Orsamus Cook MERRILL, Congress, VT (1775-1865)

MERRILL, Orsamus Cook, a Representative from Vermont; born in Farmington, Conn., June 18, 1775; completed preparatory studies; moved to Bennington, Vt., in 1791; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1804; served in the War of 1812 as a major of the Eleventh Regiment, United States Infantry and a lieutenant colonel in the Twenty-sixth Infantry and the Eleventh Infantry; register of probate in 1815; clerk of the courts in 1816; elected as a Republican to the Fifteenth Congress (March 4, 1817-March 3, 1819); presented credentials as a Member-elect to the Sixteenth Congress and served from March 4, 1819, until January 12, 1820, when he was succeeded by Rollin C. Mallary, who contested his election; delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1822; served in the State house of representatives in 1822; judge of the probate court in 1822 and 1823; State’s attorney 1823-1825; member of the State executive council 1824-1827; member of the State senate in 1836; again judge of probate court 1841-1847; postmaster of Bennington, Bennington County, Vt., several years; resumed the practice of law at Bennington, where he died April 12, 1865; interment in the Old Cemetery on Bennington Hill.

Bibliography

Graffagnino, J. Kevin. “ ‘I saw the ruin all around’ and ‘A comical spot you may depend’: Orsamus C. Merrill, Rollin C. Mallary, and the Disputed Congressional Election of 1818.” Vermont History 49 (Summer 1981): 159-68.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present