There are not many professions that command the amount of respect that we have for our doctors....and Corpus Christi has been blessed over the years with some of the finest in the profession. And the Corpus Christi doctors who came before those we’ve known in recent years shared the same attributes of competence and dedication.
One of the city's earliest doctors has a name that most long-time Corpus Christi residents would recognize. I recently came across his grave on a walk through Corpus Christi’s historic Bayview Cemetery. His name was Dr. Eli Todd Merriman.
He was born in Bristol, Connecticut, on February 1, 1815, and graduated from Yale in 1833. He also married in 1833. He and his first wife, Jenette Bartholomew, moved to Texas with their three children in 1838, settling near Bastrop. He served with the U.S. Army during the war with Mexico and, after the war, partnered with Gen. Edward Burleson and William F. Lindsay to establish the town of San Marcos in 1851. The log cabin home of Dr. Merriman in San Marcos, built in 1846, still exists and is listed as the second oldest home in San Marcos. If you are old enough to remember "Aquarena Springs" in San Marcos in the 1960's, the Merriman house was part of the attraction's "Texana Village".
Merriman was not only the first doctor to practice in San Marcos, he became the town's first postmaster and first county tax assessor-collector. Dr. Merriman and his first wife had six children before divorcing in 1850. He moved to Brownsville, where he met and married Elizabeth Fusselman in 1852. Together, they would have five sons and eventually moved to Banquete, where Dr. Merriman started a ranch and established his medical practice.
His practice covered a large area in every direction. Each day, he would head out by horse and buggy to visit with patients. Dr. Merriman would represent his neighbors in the Texas Legislature, serving from 1857-59. When the Civil War broke out, Dr. Merriman would serve as a physician in the Confederate army. He operated two hospitals during the War. One was located in Banquete, and the other in Corpus Christi. The Corpus Christi hospital was located in a house owned by Walter Merriman (no relation) at 801 South Upper Broadway on the Bluff. That home, the Merriman-Bobys House, built in 1851, is still standing. It sits in Heritage Park, the oldest house in the park and the second oldest structure in the City of Corpus Christi.
Decades after the Civil War, CC historian Mary Sutherland wrote of the dedicated doctor, "Dr. Merriman kept a hospital open during the War, where they lost a 3-year-old son, Frank. In 1865, Dr. Merriman moved his family to Corpus Christi. It was here that Dr. Merriman would lose his life at the young age of 52. In August of 1867, a terrible yellow fever epidemic struck the City. Before it was over, Corpus Christi would lose almost 1/3 of its citizens to the disease...including its mayor, five undertakers, and three doctors....including Dr. Merriman, on August 12.
It was reported that the doctor fell ill due to his weakened condition after tirelessly treating hundreds of victims. His typical treatment for those with the fever was to fill a washtub with ashes and hot water. The sick patient would then immerse his feet and legs into the tub and let them soak. The patient was then put to bed, wrapped in blankets, and made to “sweat the fever out of his system”.
Sadly, very few attended Dr. Merriman’s funeral in Old Bayview Cemetery because the city was under strict quarantine at the time. (Three months before his death, the First Presbyterian Church was organized in the home of Dr. and Mrs. Merriman. Lumber that had been obtained for construction of the church was used instead to construct coffins during the epidemic...including that of Dr. Merriman).
After his death, his widow, Mrs. Elizabeth Merriman, opened a private boarding house, which she kept for thirty-three years from 1867-1900. The Merriman House became one of the favorite boarding places in South Texas. When Mrs. Merriman retired, she made her home with her eldest son, E. T. Merriman. He became the founder of the “Corpus Christi Caller” newspaper and one of the city's most prominent citizens. Mrs. Merriman's death came on July 9, 1911. She was also buried in Old Bayview beside her dedicated husband and young son, Frank.
Robert Parks is a special contributor to KRIS 6 News. Parks was a history teacher at Carroll High School for 19 years and is now retired. His knowledge of Corpus Christi history makes him a unique expert in the subject.
