Samuel Merrill published in 1928 a two-volume set of books describing in detail the Merrill genealogy beginning with the first known ancestor, also known as the primogenitor. The first few chapters deal with the very early history of the Merrill family and then branches into the remainder of the book with the six plus successive generations of the American progenitor thereafter. Samuel published only twenty-six copies, each being gifted to a major genealogical library across the country with a few going to other interested people. Each of the originals were consecutively numbered and noted where they were delivered behind the title page of volume one.

The books are known as "the bible of Merrill genealogy" due to the fact they are so well documented with very few errors. The work leading to the publication was performed by his predecessors where he took on the arduous task of putting the information into a manageable format and publishing it where future generations could make use of their work.

In 1983 Parker River Researchers took orders and reprinted about 1,250 copies of the two volumes for $75 a set. Seldom do you find any of these available but other companies are now producing lesser quality copies on demand. This digital version comes from copy #2 which had been given to the New England Historic Genealogical Society and has a great number of scribblings written in for later clarification and correction.

Further information on the history of this publication may be found at the address Merrill.org/genealogy/mm/.