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 located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 166,617. The county seat is La Plata. The county was named for Charles Calvert (1637–1715), third Baron Baltimore. T ...

, Merrick was the son of William D. Merrick, a member of the Maryland legislature and the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

. His brother, William Matthews Merrick, was a federal judge and congressman from Maryland. His uncle, William Matthews, was the President of Georgetown College. At the age of eighteen, Merrick raised a company of dragoons for service in the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...

, becoming part of the 3rd U.S. Dragoons. On his return from Mexico, he began to practice law and was elected to the Maryland Legislature. He later moved to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and represented Illinois at the 1860 Democratic National Convention as a delegate for

Stephen Douglas Stephen Arnold Douglas ( né Douglass; April 23, 1813 – June 3, 1861) was an American politician and lawyer from Illinois. As a U.S. senator, he was one of two nominees of the badly split Democratic Party to run for president in the 1860 ...

. In 1864, he married Nannie McGuire and moved to

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, where he became a successful attorney. He defended

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

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 The Philodemic Society is a student debating society at Georgetown University founded in 1830 by Father James Ryder, S.J. The Philodemic is among the oldest such societies in the United States, and is the oldest secular student organization a ...

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

. He assisted in the prosecution of the star route scandal from 1882 to 1883. Among those he served as counsel to was Lorenzo Thomas. On April 16, 1868, Merrick

testified 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. Law In the law, testimony ...

in the impeachment trial of President

Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. The 16th vice president, he assumed the presidency following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a South ...

, having been called as a

witness In law, a witness is someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, either oral or written, of what they know or claim to know. A witness might be compelled to provide testimony in court, before a grand jur ...

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 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.) 19th-century members of the Maryland General Assembly