Merritt Every was born in Shokan,New York on Feb. 18,1881.He grew up on the family farm with his father,mother and seven siblings.It was a 57 acre working farm,with over one hundred head of cattle and other livestock.When he was about 20 years old he opened a large butcher plant in Shokan with his brother-in-law Frank Van Etten.In 1907 he married Minnie Courtney of Aiken,South Carolina and moved to Central Valley,N.Y.Merritt and Minnie's childen,Merritt Jr.,Courtney and Cleo were all born in Central Valley.There he opened another butcher plant with Frank Van Etten and Bertha 'Every' Van Etten.Around 1914 they moved to Port Ewen,N.Y.and opened M. Every's Port Ewen Market on Broadway.In 1917 his wife Minnie died at home in Port Ewen,suffering from tuberculosis,leaving him with three small children.Minnie was the first Every to be buried in the family plot at Montrepose Cemetery.Merritt married Alice 'DuBois' Every in 1920 and then opened Every Sales and Service on Broadway in Port Ewen.He sold Ford and Lincoln cars,trucks and tractors at Every's Garage.On December 28,1920,his new dealership-garage and house,burned to the ground.Merritt rebuilt the business and house.This was the beginning of many other auto-truck dealerships and business ventures in his career.After relocating to Kingston in the 1930's,he owned Chrysler dealships at 424 B'way,525-29 B'way,748-50 B'way,113-115 Green St. and 66-68 N. Front St. in the city of Kingston.He also owned some gas stations and used car lots,also located in Kingston.His cousin Jay T. Every owned the Eagle Garage on Main St. for many years.Other relatives owned an auto parts store.There were a lot of Every's that made their living selling autos and trucks and anything related to it.He was also a supervisor in the first ward (City of Kingston) for years.Merritt and the family had another home in Daytona Florida since the 1920's,that they frequented often.Merritt and his second wife Alice retired there,and passed away there,but were always making trips back to Ulster County,to see family and friends.Merritt died one day after his 93rd birthday in 1974.