Edward E. Merritt

Edward Merritt was born in Burlington, Vermont, in February 1845.{{cite report|url= https://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/24WHLX6BCVY3A9C |title= The Legislative Manual of the State of Wisconsin |year= 1873 |publisher= State of Wisconsin |chapter= Official Directory |page= [https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/A24WHLX6BCVY3A9C/full/AYKBBLUH4G4DVV8W 441] |accessdate= October 20, 2022 }} As a child, he came to Wisconsin with his parents in 1850.

He came to Sparta, Wisconsin, in 1859 and learned the typography trade while working at the Sparta Herald. He then went to La Crosse, Wisconsin, where he worked as a printer.

While living in La Crosse in 1864, he answered President Lincoln's call for "100-day volunteers" for the Union Army to finish the American Civil War. He served as a private in Company G of the 40th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment.{{cite report|url= https://archive.org/details/rosterofwisconsi02wisco/ |title= Wisconsin Volunteers, War of the Rebellion, 1861–1865 |publisher= Office of the Adjutant General of Wisconsin |year= 1886 |volume= 2 |chapter= Fortieth Regiment Infantry |page= [https://archive.org/details/rosterofwisconsi02wisco/page/686/ 686] |accessdate= October 20, 2022 }} The 40th Wisconsin Infantry was sent to Memphis, Tennessee, to guard railroad and supply lines. While there, Memphis came under attack in a raid by Confederate cavalry in what's known as the Second Battle of Memphis. The 40th responded to the raid, chasing the cavalry from the city. They pursued the rebels after they fled, but did not catch them. The regiment expired at the end of its 100-day enlistment and returned to Wisconsin in September.{{Cite book|url= https://archive.org/details/militaryhistoryo00quin/ |title= The Military History of Wisconsin |year= 1866 |last= Quiner |first= Edwin B. |chapter= Regimental History – One Hundred Day Troops |pages= [https://archive.org/details/militaryhistoryo00quin/page/855/ 855–857] |accessdate= October 20, 2022 }}

After the war, Merritt returned to La Crosse, but moved to Neillsville, Wisconsin, in Clark County, in 1867. He started the Clark County Journal with J. S. Dore, working as associate editor, but left after a few months and moved to St. Louis, Missouri. He returned to Neillsville in the fall of that year, where he started another newspaper, the Clark County Republican. He operated the Republican until 1874, when he sold to Charles J. Cooper.{{cite book|url= https://archive.org/details/fl-12689268-322470/ |title= History of Clark County Wisconsin |last= Curtiss-Wedge |first= Franklyn |year= 1918 |publisher= H. C. Cooper, Jr., & Co. |page= [https://archive.org/details/fl-12689268-322470/page/145 145] |accessdate= October 20, 2022 }}

From 1869 to 1872, he served as a deputy United States marshal. In 1872, he won his only term in the legislature, running on the Republican Party ticket. He served in the 26th Wisconsin Legislature and his district comprised all of Clark and Jackson counties. He did not run for re-election in 1873.

Edward Merritt married Martha Ann Williams and had at least three children. Merritt died at Greensburg, Indiana, in August 1895.{{cite news|url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/111699654/edward-merritt-obit/ |title= Town Talk |newspaper= The Neenah Daily Times |date= August 12, 1895 |page= 4 |accessdate= October 20, 2022 |via= Newspapers.com }}

{{Election box begin | title= Wisconsin Assembly, Clark–Jackson District Election, 1872}}

| colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| General Election, November 5, 1872

{{Election box winning candidate with party link|

|party = Republican Party (United States)

|candidate = Edward E. Merritt

|votes = 1,365

|percentage = 57.40%

|change = -8.94%

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|

|party = Independent (United States)

|candidate = Benjamin F. French

|votes = 1,013

|percentage = 42.60%

|change =

}}

{{Election box plurality

|votes = 352

|percentage = 14.80%

|change =-17.88%

}}

{{Election box total

|votes = 2,378

|percentage = 100.0%

|change = +54.22%

}}

{{Election box hold with party link no swing

|winner = Republican Party (United States)

}}

{{Election box end}}

{{reflist}}

{{Find a Grave|96764825|Edward Eleazer Merritt}}

{{s-start}}

{{s-par|us-wi-hs}}

{{s-bef|before = Eustace L. Brockway }}

{{s-ttl|title = {{nobreak|Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly}} {{nobreak|from the Clark–Jackson district}} |years= January 6, 1873{{spaced ndash}}January 5, 1874 }}

{{s-aft|after = Mark Douglas }}

{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merritt, Edward E.}}

Category:1845 births

Category:1895 deaths

Category:People from Burlington, Vermont

Category:People from Neillsville, Wisconsin

Category:People from La Crosse, Wisconsin

Category:Republican Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly

Category:People of Wisconsin in the American Civil War

Category:Union army soldiers

Category:American newspaper publishers (people)

Category:19th-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature