Sunday”, April 11, 1962, page 34, not illustrated.
– Poughkeepsie Journal, Poughkeepsie, NY, “Amrita Club lists reservations”, November 9, 1959, page 10, not illustrated.
– Detroit Free Press, Detroit, MI, “World’s end [ad]”, November 25, 1913, page 20, not illustrated.