Arthur H. Mershon, Jr. (1916 – 2009)
Arthur Mershon passed away in February 2009, in his ninety-second year. He is survived by his wife Florence, his sister Clara Mershon Buroff, his son Donald H. Mershon, a professor at North Carolina State University, two grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. He was a long time newspaper editor and when he retired in 1981, he owned the Kenly News in Kenly, NC. Bob Boyette, a former Kenly News columnist wrote in 1983 that “Hart” Mershon was “born to be a newspaper man.” He published his first newspaper in 1928 at the age of 12 years; it was a Sunday edition called the Red Star News that included a self-drawn comic strip and sold for 10 cents. Each paper was set by hand and there were usually four printed. Boyette wrote that advertisements were accepted for ten cents. Ads were usually from his father or a neighbor who owned a department store. When Arthur entered the eighth grade in 1930, the Red Star News exited the newspaper scene but the Crusader 8-C commenced.
This tabloid had a circulation of over 100 copies weekly. Arthur graduated from Rutgers University with a degree in journalism. This account was reprinted in the Kenly News for April 4, 2009. Arthur’s obituary is on our website www.mershonassoc.com (available no later than June 9, 2009.)
Arthur was descended from the Mershon family that operated the Mershon Publishing Company in Rahway, NJ, and New York City. His father, Arthur H. Mershon Sr., and his sister Clara (Mershon) Buroff, both served as President of our Mershon Association. As related by Clara, during annual meetings of the Mershon Association, Arthur and Clara as young children used to walk from the Lawrenceville Church onto the adjacent Lawrenceville Golf Course to pick up loose golf balls lying on the fairway, much to the consternation of golfers on the course.
Arthur H. Mershon, Sr. started our Mershon genealogy database with handwritten charts. His daughter Clara later assumed this responsibility. Starting in 1985, Bill Trott digitized our genealogy database which now includes over 32,900 names from 1685 to present. Our current Genealogist/Historian, Teresa Mershon of Obetz, Ohio, continues this important and on-going work for our Association.