{{Short description|American politician (1831–1907)}} {{Infobox officeholder |name = Samuel M. Stephenson |image = Samuel M. Stephenson (Michigan Congressman).jpg |caption = From Volume 1 of 1905's ''American Lumbermen''. |office = Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan |term_start = March 4, 1889 |term_end = March 3, 1897 |preceded = Henry W. Seymour (11th)<br/>''District established'' (12th) |succeeded = John Avery (11th)<br/>Carlos D. Shelden (12th) |constituency = {{ushr|MI|11|11th district}} (1889-93)<br/>{{ushr|MI|12|12th district}} (1893-97) |birth_date = {{birth date|1831|12|23}} |birth_place = Hartland, New Brunswick, Canada |death_date = {{death date and age|1907|7|31|1831|12|23}} |death_place = Menominee, Michigan, U.S. |party = Republican |relatives = Isaac Stephenson (brother) }}
'''Samuel Merritt Stephenson''' (December 23, 1831 – July 31, 1907) was a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan.
==Personal life== Samuel Merritt Stephenson was born on December 23, 1831 in Hartland, New Brunswick. Him and his parents moved to Maine and later Delta County, Michigan in 1846. He worked in the lumber industry and moved to Menominee, Michigan, in 1858. He was interested in real estate, lumbering, general merchandising, and agricultural pursuits. He built the Menominee Hotel in 1881 to accommodate visiting lumber buyers; the structure burned down in 1977.<ref>{{cite news|title=Menominee Hotel Rich in History |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1610746/menominee_hotel_18811977/|newspaper=The Escanaba Daily Press|date=February 14, 1977|page=1|via = Newspapers.com|access-date = January 20, 2014 }} {{Open access}}</ref> After leaving Congress, Stephenson resumed the lumber business. He died in Menominee and is interred there at Riverside Cemetery. In 1876, the then-small settlement of Wacedah north of Menominee was renamed Stephenson in his honor.
His older brother Isaac Stephenson was a U.S. representative (9th district) 1883-89 and U.S. senator Class 3 1907-15 from the state of Wisconsin.
==Political career== Stephenson served as a member of the Michigan House of Representatives in 1877 and 1878. He also served in the Michigan Senate in 1879, 1880, 1885, and 1886. He was a delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1884 and 1888.
In 1888, Stephenson was elected as a Republican from Michigan's 11th congressional district to the 51st United States Congress and was re-elected in 1890 to the 52nd Congress. After redistricting due to the 1890 census, Stephenson was elected from the newly created 12th district in 1892 and 1894. In all, he served from March 4, 1889, to March 3, 1897, in the U.S. House.
He served as chairman of the board of supervisors of Menominee County for several years.
==References== {{reflist}} {{CongBio|S000865}} *[https://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/stephenson.html#R9M0JDXME The Political Graveyard]
{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{succession box | before= Henry W. Seymour | title=United States Representative for the 11th congressional district of Michigan| years=1889 – 1893 | after= John Avery }} {{succession box | before= None | title=United States Representative for the 12th congressional district of Michigan| years=1893 – 1897 | after= Carlos D. Shelden }} {{s-end}}
{{U.S. Michigan Representatives}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephenson, Samuel Merritt}} Category:1831 births Category:1907 deaths Category:Emigrants from pre-Confederation New Brunswick to the United States Category:People from Carleton County, New Brunswick Category:Republican Party Michigan state senators Category:Republican Party members of the Michigan House of Representatives Category:People from Menominee, Michigan Category:Republican Party United States representatives from Michigan Category:19th-century members of the Michigan Legislature Category:19th-century United States representatives