By Dennis Richmond Jr.
My name is Dennis Richmond Jr. (@NewYorkStakz) and I am the 24-year-old founder and director of the New York-New Jersey HBCU Initiative. My second-great-grandfather was named John Sherman Merritt (1889-1921), and he worked himself to death. This story is about him.
John Sherman Merritt was born Tuesday, Dec. 10, 1889 in Greenwich, Conn. He was the son of Edward B. Merritt and Mary Elizabeth Wayland. Through the years, his father found work as a holster, a laborer, and in a real estate office. His mother worked as a laundress, church stewardess, and was president of The Willing Workers at Little Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Greenwich. In her spare time, she wrote poetry.
John’s parents instilled in him a work ethic like no other.
It was through the AME church, that John met a young woman who would soon be his wife. On Aug. 21, 1908, John was working with other young adults at a church function. One young woman that he noticed was the beautiful Lelia Bell Robinson. Lelia Bell was from Staunton, Va., and worked as a waitress. Just five months later, on Jan. 21, 1909, 19-year-old John and 16-year-old Lelia Bell tied the knot in Rye.
The couple had their first child June 23, 1909 in Greenwich. John was working for a private family doing chores. In other words, he was a housekeeper. His uncle Joseph S. Glover owned his own housecleaning business. Even though housecleaning isn’t what many men did during this time, John and his uncle didn’t mind societal stigmas. They were gettin’ paper. And John didn’t want his wife to have to work.
The couple went on to have three more children that lived to adulthood. For each child born, John picked up another job. He was a chimney sweep, a housekeeper, a school custodian and a painter. His wife wanted him to slow down, but he didn’t. He was a provider. She would make his lunch, he would come home and eat, and he would go back to work. Sometimes he only got a few hours rest.
On June 5, 1917, he filled out a World War I Draft Registration Card. On May 22, 1919, at just 29 years old, a white woman sold him a home for $1. John had secured a beautiful home for his family. By 1920, everything was great. The Harlem Renaissance had approached, John and Lelia Bell owned property, they had four beautiful children, money was flowing, pictures were taken, and life seemed like a dream.
In October 1920, however, things took a turn for the worse. John was diagnosed with an uncommon group of cancers called sarcoma. He wouldn’t live another year. It was Sunday, July 3, 1921, that John Sherman Merritt died of sarcoma and exhaustion. He was just 31 years old. He literally worked himself to death. #Legacy
