I was born May 31, 1915 in Blackfoot (Wapello), Bingham County, Idaho. Doctor W. W. Beck was the doctor. I was born at home. Our house was not too large and it was built of rough lumber. The farm and the house was on the edge of the sand hills and the sand blew quite bad. There was a lot of jack rabbits and sage brush on our place. My father homesteaded the farm and broke it out of the "rough".

My father was David Hill. He was born June 6, 1868 in Smithfield, Utah. His father was Aaron Hill and his mother was Susanna Tonks.

My mother was Emma Flora Wheeler. She was born Sep. 15, 1875 in Huntsville, Utah. Her father was Levi Lincoln Wheeler and her mother was Ellen Lavender.

I was the eighth child in a family of eight children. I had six brothers and one sister.

David Earl Hill 24 Feb 1893
George Francis Hill 22 Sep 1894
Emma Laura Hill (Ransom) 24 Jun 1897
Howard Park Hill 28 Jun 1899
Harvey Ray Hill 18 Apr 1901
Clarence Wheeler Hill 5 Jul 1909
Merlin Gerald Hill 31 May 1915

I was blessed Jul 4, 1915 by my father, David Hill in the Wapello Ward, Blackfoot Stake. I was baptized June 2, 1923 by Marion Dee Stone in the Blackfoot Irrigation Canal. I was confirmed June 3, 1923 by my father, David Hill, in the Wapello Ward, Blackfoot Stake.

I felt very humble at this time and promised myself that I would not lie or cheat - that I would try to fill all my assignments in the Church - that I would love everyone and help the less fortunate. Being baptized made a deep impression on me.

The earliest playmates I can remember are a pup named Tex and the bum lambs named Billy and Betty. Tex was a top notch cattle dog and was obedient to commands. One time when my father returned from town he brought me a new rope about twenty feet long. He tied a rosebud knot in each end and made a lasso noose. He gave me some good advise and instructions on how to rope (but not on what to rope). Although this was only a common quarter-inch rope that cost about 15 cents it was my most prized possession. With the help of Tex I could capture the sheep. I would put horse halters on the sheep for a harness, which worked real well. Then I would hitch them to an old dish pan and with the help of Tex I would take a ride. This was before I went to school. I was about five years old.

My family were good religious people who worked hard for a living. Our mode of travel at that time was with horses. We had a white-top double-seated buggy and a single buggy. We were fortunate enough to have some good horses. My father was noted throughout the country as a good horseman. He was able to get along well with his horses, whether he was riding them, driving them, or putting them in the harness.

My father was of English descent and he carried a little accent. He called the boys laddies and the girls girlies, and all the kids loved him.

My father was good to everyone and always had time to help anyone who needed his help whether he knew them or not. Anyone who came to our house, whether friend or stranger, was offered the best we had. He was always fair in his dealings and would rather give advantage than take advantage of anyone. It seemed to me that he was always able to handle any problem or situation that arose, and I learned many of life's greatest lessons from him. I don't believe that he had an enemy in this world. My grandfather and grandmother Wheeler lived near us for many years and my father was very considerate of them and their needs. He had a strong desire for his children to always do right, to pay their tithing, to take care of their church assignments, and be fair and honest.

Memories of my mother are a good home and plenty of good food, and an abundance of hospitality at her door. Her utmost desire was for her children to be clean and honest and live the Gospel.

I don't remember how old I was, but it was before I started to school, when my mother went to Salt Lake for surgery. She had a goiter removed from her neck. I remember I felt very sorry for her.

My mother was called to a new assignment by our Heavenly Father when I was about 15 years old. I was left with a very empty feeling and a great loss of security. It has been many years since she left this life, but her ideals and counsel are instilled in my heart to this very day and I cherish her memory. Not long before she died I was sitting on the edge of her bed. I was the youngest in the family and was with her a lot of the time. We talked about our lives here and in the hereafter. She put her arm around me and kissed me on the cheek, and drew my attention to the fact that I was baptized a member of the true church. She told me I was now old enough and had knowledge enough to know right from wrong. She also reminded me that I held the office of a deacon in the Aaronic Priesthood. She wanted me to promise her that I would keep the Word of Wisdom, that I would not smoke or drink alcoholic drinks, and that I would not take the Lord's name in vain. Up to this date I have kept this promise. I am thankful for the guidance that she gave me in my early life.

Some of my first memories are of my sister Laura. She was very good to me. She would take me with her to Church and Primary. She would cut my hair and dress me up cute and take me with her to deliver raspberries, gooseberries, rhubarb, onions, eggs and butter, that we produced on the farm in Wapello, to the stores in Blackfoot. I remember people telling her I was very bashful.

