Iram Z. Merriam, a local businessman, came to Whitewater after employment in Iowa and Fort Atkinson. He was a salesman for the Esterly Harvesting Machine Company and in the shops he invented and patented related products, including the instant slat repair kit, which became very successful. Merriam and John Burton, who ran Whitewater's main real estate business, were instrumental in publishing this first history pamphlet of Whitewater in 1898, entitled Whitewater of To-day. (Whitewater, Fred G. Kraege)