🔎 M for Marion or Miami?

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This tintype comes from my great-grandmother’s photo album. It shows a young couple dressed in collegiate-style sweaters. The man wears an “M,” while the woman’s sweater bears a triangle with a bold “Y” inside. His boots suggest the World War I era, placing the photo in the 1910s or 1920s.

On closer inspection, the triangle with the “Y” appears to be an YMCA/YWCA emblem, the Young Men’s and Young Women’s Christian Associations, which were active in this period in Ohio.

But what does the “M” stand for?

The Merkle family roots were in Marion, Ohio, but there were also family connections to Miami University. Each time I share the photo with relatives, the same question comes up:

👉 M for Marion or M for Miami?

For now, it remains one of those tantalizing family history puzzles, tucked between what we know and what we can only guess.

 📖 This post is part of my Merkles of Marion series, which traces the Merkle family’s journey from Württemberg, Germany, to Marion and Springfield, Ohio. You can read the full series here →


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