The following is from Reports of the Historical Secretary of the Old Settler and Historical Association of Lake County, Indiana, from 1901 to 1905, page 64:
Oliver W. Merrill, oldest son of Dudley Merrill of Merrillville, died at the home of his brother, C.L. Merrill January 10, 1904, nearly 63 years of age. He was born in Lake county, February 1, 1841, the oldest of five children, four sons and one daughter, of whom C.L. Merrill is the only survivor. Like a few elderly men who have lived in the county and like some who are now living, O.W. Merrill was never married.