Augustus Summerfield Merrimon (1830 - 1892)

Descendants

Preceded by John Pool

Augustus Summerfield Merrimon US Senator (Class 3) from North Carolina 1873—1879

Succeeded by Zebulon Baird Vance

Biography

Augustus Summerfield Merrimon (September 15, 1830 – November 14, 1892) was a Democratic U.S. senator from the state of North Carolina between 1873 and 1879.^[1]

Augustus Summerfield Merrimon was born on 15 Sep 1830 in Asheville, Buncombe, North Carolina, United States, son of Branch Hamline Merrimon (1802 - 1881) and Mary Evelyn (Paxton) Merrimon (1811 - 1849).

His siblings were:

1. Martha A Merrimon (~1832 - 1902)
2. Sterling Chesterfield Merrimon (~1834 - 1907)
3. Branch Hugh Merrimon (~1836 - 1883)
4. Erasmus H Merrimon (~1838 - 1899)
5. Emory H Merrimon (~1842 - 1926)
6. James Harvey Merrimon (~1844 - 1921)
7. Eliza A Merrimon (~1846 - 1923)
8. Mary A Merrimon (~1846 - 1925)
9. Jesse William Merrimon (~1849 - 1938)

Augustus married Margaret Jane Baird (1834 - 1907) on 14 Sep 1852 in Buncombe. Their children were:

1. Edgar A Merrimon (1853 - 1897)
2. Branch Hugh Merrimon (1856 - 1934)
3. Mary Paxton (Merrimon) Overman (1860 - 1938)
4. William Baird Merrimon (1861 - 1939)
5. Margaret Summerfield Merrimon (1864 - 1925)
6. Charles Johnson Merrimon (1870 - 1920)
7. Maude Lillian Merrimon (1874 - 1965).

An attorney from Buncombe County, North Carolina, Merrimon served in the North Carolina House of Commons from 1860 to 1861. He briefly served in the Confederate Army when the American Civil War broke out, but resigned to become solicitor (prosecutor) for North Carolina's eighth judicial district. After the war, Merrimon served as a state superior court judge, then returned to the practice of law, and was an unsuccessful Democratic (at the time, officially called the Conservative Party) candidate for Governor of North Carolina in 1872. With 49.5 percent of the vote, Merrimon lost an extremely close race to incumbent Tod R. Caldwell.

Merrimon was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1872. He and former Gov. Zebulon B. Vance had already become intense political enemies, though both were affiliated with the Conservative Party. After Vance won the endorsement of the Conservative Party in the legislature, the minority Republicans in the legislature voted with Merrimon's supporters to elect him to the Senate ^[2].

Sources

1. ↑ #Wikipedia
2. ↑ New York Times, October 14, 1878

• "North Carolina, County Marriages, 1762-1979 ," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:2:QRVH-HDKX : 9 March 2021), Entry for A S Merrimon and Margarett J Baird, 14 Sep 1852; citing Buncombe, North Carolina, United States, p. , North Carolina State Archives Division of Archives and History; FHL microfilm .
• "United States Confederate Officers Card Index, 1861-1865", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:2:7M28-BMT2 : 6 September 2019), Entry for Augustus Summerfield Merrimon, 1861-1865.
• "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:2:MHQR-MS6 : 18 February 2021), Household of Augustus Merriman, Buncombe, North Carolina, United States, 1860 page 28.
• "United States Census, 1870", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:2:M7P8-7TV : 29 May 2021), Household of Augustus Merrimon, Raleigh, Wake, North Carolina, United States, 1870 page 167.
• "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:2:M44W-9GH : 14 January 2022), Household of A. S. Merriman, Raleigh, Wake, North Carolina, United States; citing enumeration district , sheet , NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm 1,254,984.
• Find A Grave: Memorial #8091232

See Also:

• Augustus Summerfield Merrimon on Wikipedia
• Augustus S Merrimon, Liberty Ship named after the Hon. Augustus Summerfield Merrimon
• Biographical Directory of the United States Congress