Wyoming Supreme Court 1890-1893
Homer Merrell was born in Pittsford, New York on October 2, 1845. After serving in the Civil War as a soldier and a military correspondent, he moved to Philadelphia and engaged in the mercantile business. He later moved to Chicago where he studied law and carried on a real estate business. Following the Great Fire of 1871, Merrell moved to Laramie and later Rawlins, Wyoming. He built a large practice and invested in real estate. He was also county and prosecuting attorney, US commissioner at the Louisiana Exposition, and president of the Rawlins Board of Trade. While running for the US Senate, he was appointed to the Supreme Court on November 24, 1890 to fill the vacancy left by Chief Justice Willis Van Devanter. He resigned on January 2, 1893 and returned to Rawlins. In 1905, he married Gertrude Huntington, one of the first female newspaper editors in Wyoming.
In March 1911, Merrell suffered a stroke and never fully recovered. He was soon committed to the State Hospital where he died on January 18, 1916.
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