He was born on July 25, 1860, in
Pierrepont,
St. Lawrence County, New York, the son of
Edwin Atkins Merritt (1828–1916), and was known all his life as
Edwin A. Merritt Jr. although father and son had different middle names.
Education Merritt Jr. graduated from
Yale University in 1884. While at Yale, he was prominent among the undergraduate founders of the
Wolf's Head Society, established in 1883 as
The Third Society by the Phelps Trust Association. The society was founded with the aid of over 300 Yale alumni, including
James Smith Bush,
Charles Phelps Taft,
Charles W. Harkness and
William L. Harkness.
Political career Merritt was a member of the
New York State Assembly (St. Lawrence Co., 2nd D.), serving in each consecutive legislative session from
1902 through
1912. He was Majority Leader from 1908 to 1910, Minority Leader in 1911, and
Speaker in 1912. He was an alternate delegate to the
1908 Republican National Convention, and a delegate to the
1912 Republican National Convention. He was elected to the
62nd United States Congress, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of
George R. Malby, and was elected at the same time to the
63rd United States Congress, holding office from November 5, 1912, until his death on December 4, 1914, in
Potsdam, New York. He was buried at Pierrepont Hill Cemetery in Pierrepont, N.Y. ==See also==