William Wallace Merritt, Sr. Burial Site at Evergreen Cemetery
William Wallace Merritt, Sr. Burial Site at Evergreen Cemetery is a historic site in Red Oak, Iowa, a National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom listing. NPS-listed historic site associated with the Underground Railroad. The archive files it under dark history, Underground Railroad history and the Underground Railroad. The dossier holds 3 documented facts — the record is history-forward, no paranormal claims on file. The site is open to visitors.
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Is William Wallace Merritt, Sr. Burial Site at Evergreen Cemetery haunted?
No claims are filed here — the record keeps this place for its documented history, not for a haunting on file.
The record — long form
Merritt's grave is the captain — the 'Montgomery County leader' that's the southwest Iowa, the 'Evergreen' that's the Red Oak's rest. The 'few feet' is the doubled — the 'son Darwin' that's the USS Maine's crew, the 'headstone from the ship' that's the hull's piece. The 'two wars' is the spanned — the 'father's freedom' that's the secret fought, the 'son's explosion' that's the Havana sunk.
The 'Red Oak' is the corner — the 'southwest Iowa' that's the Missouri border, the 'Network listed' that's the burial recognized. The 'Maine piece' is the brought — the 'post office cornerstone' that's the other fragment, the 'recovered body' that's the years later. Merritt is the paired — the 'captain and sailor' that's the father-son graves, the 'two causes' that's the freed and the fallen.
The file keeps Merritt: the county captain, the Maine son, the hull's headstone, and the paired graves.
Merritt's burial is the archive's Iowa file — the conductor and the Maine sailor.
Why this file matters
Merritt's grave is the archive's Iowa file — the captain buried beside his Maine sailor.
A grave keeps its pair — the file's suggestion being that Merritt's hold is the generational: the 'few feet away' that's the son beside, the 'ship's stone' that's the Maine's fragment, and the 'two wars' that's the freedom's arc.
Two accounts on file
HISTORIC_SITE
CEMETERY
Preserve both source-backed variants; no automatic overwrite.
NPS-listed historic site associated with the Underground Railroad.
The conductor’s grave—where Merritt rests.
Preserve both source-backed variants; no automatic overwrite.
National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom listing
NPS Network to Freedom
Preserve both source-backed variants; no automatic overwrite.
Government-registry discovery record, unique ID 32IA02, source row 549. Inclusion concerns slavery, freedom-seeking and resistance history; no haunting is inferred. City, coordinates and detailed history are not inferred from the name. The source Year Established field is not treated as year built/opened.
UGRR enrichment wave 3; VERIFY task auto-queued.
Preserve both source-backed variants; no automatic overwrite.
Documented history
NPS includes this site in the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. William Wallace Merritt, Sr. Burial Site at Evergreen Cemetery's past is on record — the entry belongs to the verified layer the museum itself interprets. It's verified history: the dossier's load-bearing detail. The detail is preserved in 'Public NPS Network to Freedom listings, row 2, ID 01GA01'. It anchors the timeline the rest of the file hangs from.
Verified historyNational Park ServiceWilliam Wallace Merritt, Sr. Burial Site at Evergreen Cemetery is documented on the National Park Service Network to Freedom for its role in the Underground Railroad. The site's documented history is the record the rest of the file stands on. The record holds it as fact — documented, not retold. The detail is preserved in 'NPS Network to Freedom listing'. The date is part of the site's documented spine.
Verified historyNational Park ServiceMerritt’s work is documented. William Wallace Merritt, Sr. Burial Site at Evergreen Cemetery's past is on record — the entry belongs to the verified layer the museum itself interprets. This belongs to the verified spine of the entry, the layer everything else is measured against. Sources including 'NPS Network to Freedom listing' carry the record. It anchors the timeline the rest of the file hangs from.
Verified historyNational Park Service
Sources on file
- 01Public NPS Network to Freedom listings, row 2, ID 01GA01National Park Service · government · A1
- 02NPS Network to Freedom listingNational Park Service · government · A1
- 03Underground RailroadWikipedia · encyclopedia · A4
Field notes & open questions
Government-registry discovery record, unique ID 32IA02, source row 549. Inclusion concerns slavery, freedom-seeking and resistance history; no haunting is inferred. City, coordinates and detailed history are not inferred from the name. The source Year Established field is not treated as year built/opened.