Eli Todd Merriman

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker says about Eli Todd Merriman, out there in Nueces County. Now, some men leave a mark on a place. And some men, well, they leave a whole newspaper.

Eli Todd Merriman was the second kind. He was born in 1852, the son of a doctor, and right there you might think, young Eli has a comfortable road ahead of him. But the Merriman family was not the settling-down-easy type.

They migrated from Connecticut, making their way through Bastrop, San Marcos, Edinburg, and Banquete before finally arriving in Corpus Christi in 1865. That is a lot of geography between Connecticut and the Texas coast, and the family took their time getting acquainted with all of it. By 1870, Eli was eighteen years old and he went to work as a typesetter for a weekly publication called the Nueces Valley.

Now, typesetting is patient work. You learn every letter, every word, every line before anyone else in town does. And Eli learned fast.

He moved up to foreman. Then to reporter. The ink was in his blood, as they say, and he was just getting started.

He made a brief detour, moving on to the Galveston News during a separation from Corpus Christi, but Corpus Christi had a pull on him. He came back, and he went to work for the Corpus Christi Gazette. Then in 1876, Eli partnered with a man named William H.

Maltby, an experienced publisher, and together they created and published the Corpus Christi Free Press. Now here is where Eli really showed what he was made of. His job was to secure subscriptions.

And he did not do that from behind a desk. He rode horseback, all the way out as far as the Rio Grande Valley, knocking on doors and convincing people that this paper was worth their money. That is a long ride on a horse with a sales pitch.

In 1880, Maltby died, and Eli became the sole proprietor. He carried that paper forward until 1883, when it was sold to the Caller Publishing Company, which renamed it the Corpus Christi Caller. You may know it today as the Corpus Christi Caller-Times.

Under Eli's watch, the Caller became one of the most influential papers in all of Texas, and he earned himself a nickname to match: the Dean of Texas Newspaper Men. Not a bad title for a boy who started setting type at eighteen. But retiring from the newspaper did not slow Eli down one bit.

He moved into real estate and insurance, and he poured his main efforts into two causes that clearly meant the world to him. One was creating a deep-water port for Corpus Christi. The other was repairing and preserving the Old Bayview Cemetery.

He fundraised tirelessly for both. In 1941, at the age of eighty-eight, Eli Todd Merriman passed away. He left behind three children, and he left them something you cannot put a price on: a legacy of community pride and responsibility.

The state of Texas honored him with a resolution affirming his astounding contribution to Texas. And as for that Old Bayview Cemetery he worked so hard to preserve, that is where Eli rests today. Seems right, doesn't it, that the man who spent a lifetime building something worth keeping ended up in the very place he fought to protect.

What the marker says

Born the son of a doctor, Eli Todd Merriman (1852-1941) was a major contributor to the growth and development of Corpus Christi. The Merriman family migrated to Corpus Christi from Connecticut in 1838 by way of Bastrop, San Marcos, Edinburg and Banquete, finally arriving in their final destination in 1865. In 1870, Eli, at the age of 18, began working as a typesetter for the Nueces Valley, a weekly publication. He would soon become a foreman and later a reporter. Eli later moved on to the Galveston News during a brief separation from Corpus Christi but later returned to work for the Corpus Christi Gazette. In 1876, Eli and William H. Maltby, an experienced publisher, created and published the Corpus Christi Free Press. Eli, who held the responsibility of securing subscriptions, traveled by horseback as far as the Rio Grande Valley. After Maltby's death in 1880, Eli became sole proprietor. In 1883, the paper was sold to the Caller Publishing Company, which in turn renamed the paper the Corpus Christi Caller. Today it is called the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. During his stint, Eli earned the nickname "Dean of Texas Newspaper Men" as the Caller was one of the most influential papers in Texas. Retiring from the newspaper did not slow Eli down. He employed himself in real estate and insurance. His main efforts were to create a deep-water port for Corpus Christi and to repair and preserve the Old Bayview Cemetery, where he is now buried. Eli worked tirelessly to fundraise for these causes. In 1941, at the age of 88, Eli Todd Merriman passed away leaving a legacy for his three children of community pride and responsibility. The state honored him with a resolution affirming his astounding contribution to Texas. (2012)