{{Short description|American politician (1853–1953)}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Schuyler Merritt | image = SchuylerMerritt.jpg | image_size = 200px | caption = | birth_date = {{birth date|1853|12|16}} | birth_place = New York City | death_date = {{death date and age|1953|04|01|1853|12|16}} | death_place = Stamford, Connecticut | resting_place = Woodland Cemetery | office = Member of the <br>U.S. House of Representatives <br>from Connecticut's 4th district | term_start1 = November 6, 1917 | term_end1 = March 3, 1931 | term_start = March 4, 1933 | term_end = January 3, 1937 | predecessor1 = Ebenezer J. Hill | successor1 = William L. Tierney | predecessor = William L. Tierney | successor = Alfred N. Phillips | party = Republican | alma_mater = Yale College (1873)<br/>Columbia Law School (1876) | occupation = Banker | parents = Matthew F. Merritt<br>Mariah Shaw | spouse = {{marriage|Frances Hannah Hoyt<br>|1879|1943|reason=her death}} | children = 2, including Katharine | relatives = | signature = SchuylerMerrittSignature.jpg }}
'''Schuyler Merritt''' (December 16, 1853 – April 1, 1953) was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Connecticut's 4th congressional district from 1917 to 1931 and 1933 to 1937. He is the namesake of the Merritt Parkway.
== Early life == He was born in New York City, in 1853,<ref name="cong">{{cite web|title=MERRITT, Schuyler – Biographical Information|url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=M000663|website=bioguide.congress.gov|publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress|accessdate=2 May 2017}}</ref> the son of Matthew Franklin Merritt (1815–1896), a Connecticut State Senator, and Mariah Shaw Merritt. His father had also served in the Connecticut General Assembly. He moved with his parents to Stamford, Connecticut, in 1855. His maternal grandmother, Clarissa Hoyt, was descended from the original Hoyts who purchased Noroton Hill more than 300 years before.
Schuyler prepared for college at private schools in that city and graduated from Yale College in 1873 and from Columbia Law School in 1876.
==Career== In 1877, after graduation from Columbia Law, he joined Yale & Towne Manufacturing Company in the manufacture of locks and keys as an office assistant. He eventually rose to be secretary in 1878, general manager in 1890 and treasurer in 1898.<ref name="NYTObit1953"/> He was also involved in banking from 1877 until 1917.
=== Political career === In 1904, Merritt was member of the Connecticut constitutional convention that rewrote Connecticut's Constitution. From 1910 until 1916, he was a member of the Connecticut State Board of Education, and later, a delegate to the 1916 Republican National Convention.
He was elected as a Republican to the Sixty-fifth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Ebenezer J. Hill. Merritt was reelected to the Sixty-sixth and to the five succeeding Congresses and served from November 6, 1917, to March 3, 1931.<ref name="cong"/> He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1930, but was again elected to the Seventy-third and Seventy-fourth Congresses, serving from March 4, 1933, until January 3, 1937.<ref name="cong"/> During his time in the House, he served alongside Rep. Matthew Merritt, of New York, who shared a last name, causing some papers to misreport their votes on certain bills.<ref name="2Merritts">{{cite news|title=Two Merritts Mixed in Poll.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1935/03/27/archives/two-merritts-mixed-in-poll.html|accessdate=2 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=27 March 1935}}</ref> In 1936, Merritt again ran for reelection to the Seventy-fifth Congress, but was not elected, losing to Alfred N. Phillips.
