Richard Thomas Merrick (January 28, 1828 – June 23, 1885) was a lawyer and Democratic political figure. Born in

Charles County, Maryland Charles County is a county in Southern Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 166,617. The county seat is La Plata. The county was named for Charles Calvert (1637–1715), third Baron Baltimore. Charles County is part of the Was ...

, Merrick was the son of William D. Merrick, a member of the

Maryland legislature The Maryland General Assembly is the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland that convenes within the Maryland State House, State House in Annapolis. It is a bicameral body: the upper house, upper chambe ...

and the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

. His brother, William Matthews Merrick, was a federal judge and congressman from Maryland. His uncle, William Matthews, was the President of

Georgetown College Georgetown College is a private Christian college in Georgetown, Kentucky. Chartered in 1829, Georgetown was the first Baptist college west of the Appalachian Mountains. The college offers 38 undergraduate degrees and a Master of Arts in educat ...

. At the age of eighteen, Merrick raised a company of dragoons for service in the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...

, becomng part of the

3rd U.S. Dragoons The 3rd U.S. Regiment of Dragoons was a United States Army Dragoon regiment raised for one year of service in the Mexican–American War, by Congress on February 11, 1847. It was led by Colonel Edward G. W. Butler, who was appointed from Louisian ...

. On his return from Mexico, he began to practice law and was elected to the Maryland Legislature. He later moved to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and represented Illinois at the

1860 Democratic National Convention The 1860 Democratic National Conventions were a series of presidential nominating conventions held to nominate the Democratic Party's candidates for president and vice president in the 1860 election. The first convention, held from April 23 t ...

as a delegate for

Stephen Douglas Stephen Arnold Douglas (April 23, 1813 – June 3, 1861) was an American politician and lawyer from Illinois. A senator, he was one of two nominees of the badly split Democratic Party for president in the 1860 presidential election, which wa ...

. In 1864, he married Nannie McGuire and moved to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

where he became a successful attorney. He defended

John Surratt John Harrison Surratt Jr. (April 13, 1844 – April 21, 1916) was an American Confederate spy who was accused of plotting with John Wilkes Booth to kidnap U.S. President Abraham Lincoln; he was also suspected of involvement in the Abraham Lin ...

against allegations that he was involved in Abraham Lincoln's assassination, and later represented Samuel J. Tilden at the

Electoral Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

of 1877. In 1874, he endowed the Merrick Medal, a prize given annually to the best debater of the Philodemic Society of

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

. He assisted in the prosecution of the star route scandal from 1882 to 1883. Among those he served as counsel to was

Lorenzo Thomas Lorenzo Thomas (October 26, 1804 – March 2, 1875) was a career United States Army officer who was Adjutant General of the Army at the beginning of the American Civil War. After the war, he was appointed temporary Secretary of War by U.S. ...

. On April 16, 1868, Merrick

testified In law and in religion, testimony is a solemn attestation as to the truth of a matter. Etymology The words "testimony" and "testify" both derive from the Latin word ''testis'', referring to the notion of a disinterested third-party witness. La ...

in the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson, having been called as a

witness In law, a witness is someone who has knowledge about a matter, whether they have sensed it or are testifying on another witnesses' behalf. In law a witness is someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, e ...

by Johnson's defense team. Merrick died on June 23, 1885 and was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. His daughter, Mary Virginia Merrick, was the founder of the National Christ Child Society and is a candidate for canonization.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Merrick, Richard T. 1828 births 1885 deaths People from Charles County, Maryland Maryland lawyers Illinois Democrats Washington, D.C., Democrats Democratic Party members of the Maryland House of Delegates 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century American politicians American military personnel of the Mexican–American War Testifying witnesses of the impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson Burials at Oak Hill Cemetery (Washington, D.C.)