William Matthews Merrick

William Matthews Merrick (September 1, 1818 – February 4, 1889) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Circuit Court of the District of Columbia, a United States representative from Maryland and an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia.

Education and career

Born on September 1, 1818, near Faulkner, Charles County, Maryland, Merrick was the son of William Dunhurst Merrick and his wife. He graduated from Georgetown College in 1831, studied law at the University of Virginia, and read law in 1839 to prepare for the bar. That same day, President Abraham Lincoln ordered Secretary of State William H. Seward to suspend Merrick's salary. Senator Henry Wilson claimed that Merrick's heart "sweltered with treason" and that his house had become a hotbed of pro-secessionist sympathizers.

Later career

Merrick resumed private practice in Howard County, Maryland from 1863 to 1870. He was a member of the Maryland House of Delegates in 1870. In 1849, Merrick married Mary Wickliffe, the daughter of Charles A. Wickliffe.