While in Congress, he served on the Interstate Commerce Committee<ref name="1919Legislation">{{cite news|title=THE RAILWAY LEGISLATION.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1919/11/24/archives/the-railway-legislation.html|accessdate=2 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=24 November 1919}}</ref> and was known for his opposition to the Eighteenth Amendment, prohibiting liquors,<ref name="1928RepubSpeech">{{cite news |title=WET SPEECH STIRS NUTMEG REPUBLICANS; {{!}} Merritt, Convention Keynoter, Agrees With Smith, but Says Hoover Has Best Solution. {{!}} WOULD CURB DRY AGENTS {{!}} Representative Calls New York Executive Provincial--Says He Has Trebled State Debt. Would Repeal Dry Law. Attacks Prohibition Agents.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1928/09/07/archives/wet-speech-stirs-nutmeg-republicans-merritt-convention-keynoter.html|accessdate=2 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=7 September 1928}}</ref> and his opposition to the New Deal program for stock market controls.<ref name="1934Legislation">{{cite news|title=HOUSE CLEARS PATH FOR EXCHANGE BILL; Measure Will Be Called Up on Monday Under Rule for Seven Hours' Debate. OPEN TO ANY AMENDMENT Rayburn's Report Argues for Trade Commission Control -One Minority Objector.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1934/04/28/archives/house-clears-path-for-exchange-bill-measure-will-be-called-up-on.html|accessdate=2 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=28 April 1934}}</ref><ref name="NYTObit1953"/>
===Later career=== After leaving Congress, he returned to the Yale & Towne Manufacturing Company, where he was chairman of the board from 1924 until 1932, and retired as a director in 1947.<ref name="Higgins2009">{{cite web|last1=Higgins|first1=Lisetta Neukam|title=Biography of Schuyler Merritt|url=http://www.stamfordhistory.org/sh_merritt.htm|website=The Stamford Historian|publisher=The Stamford Historical Society|volume=I|number=1|accessdate=2 May 2017|date=March 1954}}</ref><ref name="1947Retirement">{{cite news|title=70 YEARS ON THE JOB, INDUSTRIALIST QUITS|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1947/09/25/archives/70-years-on-the-job-industrialist-quits.html|accessdate=2 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=25 September 1947}}</ref> He was an officer of the First Stamford National Bank, since 1902, served as board chairman.<ref name="NYTObit1953"/> He was also a vice president of the Stamford Gas and Electric Company.<ref name="NYTObit1953"/>
Merritt was recognized in 1951 and 1952 as the oldest living Yale graduate and the sole survivor of the class of 1873. In 1935, Yale conferred the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws on him.<ref name="98Yale">{{cite news|title=SCHUYLER MERRITT IS 98; Oldest Yale Graduate Observes Birthday in Stamford Today|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1951/12/16/archives/schuyler-merritt-is-98-oldest-yale-graduate-observes-birthday-in.html|accessdate=2 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=16 December 1951}}</ref><ref name="Yale99">{{cite news|title=MERRITT IS 99 TODAY; Banker for Whom Parkway Was Named to Mark Birthday|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1952/12/16/archives/merritt-is-99-today-banker-for-whom-parkway-was-named-to-mark.html|accessdate=2 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=16 December 1952}}</ref>
==Personal life== On October 21, 1879, Merritt married Frances Hannah Hoyt (1850–1943), the daughter of Stamford multimillionaire Joseph Blachley Hoyt (1812–1889)<ref name="HoytWill1891">{{cite news|last1=Merritt|first1=Schuyler|title=MR. MERRITT'S STATEMENT.; WHAT HE HAS TO SAY ABOUT THE FAYERWEATHER AND HOYT WILLS.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1891/01/10/archives/mr-merritts-statement-what-he-has-to-say-about-the-fayerweather-and.html|accessdate=2 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=10 January 1891}}</ref> and Catherine Krom (1816–1862), and the niece of Oliver Hoyt (1823–1887), a Connecticut State Senator.<ref name="57YearAnniv1936">{{cite news|title=SCHUYLER MERRITTS MARRIED 57 YEARS; Representative and His Wife Mark Anniversary Quietly at Their Home in Stamford.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1936/10/23/archives/schuyler-merritts-married-57-years-representative-and-his-wife-mark.html|accessdate=2 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=23 October 1936}}</ref> Together, they were the parents of:
