Deputy U.S. Marshal John Nathaniel Merritt

John Nathaniel Merritt

Deputy U.S. Marshal John Merritt was shot and killed in Lula, Georgia, while speaking to the owner of a local distillery.

Deputy Marshal Merritt had accompanied a raiding party of other deputy marshals and Internal Revenue deputy collectors in search of illegal distilleries in Banks County. They were unable to find any illegal activity and returned to Lula to catch the passenger train south. They were in a local restaurant across the tracks from the railroad depot when the distillery owner entered and asked to speak to Deputy Marshal Merritt outside.

The man shot Deputy Marshal Merritt immediately upon exiting the restaurant and then fled. He remained at large for several years until being arrested in Texas in 1889. He was acquitted of Deputy Marshal Merritt's murder in 1890.

Deputy Marshal Merritt was a United States Civil War veteran and had served with the United States Marshals Service for only three months. He was survived by his wife and children, as well as his parents and four siblings.

He is buried in Oak Grove Baptist Church Cemetery in Gainsville, Hall County, Georgia.