A teacher, one of the earliest industrialists, and legislator, are only a few of the highlights of the life of Sereno T. Merrill.

He was born September 24, 1816, in Greenfield, Massachusetts, and he came to Beloit in May 1846. He was a teacher in the Beloit Seminary, and in 1847 when Beloit College was founded, he taught first-year students before the coming of Prof. Bushnell and Prof. Emerson.

It was not his intention to continue as a teacher. In May 1848, the professors came to Beloit. Soon Sereno T. Merrill formed a partnership with Theodore L. Wright and they built the first paper mill in this section at Rockton. It was the first paper mill on Rock River.

He sold his interest in that concern in 1856 and organized the Rock River Paper Company in Beloit. He became a stockholder in the Merrill & Houston Iron Works, the Citizens’ National Bank, and the Eclipse Windmill Engine Company.

He was Wisconsin’s representative to the World’s Exposition in Vienna in 1873. His record in the educational field is prominent. He was a school commissioner in 1848, superintendent of schools in 1850, 1851, and 1852; a trustee of Beloit College from 1869 on for many years, and a trustee of the Rock County Insane Asylum for 12 years.

He was a member of the state legislature in 1876 and 1877, and president of the Beloit Savings Bank for three years.

He died October 22, 1905.