Edwin Albert Merritt

Edwin Albert Merritt ( born July 25, 1860 in Pierrepont, New York, † December 4, 1914 in Potsdam, New York) was an American lawyer and politician. Between 1912 and 1914 he represented the State of New York in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Career

Edwin Albert Merritt was born about nine months before the outbreak of the Civil War in St. Lawrence County. He attended community schools. Merritt graduated in 1879 at the Potsdam Normal School in 1884 and Yale College. In 1885 he was Deputy Consul General in London. After his return to the United States he went to Potsdam in various business ventures. Between 1896 and 1903 he sat in the District of St. Lawrence County. He studied law. After receiving his license to practice law in 1902, he began practicing in Potsdam. Between 1902 and 1912 he sat in the New York State Assembly, where he was in 1908 and 1912 Speaker Minority Leader. Politically, he was a member of the Republican Party.

He was elected in a by-election in the 26th Election District of New York in the 62nd Congress, there to fill the vacancy that was created by the death of George R. Malby. His seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, he took on November 5, 1912. In the regular congressional elections of 1912 for the 63rd Congress he was on the 31st electoral district of New York in the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington DC chosen, where he became the successor of Sereno E. Payne on March 4, 1913. He died, however, before the end of his term on December 4, 1914 in Potsdam. At the time of his death he had been elected to the 64th Congress. His body was buried in the Hill Cemetery in Pierrepont Pierrepont.