Seven Iron Brothers

[1] In the late 1800s, the Merritt family founded the largest iron mine in the world and initiated the consolidation of the American railway system into what would ultimately become the United States Steel Corporation.

[1] The railroad became the center of conflict between the Merritt Brothers and J. D. Rockefeller,[4] to whom they were eventually forced to sell their stake in Mountain Iron[1] in 1893.

[8] He joined the Army to fight in the Civil War and returned after his father had failed to discover gold in the Vermillion or Mesabi Mountain Ranges.

In the span of several months, the Merritt Brothers lost their personal wealth and interest in both their mining and railroad corporations.

Rockefeller's move attracted the attention of Andrew Carnegie and through consolidations, the world's first billion-dollar cooperation, the United States Steel Corporation, would be founded.

In 2011, the economic impact upon America of the steel industry was estimated to contribute $101.2 billion to US GDP and to support 943,045 jobs.

Black and white photograph of Leonidas Merritt, Lewis J. Merritt, Andrus R. Merritt, Alfred Merritt, Lucien F. Merritt, Cassius Clay Merritt, Hephzibah Jewett Merritt, Lewis H. Merritt, Jerome Merritt, and Napoleon B. Merritt.
1871 photograph of the Merritt family.
Top row: Leonidas Merritt, Lewis J. Merritt, Andrus R. Merritt, Alfred Merritt, Lucien F. Merritt.
Bottom row: Cassius Clay Merritt, Hephzibah Jewett Merritt, Lewis H. Merritt, Jerome Merritt, Napoleon B. Merritt.