* Louise Hoyt Merritt (1880–1956), who married William B. Dalton,<ref name="NYTObit1956">{{cite news|title=MRS. WILLIAM DALTON|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1956/11/18/archives/mrs-william-dalton.html|accessdate=2 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=18 November 1956}}</ref> and was a friend of Adelaide Crapsey<ref name="Alkalay-Gut2008">{{cite book|last1=Alkalay-Gut|first1=Karen|title=Alone in the Dawn: The Life of Adelaide Crapsey|date=September 1, 2008|publisher=University of Georgia Press|isbn=9780820332130|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=glTvjntIWBkC&q=Louise+Merritt+Dalton&pg=PA183|accessdate=2 May 2017|language=en}}</ref> * Katharine Krom Merritt (1886–1986), a pediatrician and co-founder of Family and Children's Service.<ref name="KKMObit1986">{{cite news|title=Dr. Katharine Krom Merritt, Charity Branch Founder, Dies|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/08/09/obituaries/dr-katharine-krom-merritt-charity-branch-founder-dies.html|accessdate=2 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=9 August 1986}}</ref>
Merritt was a mentor to his niece, Joyce Porter Arneill, who would go on to found the National Federation of Republican Women in 1938 and become an RNC delegate for the 1940 presidential election. Arneill was credited with getting many American women involved in politics in the 1930s and 1940s <ref name=federation>{{cite web |url=http://cfrwhistory.blogspot.com/2010/10/our-first-president.html|title= Our First President|publisher= Colorado Federation of Republican Women |author=|date=10 October 2010|access-date=12 November 2019 }}</ref>
Merritt died in Stamford on April 1, 1953, at the age of 99.<ref name="NYTObit1953">{{cite news|title=SCHUYLER MERRITT DEAD IN STAMFORD {{!}} Banker, 99, Oldest Graduate of Yale, Parkway Creator Was in Congress Nine Terms|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1953/04/02/archives/ghtjer-m-dead-in-stamford-banker-99-oldest-graduat-of-yale-parkway.html|accessdate=2 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=2 April 1953}}</ref> He was buried in Woodland Cemetery.<ref name="cong"/><ref name="Rites1953">{{cite news|title=MERRITT RITES HELD; Former Associates at Service for Connecticut Leader|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1953/04/05/archives/merritt-rites-held-former-associates-at-service-for-connecticut.html|accessdate=2 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=5 April 1953}}</ref><ref name="Will1953">{{cite news|title=Merritt's Will Up for Probate|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1953/04/15/archives/merritts-will-up-for-probate.html|accessdate=2 May 2017|work=The New York Times|date=15 April 1953}}</ref>
===Honors=== The Merritt Parkway, finished on September 2, 1940, in southern Connecticut was named in his honor and his daughter Louise cut the ribbon.<ref name="Heiss2014">{{cite book|last1=Heiss|first1=Laurie|last2=Smyth|first2=Jill|title=The Merritt Parkway: The Road that Shaped a Region|date=October 21, 2014|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=9781625851666|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qa6ACQAAQBAJ&q=Louise+Merritt+Dalton&pg=PT56|accessdate=2 May 2017|language=en}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{CongBio|M000663}} * [http://www.cslib.org/stamford/sh_merritt.htm Stamford Historical Society article on Merritt] * [https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/npc2008001936/ Schuyler Merritt in the Library of Congress]
{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box |state=Connecticut |district=4 |before=Ebenezer J. Hill |years=1917–1931 |after=William L. Tierney }} {{US House succession box |state=Connecticut |district=4 |before=William L. Tierney |years=1933–1937 |after=Alfred N. Phillips }} {{s-hon}} {{s-bef|before=Charles Manly Stedman}} {{s-ttl|title=Oldest member of the U.S. House of Representatives|years=1930–1931}} {{s-aft|after=Clement C. Dickinson}} {{s-bef|before=Clement C. Dickinson}} {{s-ttl|title=Oldest member of the U.S. House of Representatives|years=1935–1937}} {{s-aft|after=Walter M. Pierce}} {{s-end}}
{{United States representatives from Connecticut}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Merritt, Schuyler}} Category:1853 births Category:1953 deaths Category:Columbia Law School alumni Category:Connecticut State Board of Education members Category:Politicians from New York City Category:Politicians from Stamford, Connecticut Category:Yale College alumni Category:Republican Party United States representatives from Connecticut Category:20th-century United States representatives