Matthew Joseph Merritt was an American politician from New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

.

Life

He attended the public and high schools, and during the First World War served in 1918 as a sergeant in Company C, Three Hundred and Twenty-seventh Battalion, Tank Corps. He engaged in the real estate and insurance business in New York City from 1926 to 1933, and served with the New York loan agency of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation

Reconstruction Finance Corporation

The Reconstruction Finance Corporation was an independent agency of the United States government, established and chartered by the US Congress in 1932, Act of January 22, 1932, c. 8, 47 Stat. 5, during the administration of President Herbert Hoover. It was modeled after the War Finance Corporation...

 in 1933 and 1934.

In 1934, 1936, 1938, 1940

New York state election, 1940

The 1940 New York state election was held on November 5, 1940, to elect three judges of the New York Court of Appeals, a U.S. Senator and two U.S Representatives-at-large, as well as all members of the New York State Assembly and the New York State Senate....

 and 1942, Merritt was elected at-large

New York's At-large congressional district

Briefly from 1873 to 1875, and 1883-1885 with one representative respectively, and again from 1933 through 1945, after New York was apportioned two extra seats in the United States House of Representatives, the state elected representatives at-large, instead of from districts...

 as a Democrat to the 74th

74th United States Congress

-House:Also 2 Delegates, 3 Resident Commissioners-Senate:*President of the Senate: John N. Garner *President pro tempore: Key Pittman -Majority leadership:*Majority leader: Joseph T. Robinson...

, 75th

75th United States Congress

The Seventy-fifth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1937 to January 3, 1939, during the first two years...

, 76th

76th United States Congress

The Seventy-sixth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1939 to January 3, 1941, during the seventh and...

, 77th

77th United States Congress

-Major events:* December 7, 1941: Attack on Pearl Harbor* December 8, 1941: Joint Session of Congress met to hear President Roosevelt deliver his "Day of Infamy" speech...

 and 78th United States Congress

78th United States Congress

The Seventy-eighth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1943 to January 3, 1945, during the last two years...

es, holding office from January 3, 1935, to January 3, 1945. Afterwards he resumed his engagements in the real estate and insurance business in New York City.

He was buried at the Mount St. Mary's Cemetery in Whitestone, New York.