North Carolina Museum of History

MERRIMON, Augustus Summerfield, (father-in-law of Lee Slater Overman), a Senator from North Carolina; born at “Cherryfields,” near Asheville, Buncombe County, N.C., September 15, 1830; received a limited education; studied law; admitted to the bar in 1852 and commenced practice in Asheville, N.C.; prosecuting attorney of Buncombe and other counties in western North Carolina; member, State house of commons 1860-1861; entered the Confederate Army upon the outbreak of the Civil War as a captain; resigned in the fall of 1861 to become solicitor for the eighth judicial district of North Carolina 1861-1865; judge of the superior court 1866-1867; settled in Raleigh, N.C., in 1867 and resumed the practice of law; declined to be a candidate for Governor of North Carolina in 1868; unsuccessful candidate for associate justice of the State supreme court in 1868; unsuccessful candidate for Governor of North Carolina in 1872; elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1873, to March 3, 1879; was not a candidate for renomination in 1878; resumed the practice of law at Raleigh, N.C.; associate judge of the supreme court of North Carolina 1883-1889; served as chief justice of the court from 1889 until his death in Raleigh, N.C., November 14, 1892; interment in Oakwood Cemetery.