Joseph F. Merrill
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Joseph Francis Merrill (August 24, 1868 – February 3, 1952) was a member of the
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles A quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly (a body that uses parliamentary procedure, such as a legislature) necessary to conduct the business of that group. According to ''Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'', the ...
of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...
(LDS Church) from 1931 until his death. Merrill was a key figure in the development of the
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in the early twentieth century. He served as the sixth
Commissioner of Church Education The Church Educational System (CES) of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) consists of several institutions that provide religious and secular education for both Latter-day Saint and non–Latter-day Saint elementary, sec ...
from 1928 to 1933. Prior to his service as commissioner, he played a significant role in the creation of the "released time" LDS Church
seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...
system. His tenure as commissioner saw the creation of the Institutes of Religion and the transfer of nearly all the remaining church schools to control of the states they resided in. He also faced a crisis in 1930 and 1931 which threatened to end the released time seminary, but the LDS Church education system survived the
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under his leadership. In 1931, while still serving as commissioner, Merill was called to serve in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.


Early life

Merrill was born in
Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...
, Utah Territory. A great-grandson of noted Mormon pioneer Stillman Pond, grandson of church
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Joseph C. Kingsbury, and son of LDS Church Apostle
Marriner W. Merrill Marriner Wood Merrill (25 September 1832 – 6 February 1906) an American pioneer and religious leader. He was a pioneering settler of the Cache Valley and a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (LDS Church), Quorum of the Twelve Apostl ...
, Joseph was among the first Latter-day Saints from Utah to travel to the eastern United States to seek higher education. He studied at the
University of Deseret The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...
, the
University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
, and
Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...
; he was the first native Utahn to receive a
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. While at the University of Michigan, Merrill was the
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of the
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of the LDS Church. In 1911, Merrill was called to serve in the presidency of the Granite Utah
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of the LDS Church. Upon his return to Utah, in 1893, Merrill began teaching physics and assisting in chemistry at the
University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...
. In 1895, he became the first principal of the newly established School of Mines, now the
University of Utah College of Engineering The College of Engineering at the University of Utah is an academic college of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. The college offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering and computer science. History The College of Engi ...
. (The Merrill Engineering building on the University of Utah campus is named in his honor.) Although the University of Utah established the mining school in the 1890s, it was little more than a basic assay and geology course until after increased funding in 1901. From then to 1928, when Merrill left, the school slowly emerged as one of the best of the mining engineering schools in the American West. Professor Merrill's career as head of the University of Utah School of Mines coincided with a rapid growth in the Utah mining industry. Major scientific discoveries and technological innovations brought the industry out of the era of the lone-prospector and small company mine and mill operation to a world dominated by multi-national corporations working on massive scales, which required a large body of degreed mining engineers, metallurgists, industrial chemists, and other college-educated workers. Early graduates of the program quickly found work in the industry, nearby then globally. In 1913, Professor Merrill successfully attracted funding for a metallurgical research center cooperatively staffed by the university and by the new U. S. Bureau of Mines. The Utah experiment station funded original research by students, who received fellowships, as well as university faculty and staff members of the U. S. Bureau of Mines. Breakthroughs in understanding of the flotation process, cyanide extraction process, of radium (by
Samuel C. Lind Samuel Colville Lind (June 15, 1879 – February 12, 1965) was a radiation chemist, referred to as "the father of modern radiation chemistry". He gained his B.A in 1899 at Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia. After a short spell ...
), and a host of other topics including smelter smoke abatement studies were major contributions in the field. During Merrill's tenure the School of Mines also expanded to offer additional degrees in engineering, including civil engineering, electrical engineering, and chemical engineering. During the mid-1910s, the School of Mines of the University of Utah added "and engineering school" to its name. In 1928, the university determined the funds for mining and metallurgy research were better spent elsewhere, and the cuts caused staff to leave, such as Antoine Marc Gaudin, a leading metallurgical scientist who left for MIT. Prof. Merrill retired that year as well. In 1898, Merrill married Annie Laura Hyde, the daughter of Alonzo Hyde and
Annie Taylor Hyde Anna Maria Ballantyne "Annie" Taylor Hyde (October 21, 1849 – March 12, 1909) was the founder and first president of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers and was a women's leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Anna M ...
. Merrill and his wife would become the parents of seven children. Their home was a welcome and an important part of the social life of students in the early mining engineering classes.


