Ambrose Merrill
News Examiner, Monday, 28 May 1922
The people of Bennington and Montpelier were all shocked last Saturday morning when the accidental shooting of Ambrose Merrill was announced. The accidental discharge of a shotgun was the cause of the untimely death of this prominent young farmer of the Bennington district. Mr. Merrill and members of his family, according to report, were returning to the house on their farm after milking their cows in the morning.
Mrs. Merrill proceeded to the house and Mr. Merrill stopped at the granary where he took a shotgun to shoot sparrows. It appears he had finished shooting and when he returned to the granary with the gun is when the accident occurred, but how no one knows because the unfortunate man was alone. He was found on the ground outside the building with a fatal wound in his abdomen.
He was rushed to the Montpelier hospital, remaining conscious all the while but passed away at 9 am about two hours after being wounded. It is presumed that when Mr. Merrill hung the gun up the trigger caught on the object he attempted to hang it on and the weight of the gun caused it to discharge before he had let loose of it. There is no way to determine just how the accident did happen, as the gun was found on the floor and Mr. Merrill was picked up outside the door.