Born in Center Ossipee, New Hampshire, Merrow attended the public schools and Brewster Free Academy in Wolfeboro from 1921 to 1925.

Merrow was an instructor of science at Kents Hill School in Maine in 1929 and 1930 and at Montpelier Seminary from 1930 to 1937.

He became a radio news commentator and lecturer, and served as delegate to an international conference on education and cultural relations of the United Nations, held in London in 1945.

He was a congressional adviser to the first conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) held in Paris in 1946.

This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress