Pliny T. Merrick (August 2, 1794 – January 31, 1867) was an American attorney and politician from Massachusetts. He served as an associate justice of the

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) is the court of last resort, highest court in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Although the claim is disputed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the SJC claims the di ...

Early life

Merrick was born in Brookfield, Massachusetts, the son of Honorable Pliny Merrick and Ruth (Cutler) Merrick. errick, George B. Genealogy of the Merrick-Mirick-Myrick Family 1636 - 1902, Tracy, Gibbs & Company, Madison, Wis.1902. pg 301./ref> He graduated from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

in 1814, and was admitted to the Worcester bar in 1817. He began the practice of law in Worcester, before moving to

Charlton Charlton may refer to: People * Charlton (surname) * Charlton (given name) Places Australia * Charlton, Queensland * Charlton, Victoria * Division of Charlton, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in New South Wale ...

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

and Taunton to practice law. In June, 1824, he returned to Worcester and served as Worcester County's district attorney from 1824 to 1843. In 1826, Merrick was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society.

Judicial career

In 1844 he was Judge of the Municipal Court, and in 1843 he was named a judge of the Massachusetts Courts of Common Pleas. He resigned this appointment in 1848, and was reappointed in 1851. From 1849 to 1850, he was senior defense counsel (co-counsel with

Edward Dexter Sohier Edward Dexter Sohier (1810–1888) was a United States lawyer, best remembered for defending John White Webster in a murder trial in 1850. Early days Edward Dexter Sohier was the son of William Davies and Elizabeth Amory (Dexter) Sohier and was b ...

) in the trial of Harvard University Professor

John White Webster John White Webster (May 20, 1793 – August 30, 1850) was an American professor of chemistry and geology at Harvard Medical School, Harvard Medical College. In 1850, he was convicted of murder in the Parkman–Webster murder case and hanged. ...

, accused of murdering Harvard patron Dr. George Parkman. The prosecutors for the trial were

John H. Clifford John Henry Clifford (January 16, 1809 – January 2, 1876) was an American lawyer and politician from New Bedford, Massachusetts. He served as the state's attorney general for much of the 1850s, retaining the office during administrations do ...

, then Massachusetts Attorney-General and the prosecutor of all capital murder cases, and George Bemis, Esq, and independent attorney. In 1853, Merrick was promoted to the bench of the Supreme Judicial Court by the same

, now Governor of Massachusetts. Merrick received the degree of LL.D. from Harvard in 1853. He served on the bench of the

until 1864. He was a representative of Worcester County in both branches of the state legislature. He was an Overseer of Harvard University from 1852 to 1856. He also served for two years as president of the

Worcester and Nashua Railroad Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Englan ...

. In 1855 Merrick moved to Boston and lived there until his death in 1867.

John White Webster Trial

From 1849 to 1850 Merrick was senior defense counsel in the Parkman-Webster murder case. The gruesome murder drew national attention and although Merrick lost the case, he received much notoriety for the case. The Boston Globe reported Merrick's response, that upon the verdict, "In a moment or two, his senior counsel, Judge Merrick, to the dock, and addressed a few words to the prisoner, to which, so far as we could judge, he replied.— Judge Merrick was deeply affected, and so agitated that he could hardly stand."

Anti-Masonic Movement

Merrick was an active promoter of the

Anti-Masonic Party The Anti-Masonic Party was the earliest third party in the United States. Formally a single-issue party, it strongly opposed Freemasonry, but later aspired to become a major party by expanding its platform to take positions on other issues. After ...

. The party developed in the early nineteenth century, opposing political leaders who were members of secretive Masonic brotherhoods. Masonic members held political views on the role of the government and how the country should expand. The Anti-Masonic Party opposed those views as moving away from the original founding fathers intent. Merrick renounced

Free Masonry Freemasonry or Masonry refers to Fraternity, fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of Stonemasonry, stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their inte ...

in 1832. The party was the precursor to the Whig Party.

Death

Merrick died of paralysis in Boston on January 31, 1867, in his 73rd year. His obituary in the New York Times (2/4/1867) stated: "In 1864 an attack of paralysis obliged him to resign his seat on the Bench. His mind, however, had remained unclouded until a second and fatal attack..." He bequeathed a fund for the establishment of schools of high grade in Worcester.

Family life

On May 23, 1827, Merrick married Rebecca Thomas, daughter of Isaiah Thomas, Jr. of Worcester; she died June 17, 1859. They had no children.[ History of Worcester County, Massachusetts, Comprehensive History of the County from its First Settlement to the Present Time, C. F. Jewett and Company, Boston, 1879, Volume II, Chapter XII, pgs 633-4.] His niece Alice Miller Rice married U.S. Congressman William W. Rice.Merrick, George B. ''Genealogy of the Merrick-Mirick-Myrick Family 1636-1902''. Madison, WI: Tracy, Gibbs & Co.,1902, p. 283.]''Alice Miller Rice'', privately printed commemorative pamphlet, ca. 1900.

References

External links

History and Purpose of the Freemasons and other Secret Societies

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merrick, Pliny T. 1794 births 1867 deaths People from Brookfield, Massachusetts Harvard Law School alumni Massachusetts lawyers Anti-Masonic Party politicians from Massachusetts Politicians from Worcester, Massachusetts District attorneys in Worcester County, Massachusetts Massachusetts Whigs 19th-century American politicians Massachusetts state senators Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Justices of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Massachusetts state court judges Members of the American Antiquarian Society 19th-century American judges 19th-century American lawyers