Edward Munroe Merriman, born on June 11, 1843, in Auburn, N.Y., graduated from West Point in 1867 and served in the First Regular Artillery until 1871. Moving to Arkansas in 1871, he became the oldest resident of Conway. Merriman held various positions including postmaster, mayor of Conway, justice of the peace, and county court judge in Faulkner County. He married Matilda Menkus in 1873, and they had one daughter, Mary Adams. Merriman, a direct descendant of President John Quincy Adams, was instrumental in creating Faulkner County and practiced law from 1886. He was a lifelong Democrat.
Edward Munroe Merriman was born in Auburn, N.Y., on June 11, 1843. He entered West Point Military Academy from the State of New York in 1863 and graduated in 1867. Afterward, he served in the United States Army as an officer of the First Regular Artillery until 1871 when he took advantage of an act of Congress, which mustered out officers with one year’s pay and allowances. His service was primarily in the New York harbor, at the city of New Orleans, and on the Kansas frontier, protecting settlers in the latter locality against raids by the Sioux and Cheyenne Indians.
Mr. Merriman came to Arkansas on July 4, 1871, and settled at the point where the town of Conway is now located, being the oldest resident of that place. In 1873, he was appointed postmaster, and the following year was commissioned first lieutenant of the Arkansas State Guards during the Brooks-Baxter trouble. He was elected mayor of Conway in 1876 and was the second official in that capacity of the town. He was first appointed justice of the peace in 1873 and in 1879 was again elected to that office, occupying the position until 1882 when he was elected judge of the county court in Faulkner County by the Democratic Party. On September 6, 1884, and September 6, 1886, he was re-elected to the same office and served until 1888.
Mr. Merriman is a direct descendant of President John Quincy Adams on his mother’s side and is the youngest of three children born to Corydon H. and Mary (Adams) Merriman of New York. The former was a prominent figure in the early history of that state and, in later life, president of the First National Bank of Auburn, N.Y., with which he had been connected for over fifty years. The elder Merriman was a great friend of the Hon. W. H. Seward, whose death occurred at Auburn in 1876. Of the Merriman family yet remaining, Truman Adams resides in New York City and is a journalist by profession, being connected with Mr. Dana’s staff on the New York Sun. He was a prominent and brilliant Democratic politician at one time and served as a member of Congress for six years. Corydon also resides in New York City, where he was formerly engaged in banking but is now representing the interests of a New York millionaire.
Edward Munroe Merriman was married in Conway on September 6, 1873, to Miss Matilda Menkus, a native of Prussia, who came to this country with a brother, and is a daughter of Sidney and Elizabeth Menkus of the same place. Mrs. Merriman’s father died in Prussia, and the mother came to the United States some time afterward, and is now residing in Little Rock, Ark. One child has been given to Mr. and Mrs. Merriman, a daughter named Mary Adams (born in 1874).
Mr. Merriman was one of the originators and helped to pass the law creating Faulkner County. Having resided here from its infancy to its present grand development, he has taken an active part in promoting its interests and welfare, and a good part of its prosperity is due to the efforts of himself and a few other leading spirits. He has been practicing law since 1886 and has established an enviable reputation in that profession. He has always been a Democrat in politics.