The life of the woman who accomplished what seemed to be impossible back during her lifetime, Winifred Merrill, begins in the year of 1862 on September 24 in the lovely city of Ripon, Wisconsin. Who her parents were and if she had any other family members or siblings is unknown. Throughout her youth, Merrill had the utmost pleasure of being educated privately which took her into her first years of college, the first college she attended was all the way in Massachusetts which was Wellesley College. After a couple years until 1883, she received her bachelor 's degree and bounced from Wellesley to Harvard University for about a year then bounced again to Columbia University where she remained and worked to get her PHD. Although Merrill was also