 Merritt Jr. graduated from Yale University in 1884.While at Yale, he was prominent among the undergraduate founders of the Wolf's Head Society, established in 1883 as "The Third Society" by the Phelps Trust Association.The society was founded with the aid of over 300 Yale alumni, including James Smith Bush, Charles Phelps Taft, Charles W. Harkness and William L. Harkness.