Born on Sept 9, 1853, G.E. Merchant was the second child and first son born to George Merchant, Jr. and his wife Mary Douglass. Unlike so many other members of his Merchant family, Geo E. was not to be a life long man of the sea. He tried the life of a fisherman -- he was serving as the cook on a fishing vessel at age 16, and after eight years concluded that he needed to head in another direction. In 1870, Geo. E. answered an ad placed in the Gloucester Telegraph, and entered into employment with John S.E. Rogers, the printer and publisher. He remained in that line of business for many years, and was still in that employ when he wrote some of his notes about himself in 1923. During his time in the printing trade, he worked for the Cape Ann Breeze and the Gloucester Times, where he worked as a pressman. For time he also worked for the Allen Show Print Company of Beverly until ill health forced him to retire.

On March 6, 1879, Geo. E. married Charlotte Estelle Lufkin, the daughter of Samuel Lufkin and Mary Potter Brown. She was born om Aug. 5, 1857 and died in 1945. They were married by the Rev. Dr. John M. English at the First Baptist Church of Gloucester. Notes left by Geo. E., show that he was a member of the old Company G, Eighth Massachusetts Regiment, and claims it was the shiny brass buttons and gold braid that won him his bride. On march 6, 1929 Geo. E. and Charlotte celebrated their Golden Wedding anniversary, just two weeks before Geo. E. died. The couple had four children. Charlotte became a member of the DAR, and is included in the list of members in a 1903 publication listing the members.

George E. Merchant was also actively involved in Gloucester politics, entering into that scene in the 1870's. He was first elected to political office in 1886, and served in positions such as ward officer, member of common council and alderman, serving in that position for six years. In 1900 he was elected Mayor of Gloucester. After leaving that position, he was named a member of the water board, serving twice as it's chairman. From 1909-13 he was again elected as alderman.

Many hobbies and activities help occupy his free time during his life. Geo. E. spent time working with music, photography and the raising of fruits and flowers from seeds. He was known to have a record garden with the "earliest" and "latest" and "off-season" blooms and growths. His interest in printing resulted in his eventually have a hand press at home, which he frequently used to print his own articles.

Much of what has been recorded about the Merchant-Marchant family of Cape Ann is related to Geo. E.'s passion for genealogy. He created hundreds of hand-written notes and recollections about the family members, primarily for the purpose of creating an accurate genealogy of the Merchants of Cape Ann, which he self-published and printed in 1914. All of this came about in 1889 when the four generations of the George Merchants sat for a photo. Geo. E. asked the question, "Who is grandfather's father?", and that began his longing to know more of his ancestors. As he embarked on this task it involved researching public records (which he found at times to be woefully lacking in accurate detail), family bibles and tombstones (which also proved to be somewhat unreliable), personal interviews, as well as correspondence sent across the country and overseas.