H. T. Meacham Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1805-1806 in "History of South 
	Dakota" by Doane Robinson, Vol. II (1904) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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	H. T. MEACHAM, one of the leading merchants of Gettysburg, Potter 
county, is a native of the beautiful Wolverine state, having been born 
in Adamsville, Cass county, Michigan, on the 19th of November, 1861, and 
being a son of G. A. and Helen M. Meacham, natives respectively of New 
York and Ohio. The father now resides in Adamsville, Michigan, where he 
has been engaged in farming for many years. The mother died in 1900. The 
subject was reared in his native town and there completed the curriculum 
of the public schools, being graduated in the high school at Elkhart, 
Indiana, as a member of the class of 1881, while he then put his 
scholastic acquirements to practical test and use by engaging in 
teaching, to which profession he gave his attention about three years. 
He then decided to try his fortunes in what is now South Dakota, whither 
he came in 1883, arriving in Gettysburg on the 29th of August. He 
entered claim to three hundred and twenty acres of government land seven 
miles south of the town, and remained on the same for a number of months 
and then returning to his home in Michigan for the winter. In the spring 
of 1884 he came once more to his claim, upon which he made improvements, 
placing a considerable portion of the land under cultivation and in due 
time perfecting his title. In the fall of 1884 he was elected county 
treasurer, on the Republican ticket, and the hold which he had gained 
upon popular confidence and esteem was shown in the fact that he was the 
only successful candidate on the ticket, while he also had the 
distinction of being the first county treasurer elected, his predecessor 
having been appointed at the time of the organization of the county and 
having served until the first general election provided regular 
incumbents for the various offices. Mr. Meacham gave a most able and 
satisfactory administration of the fiscal affairs of the county during 
the formative period, and was continued in the office for three 
successive terms, of two years each. Upon retiring from office he 
engaged in the real-estate business, to which he gave his attention 
until 1893, when he went to Chicago, Illinois, where he remained about 
two years, at the expiration of which he returned to Gettysburg and 
established himself in the general merchandise business, in which he has 
ever since successfully continued, controlling a large trade and having 
a select and comprehensive stock in the various departments.

	Mr. Meacham has taken a particularly active interest in public 
affairs of a local order and has been prominent in the councils of the 
Republican party contingent in the state. In 1896 he was a delegate to 
the national convention, in St. Louis, which nominated the late and 
lamented William McKinley for the presidency, and since that time he has 
served as a member of the Republican state central committee. 
Fraternally he is identified with Ionia Lodge, No. 83, Ancient Free and 
Accepted Masons, in Gettysburg, having been the first candidate 
initiated in the same; with Faulkton Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, and 
with Huron Lodge, No. 444, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, at 
Huron, South Dakota. Mr. Meacham is a bachelor.