Church education role

Upon hearing his wife relate stories from the
Book of Mormon The Book of Mormon is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, which, according to Latter Day Saint theology, contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from 600 BC to AD 421 and during an interlude date ...
she had learned in a class taught by
James E. Talmage James Edward Talmage (21 September 1862 – 27 July 1933) was an English chemist, geologist, and religious leader who served as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) fro ...
, Merrill began to seek means for students attending public high schools to have some form of weekday religious education. Influenced by Christian seminaries he had seen at the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
, Merrill worked with the Granite School Board and the Church General Board of Education to secure the necessary funding and legal rights to open an LDS seminary next to Granite High School. In his search for a proper teacher to instruct the youth, Merrill wrote: Merrill found the right man in Thomas J. Yates, a young engineer in the Granite Stake. After the building completed and the curriculum developed, the first released-time LDS seminary opened its doors in 1912. In 1928, Merrill left his position at the University of Utah to serve as the head of the LDS Church school system. Upon Merrill's acceptance, the name of the position was officially changed from "Superintendent of Church Schools" to "Church Commissioner of Education". As commissioner, Merrill faced several unique challenges. Merrill took over the development of the first institute program at
Moscow, Idaho Moscow ( ) is a city in North Central Idaho, United States. Located along the state border with Washington, it had a population of 25,435 at the 2020 census. The county seat and largest city of Latah County, Moscow is the home of the Universit ...
. Working with
J. Wyley Sessions James Wyley Sessions (December 11, 1885 – April 21, 1977) was an American religious leader who was the first Institute of Religion director in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Early life Sessions was born in Cassia ...
, Merrill helped develop the basic goals of the institute program, which he felt should be designed to help students reconcile the secular learning of university with the spiritual truths of the church. He wrote:
In this collegiate seminary work we are, of course, starting on a new thing in the Church. But if we keep the objective clearly in mind it may be helpful. And may I say that this objective, as I see it, is to enable our young people attending the colleges to make the necessary adjustments between the things they have been taught in the Church and the things they are learning in the university, to enable them to become firmly settled in their faith as members of the Church. The big question, then, is what means and methods can be employed to help them to make these reconciliations and adjustments. The primary purpose, therefore, is not to teach them theology. It is not to prepare them for seminary teachers or preachers of the Gospel. We should, therefore, continually hold before our minds that we want to hold them in the Church, make them active, intelligent, sincere, Latter-day Saints. We want to keep them from growing cold in the faith and indifferent to their obligations as Church members. We want to help them to see that it is perfectly reasonable and logical to be really sincere Latter-day Saints.
With the successful launch of institute, Merrill's next task was to facilitate the withdrawal of the LDS Church from the field of secular education in the United States. Most of the church schools had already been closed in the early 1920s, but
Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...
(BYU) and several junior colleges remained under church control. In a meeting of the Church General Board of Education in February 1929, Merrill was asked to begin the process of closing all of the remaining schools. Despite the onset of the Great Depression, Merrill was able to successfully negotiate with the Utah State Legislature to ensure the successful transfer of
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,
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and Dixie Colleges from the LDS Church to Utah. In Arizona, Gila College was also transferred to the state and was later renamed Eastern Arizona College. When the Idaho legislature rejected an offer to take control of
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, Merrill worked to ensure its survival as a private school, despite seriously diminished funding. Merrill also worked with other church leaders to keep BYU under church control. He felt that maintaining one university was vital for the future training of seminary teachers. He saw the value in maintaining a corps of trained scholars who were well versed in the teachings of the church. In addition, he felt that a church university would be a light to the world, functioning as a showcase for the academic achievements of church members. In 1930, state high school inspector I. L. Williamson issued a highly critical report on the relationships between LDS seminaries and public high schools in Utah. Influenced by this report, the Utah State Board of Education moved to suspend released time privileges statewide. Merrill worked to ensure the continuation of released time, speaking before the State Board to in an attempt to convince them of the benefits and legality of seminary. When the Board voted on the issue in 1931, both released time and credit for Bible study were retained. With most of the LDS Church-run schools eliminated by this point, Merrill's action ensured the survival of what would become the dominant form of religious education for the church in Utah. Merrill also dealt with the effects of the Great Depression, cutting costs in education. Rather than laying off employees, Merrill asked all members of church education to take pay cuts. During his service, church spending on education was cut nearly in half. Despite the hard times he saw during his tenure as commissioner, Merrill took great joy in his work. Upon his call as commissioner he said:
Again may I say that I believe there is no kind of education in the world that is so fine and so elevating and so good and so important as religious education. And I believe that nowhere in the world is there a system of religious education that is equal in its quality, in its thoroughness and in its comprehensiveness to the system of education that is being undertaken in this Church. The time will come, I verily believe, and before very many years, when week-day religious education will be offered to every high school boy and girl, to every college and university boy and girl in this Church.


