Page 54 - From the Outhouse 4 -21

F R O M T H E O U T H O U S E T O T H E L I T T L E R E D S C H O O L H O U S E : | 54

Charles Haywood Merritt, Sr.

~ My Father ~

The human spirit is the lamp of the Lord that sheds light on one’s inmost being.

Proverbs 20:27 (NIV)

That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.

Titus 2:2 (KJV)

My father, Charles Haywood Merritt, was born in Sanford, Florida, on October 28,

1911, to parents Felix and Hattie Hamiter Merritt. He was the youngest of five children.

His four siblings – Corrie, Thedric, Doris, and Ernestine – were all girls. My father was
a Pullman Porter, which was a well-respected, high-side job for Negroes in that day. He

also worked at Hunter Ice and Fuel Company, located on 13th and Holly Streets. That
salary, along with the sales income from the fish my father caught, paid my way to

college.

As a Pullman Porter, my father traveled quite a bit. I only remember him being home

to discipline me for going into my dramatic performances, which I could get past my
mother sometimes. My father, on the other hand, was not going for any of my antics.

Being sad or crying didn’t get me anywhere with him.