I remember churning the butter in a crock with a lid and dasher, which you would push up and down until the butter came - it seemed like it never would.

I remember wash day once a week when we heated water in a copper boiler and poured it into a wooden tub washing machine, with a cog wheel on top, and a handle you pushed and pulled - 600 times for a batch. Then a hand wringer was turned to wring them out, then rinse them twice and put them in bluing water and wring again and hang on the line to dry. One time I was watching the wringer cogs and I put my finger on one of the cogs while it was moving and mashed my finger - the ring finger on my right hand. I still carry the scar.

I started school in Wapello. When I was in the second grade, I first met Ruth Homer, who later became my sweetheart and my wife. I remember a rest exercise we had in school at this time. We would straddle our desks and sing, "Jog-Jog, Jog along my little pony." I remember how cute Ruth looked all dolled up in a pretty dress, black sateen bloomers, and a ribbon in her hair.

From Wapello we moved to Wilson, about 10 miles west of Blackfoot, where we lived for about a year. From there we moved to Gibson on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation. My father and my brother Earl leased ground from the Government. We had many good friends here. Most of my playmates were Indians. I got so I could carry on a good conversation with them in their own tongue. I remember the winters were very cold here. We wore heavy clothes and I rode to school behind Clarence on Old Bolly. When we got to school we turned him loose to go home, and we walked home at night.

I graduated from the eighth grade at Gibson. There were more than half Indians in the school, but the four graduates were not Indians. Gibson School was a place where we traded an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. We had many fights - from gang fights to two people slugging it out. I remember on Graduation Day the four graduates went in our Model T Ford Pickup without a top, and it raining like mad, to Blackfoot and spent the day joy riding and having fun in the rain storm.

Our house in Gibson was not the best. It was crudely built, but my father saw that it was warm and comfortable. It was while we lived here that I had Typhoid Fever. I was very sick, and didn't remember much during the three months that I was down. My two brothers and my niece, who was living with us at the time, also had Typhoid Fever. It was very hard on my father and my mother and my brother, Earl, who took care of us. It was also a great financial burden that was hard to recover from. We had two doctors come out from Blackfoot many times. Finally Dr. Beck told my folks that he could see a change for the better in my brothers and my niece, but my chances for recovery were not good. He said I was burned up with fever and didn't have a chance. He said my intestines were as thin as tissue paper and I wouldn't be able to eat. But my father didn't give up. He sat with me night and day, and fed me a few teaspoons of milk every few hours.

At this writing I am 64 years old and am still here. I want to bear testimony that is through the faith of my parents and the will of the Lord that I am here today. The Lord was called on many times in my behalf. Dr. Beck himself said it was help greater than he could offer that allowed me to recover. I am most thankful for the blessing of continued life.

Just before I got real sick a neighbor gave me a little pup. He was just old enough to take from his mother, and so small that he needed to be fed at night. I would get up and feed him. When I recovered from Typhoid Fever, and my father helped me up to the window to look out, my little pup had grown up and was working the sheep with the other dogs. I remember I felt sad because my little dog was big.

When I recovered I helped my father with his milk route to the Kraft Cheese Factory in Blackfoot. In my spare time I worked for Dan Maurer on his farm for a dollar a day. I worked from daylight to dark, besides doing our own chores morning and night. A dollar was a lot of money for a kid at that time. Many times with a dollar I have gone to a show with a date, bought a treat and still had money left over.

When I was sixteen I went to work for the National Laundry out of Pocatello. Then I worked as a traveling guard for the State Hospital South at Blackfoot.

After my mother died Brother and Sister Maurer were sure good to me. They encouraged me in Church and school work and took me with them on many occasions. They took me to Yellowstone Park where I secured a position as an apprentice carpenter. I worked on the Post Office Building in Mammoth. Later I went to Bountiful, Utah to work for Intermountain Theatres. I worked on the construction of 3 theatres in Bountiful, Holiday, and Marysville, Utah.

It was at this time while in Salt Lake and vicinity that I again found Ruth Homer, who I had in mind looking up - and a very good reason why I went to Salt Lake. She was working in ZCMI and was sure the "apple of my eye". The more I saw of her the better I liked her. She must have been doing a little thinking, too, because we became engaged in February and were married on the 24 of June, 1938, in the Salt Lake Temple. It was a very joyful time in my life. My father and Ruth's father were witnesses and both signed our Marriage Certificate. The next day we went to Lagoon for a short honeymoon. We were both working and couldn't take much time off.