Mission president

When Merrill left Utah in 1933 to serve as
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of the
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an Mission of the church, he passed his fiscal philosophies on to the missionaries serving under him. One of them, future apostle and church president
Gordon B. Hinckley Gordon Bitner Hinckley (June 23, 1910 – January 27, 2008) was an American religious leader and author who served as the 15th President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from March 1995 until his death in January 200 ...
, cited Merrill's influence as a major factor in his own financial thinking. J. Wyley Sessions called Merrill the "most economical, conservative General Authority of this dispensation."


Later life

Merrill served as an apostle until his death in 1952 in Salt Lake City from coronary thrombosis. Upon his death, fellow apostle
Joseph Fielding Smith Joseph Fielding Smith Jr. (July 19, 1876 – July 2, 1972) was an American religious leader and writer who served as the tenth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1970 until his death in 1972. He was t ...
offered the following tribute: "I marveled at his energy. Apparently he never got tired; he loved the truth. He loved the truth of science, but he loved more the truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ ... He had a strong will, was pronounced in his opinions, but he was always submissive to the majority decisions of his brethren."J. Wyley Sessions, J. Wyley Sessions Remembrance, UA 156, box 2, folder 5, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah. Merrill was buried at Salt Lake City Cemetery.


Notes


References

*William E. Berrett, ''A Miracle in Weekday Religious Education'', Salt Lake Printing Center, 1988. *Casey P. Griffiths, "Joseph F. Merrill: Latter-day Saint Commissioner of Education, 1928-1933," (Master's Thesis, Brigham Young University, 2007). *Gordon B. Hinckley, "Passing of Elder Joseph F. Merrill," '' Improvement Era'', March 1952. *Ward H. Magleby, "1926 – Another Beginning, Moscow Idaho," ''Impact'', Winter 1968. *Joseph F. Merrill, "A New Institution in Religious Education," '' Improvement Era'', 1938.


External links

*
Tribute To Merrill by Alice Louise Reynolds
in the
Relief Society Magazine ''Relief Society Magazine'', including the ''Relief Society Bulletin'' of 1914, was the official publication of the Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1915 to 1970. It succeeded the earlier and priva ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Merrill, Joseph F. 1868 births 1952 deaths 20th-century Mormon missionaries American general authorities (LDS Church) Apostles (LDS Church) Burials at Salt Lake City Cemetery Commissioners of Church Education (LDS Church) Johns Hopkins University alumni Mission presidents (LDS Church) Mormon missionaries in Europe American Mormon missionaries in the United Kingdom People from Richmond, Utah People from Cache County, Utah University of Michigan alumni University of Utah alumni University of Utah faculty Latter Day Saints from Utah Latter Day Saints from Michigan Latter Day Saints from Maryland