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William Duhurst Merrick (October 25, 1793 – February 5, 1857) was a United States Senator from Maryland, serving from 1838 to 1845.

Merrick was born in Annapolis, Maryland and completed preparatory studies. He later graduated from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

Merrick held several local offices and served in the War of 1812. He was the register of wills of Charles County, Maryland from 1825 to 1832. He studied law, was admitted to the bar, and commenced practice in Port Tobacco, Maryland.

From 1832 to 1838, Merrick served in the Maryland House of Delegates. He was elected as a Whig to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Joseph Kent. He was reelected in 1839 and served from January 4, 1838, to March 3, 1845. In the Senate, Kent served as chairman of the Committee on the District of Columbia (Twenty-sixth and Twenty-seventh Congresses), as a member of the Committee on Post Office and Post Roads (Twenty-seventh and Twenty-eighth Congresses).

After his service in the Senate, Merrick served as a member of the State constitutional convention in 1850. He was again elected to the House of Delegates, and served from January 1856 until his death in Washington, D.C. Merrick was interred in Mount Olivet Cemetery, then reinterred in the cemetery at St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Newport. His sons, William Matthews Merrick and Richard T. Merrick, were also prominent attorneys. William Matthews, the first American-born Catholic priest, was his brother-in-law.

References

1. McLaughlin, James Fairfax (1899). College Days at Georgetown: And Other Papers. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company. p. 75. OCLC 1299424. Retrieved October 20, 2018 – via Internet Archive.

External links

• United States Congress. "William Duhurst Merrick (id: M000654)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

v t e United States senators from Maryland
Class 1	Carroll Potts Howard S. Smith Harper Hanson Pinkney S. Smith Kent Merrick Johnson Stewart Pratt Kennedy Johnson Whyte Hamilton Whyte Gorman McComas Rayner Jackson Lee France Bruce P. Goldsborough Radcliffe O'Conor Beall Sr. J. Tydings Beall Jr. Sarbanes Cardin Alsobrooks (elect)
Class 3	Henry J. Lloyd Hindman Wright Reed R. Goldsborough E. Lloyd Chambers R. Goldsborough Spence Kerr Pearce Hicks Creswell Vickers Dennis Groome Wilson Gibson Wellington Gorman Whyte J. Smith Weller M. Tydings Butler Brewster Mathias Mikulski Van Hollen

v t e Chairmen of the United States Senate Committee on Post Office and Civil Service
Post Office and Post Roads (1816–1947)	Wilson Stokes Lanman Johnson Bibb Grundy Robinson Henderson Merrick Niles Rusk Yulee Gwin Collamer Dixon Ramsey Hamlin Ferry Maxey Ferry Hill Conger Sawyer Vilas Wolcott Mason Penrose Bourne Bankhead Townsend Sterling Moses Phipps Oddie McKellar Chávez
Civil Service and Retrenchment (1873–1921)	Wright Clayton Blaine Teller Butler Hawley Chace Wolcott Call Jarvis Pritchard Baker Perkins Cummins Pomerene McKellar Sterling
Civil Service (1921–1947)	Sterling Stanfield Couzens Dale Bulow Downey
Post Office and Civil Service (1947–1977)	Langer Johnston Carlson Johnston Monroney McGee

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

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