The main person in the seven iron brothers was Leonidas. He was born in Chautauqua County, New York. He stayed there until he was seven. Then he moved to Western Pennsylvania and stayed there until he turned twelve in 1856. His family moved to a town of five or six families in Duluth, Minnesota. His father Lewis H. Merritt worked as a lumberman but went out to the gold rush. Leonidas joined the army but returned home when his father failed to find gold. But his father brought back some unique rocks from the mesabi range. This made Leo interested and