John Merryman

John Merryman

John Merryman (August 9, 1824 – November 15, 1881) was the petitioner in one of the best known habeas corpus cases of the American Civil War.

Early life

Merryman began his work life as an employee in Richard Norris' hardware store in Baltimore City. The following year he moved to Guayama, Puerto Rico to work for his uncle, Samuel N. Gott. Merryman returned to Maryland in 1842 to manage farms and raise Hereford cattle. Merryman married Ann Louisa, daughter of Elijah Bosley Gittings, in 1844. John and Ann Louisa had eleven children. Merryman, a democrat, served as president of the Board of County Commissioners, Baltimore County, in 1857 [Maryland State Archives] . Merryman was resident of Cockeysville, Baltimore County Maryland.

Civil War

Prior to the Civil War, Merryman was a 3rd lieutenant in the Baltimore County Troops. By 1861 he was a 1st lieutenant in the Baltimore County Horse Guards [Maryland State Archives] . Following the Pratt Street Riot in Baltimore, Governor Thomas H. Hick ordered Merryman to aid in the destruction of several bridges north of Baltimore to prevent troops from Pennsylvania from marching through Baltimore and inciting riots [Maryland State Archives] .

On May 25, 1861, Merryman was arrested at his home in Cockeysville by Union troops, indicted for treason, and confined in Fort McHenry. Merryman petitioned Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney for a writ of habeas corpus, but the writ was disobeyed by General George Cadwallader, the arresting officer, under orders from President Lincoln even though Taney cited Cadwallader for contempt. Taney struck down President Abraham Lincoln's suspension of habeas corpus on the basis of its unconstitutionality (see "Ex parte Merryman").

While Merryman was in jail awaiting a hearing, Taney had furniture and home-cooked meals brought to him in his cell [Baker. The Politics of Continuity.] . Merryman later named one of his sons Roger B. Taney Merryman in the Chief Justice's honor [Baker. The Politics of Continuity.] .

Merryman was State Treasurer of Maryland from 1870 to 1872.

Footnotes

References

*Baker, Jean H. The Politics of Continuity; Maryland Political Parties from 1858 to 1870. The Goucher College series. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1973.

*Maryland State Archives. Ex Parte Merryman. Retrieved October 12, 2007 from http://teachingamericanhistorymd.net/000001/000000/000107/html/t107.html

ee also

*Taney Arrest Warrant


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