Our first home was in the Imperial Apartments on North Temple in Salt Lake. Later we moved to a small home I built on a lot Ruth's folks gave us in the rear of their home at 971 West 16th North, in North Salt Lake. Then later we bought a larger home at 1729 Beck Street in the same area. Two children were born to us in Salt Lake, Merlin Gerald, Jr. on May 4, 1939 and Jack Homer on November 20, 1942.

In 1943 we sold our home and purchased a 40 acre farm in Thomas, Idaho, where Pamela Gay was born on July 15, 1945. We made many good friends here, especially Martha and Theron Dance, who lived through the field from us. They are still very special friends after 36 years. We worked very hard here and we were very happy.

In march of 1946 we moved to Jackson, Wyoming, where I had a job managing a Dude Ranch for Anita Tarbell from Boston, Mass. We had a lot of fun while we lived here. We made lots of good friends and had many experiences that were so out of the ordinary that they were almost unbelievable.

I left the Dude Ranch and went to work for the Forest Service in Jackson Hole. In March of 1949 I was transferred to Boise, Idaho, where I was employed by the Boise National Forest as Construction and Maintenance Foreman. We purchased a small home at 1708 Euclid Avenue and we had a new baby girl born April 16, 1949. We named her Maridee Ruth.

I was out of time and away from home much of the time. I felt I should stay home with my family, as they were growing up and Ruth said they needed me. So I changed my occupation at this time and went to work for the United Credit Men's Association. About a year after this I went to work for Pumice Products as Credit Manager. It was while collecting for a building that I found a job working for Mrs. W. H. Puckett as her Ranch Manager. We went to work for her in March 1952. Our youngest child was born while we lived here on April 9, 1954. We named her Dana Loy.

We enjoyed our life on the ranch very much. Mrs. Puckett was very good to us and our family. In 1956 we bought a new Chevrolet station wagon for the ranch. At Christmas time Mrs. Puckett insisted that we take the station wagon and go to California for a vacation. When I told the family it wasn't hard for us to make up our minds to go. We had all worked hard getting the cattle rounded up and the crops in. The kids all worked hard and never squabbled about pay and no job was too hard for them to tackle. They won many ribbons at the fair and were active in 4H and FFA and FHA. Our children all graduated from Meridian High School and four of them have a University degree. The boys are both Eagle Scouts and have filled honorable missions for the Church, Merlin in Austria and Switzerland and Jack in Texas. All 5 children were married in the Idaho Falls Temple.

Mr. Puckett told me many times that my family was the only family she ever had. When she got sick and needed nurses around the clock they were provided. I tried very hard to see that they were good to her and that her needs and wants were met.

Mrs. Puckett passed away on February 28, 1966. She left us our house and part of the ranch where we lived and worked for so many years. She is truly a heartfelt memory to me and my family.

In a few more years the Estate was settled and we spent a year at the Idaho Youth Ranch where I worked as Ranch Administrator.

Im March of 1974 Ruth and I were called on a mission to the Rapid City, South Dakota Mission. We enjoyed our mission with the Indian people and made many good friends.

On September 28, 1977, I had open heart surgery at The Saint Luke's Hospital in Boise. Doctor Herr and Doctor Orm performed the operation, which took five hours. Here I must mention my sweetheart, Ruth. Her love and attention at this time knew no bounds. She saw that all my needs were granted. She was with me much of the time and I worried about her driving alone at night and going home to an empty house. I lost three days in the hospital. I can't recall much that happened, but I do remember Ruth, Merlin, Jack and Maridee were there often. I was grateful for their love and support. Pam and Dana were unable to come. Pam had a new baby while I was in the hospital - Carolee born September 30, 1977, and Dana was helping her.

I want to mention here another good friend who has been a source of strength to me. Doc Johnson, our Home Teacher, was called to administer to me before I went into surgery, along with my son, Jack. They gave me a wonderful blessing and everything that was promised me through the power of the Priesthood was granted and became a reality - that I would have a speedy recovery, that I would rest at night, that the fear of the operation would leave me and that I would have peace of mind. I want to bear testimony that the Lord does hear and answer our prayers, if we have faith and live according to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I have held many positions in the Church, and have had jobs wherever I have lived. I have worked in the Presidency of the MIA and Sunday School, been LDS Representative at the Penitentiary in Boise, and High Priest's Group Leader, and Stake Home Teaching Secretary for many years, along with many other jobs too numerous to mention.

On April 16, 1978 we were called on another mission - the Nampa Regional Genealogical Extraction Mission. We were called by the Stake President and set apart as regular missionaries for an eighteen month duration. We work for four hours every day reading microfilms and recording names and dates for Temple input. This mission will be over October 1 of this year (1979). The Lord is good to me. I am thankful for my family and for all of my many blessings.

Merlin G. Hill
July 21, 1979