Frank Cooper Merriell, son of Julia Cooper and Wallace A. Merriell,  received his B.S. in E.E. in 1909 from Colorado College. 

I have not yet found a record of any marriages or children for Frank Cooper Merriell.

He is listed as a Captain with  Battery "C," of the 148th Field Artillery unit in World War I.

He is listed on page 411 of "The History and Achievement of the Fort Sheridan Officers' training camps by the Fort Sheridan Association, Fred Girton, published in 1920.

He is shown as being Secretary of the Colorado River Water Conservation District in 1949 in the The Mancos Project Historic Reclamation Projects Book.

There is also a reference to him being the mayor of Fruita, Colorado about 1926 in the following paragraph:

"The construction of Serpents Trail served as a catalyst for continued road building through the park. In 1926, the idea for a road connecting the western and eastern ends of Colorado National Monument emerged. Fruita's mayor, Frank Merriell, requested Park Service aid in constructing a road from town to Fruita Canyon. Because 2-1/2 miles of this road remained outside park boundaries, the Park Service replied that it could only fund the stretch of road within the park provided an estimate was sent.  The Grand Junction Chamber of Commerce developed this Fruita road proposal further by suggesting to the Park Service that the road be extended through the park to connect with the Serpent's Trail to create a complete "highway around the rim."  A road between Fruita Canyon on the far western end of the park and the Serpent's Trail on the eastern end would span the entire park. In August 1926, A. E. Demaray, Acting Director of the National Park Service, arranged for an inspection of the proposed road so that a "recommendation could be made to the Director regarding inclusion of it as a project in a further National Park Service road program."  By this time, however, citizens of Fruita were exasperated with bureaucracy. They did not support Merriell's road around the rimrocks, believing that the continued push for roads up to Fruita Canyon was a waste of time and money. More effort, they stated, should be directed toward enlarging the Fruita reservoirs and repairing the Fruita water pipeline on Pinon Mesa that supplied the city's water.  Yet, despite the initial lack of enthusiasm, this road idea eventually gained both local and federal support. "

The above document was titled

Colorado

A Classic Western Quarrel: A History of the Road Controversy at Colorado National Monument

CHAPTER THREE: The Otto Years: 1911-30 (continued) Road Building, 1911-1927

There are several books and articles that go into more detail on the road controversy.

There is another reference to him on page 103 of Colorado National Monument by Alan J. Kanai where it states that "Frank Merriell, mayor of Fruita, was one of Otto's two nemeses who did not appreciate Otto's eccentric ideas for the Colorado National Monument...

There is another reference to him where he is listed in the Committee appointed by Governor Dan Thornton to arrange observance of A Hundred Years Of Irrigation in Colorado 

Frank C. Merriell is listed as the author of the following books on Amazon.

  1. Western Slope Surveys, Colorado, the Mancos Project: A report by F. C Merriell (Unknown Binding - 1937)

  2. Western Slope Surveys, Colorado, the Yampa Project by F. C Merriell (Unknown Binding - 1937)

  3. Western Slope Surveys, Colorado, the West Divide Project by F. C Merriell (Unknown Binding - 1937)

  4. Study of ultimate flow of the Colorado River at Lee's Ferry, Arizona by F. C Merriell (Unknown Binding - 1937)

Click here to see the lengthy Washburn genealogy going back to the Mayflower and beyond to about 1250 AD. 

 

Sources:

  1. The Wight Family Genealogy

  2. Centennail Celebration 1861-1961 of the Grand Lodge A. F. & A. M. of Colorado

  3. Colorado College Alumni

  4. A History of the Road Controversy at Colorado National Monument

  5. Compendium history and biography of North Dakota; a history of early settlement, political history, ... and biography; reminiscences of pioneer life ... (page 49)

  6. A History of the Sixty-Sixth Field Artillery Brigade

  7. The Mancos Project Historic Reclamation Projects Book

  8. 1911 Colorado Business Directory, Fruita, Mesa County

  9. A Hundred Years of Irrigation in Colorado 100 Years of Organized and Continuous Irrigation 1852 1952 Published by the Colorado Water Conservation Board Denver and Colorado Agricultural and Mechanical College Fort Collins 1952