Hubbard T. Meacham Biography


	This biography is from "Memorial and biographical record; an illustrated
 	compendium of biography, containing a compendium of local biography,
	including biographical sketches of prominent old settlers and 
	representative citizens of South Dakota..." Published by G. A. Ogle & 
	Co., Chicago, 1899. Pages 717-718

	Scan, OCR and editing by Maurice Krueger,mkrueger@iw.net, 1998. 

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HUBBARD T. MEACHAM, proprietor of one of the leading general stores of 
Gettysburg, Potter county, is one of the first settlers of that region, 
and has been closely identified with its growth and development, in a 
social as well as financial sense. He is a gentleman of pleasing 
personality, and has a host of friends who accord him the highest 
esteem. His property is the result of well directed labor and the 
strictest honesty, and he is one of the most prominent men of that 
locality. He has lent his influence for the upbuilding of his 
community, and to him is due in great measure the solid prosperity of 
that region. 

Our subject was born in Adamsville, Cass county, Michigan, in 1861, and 
was the son of G. A. Meacham, a farmer by occupation. The family 
descended from an English family and came to America before the 
Revolutionary war. The mother of our subject, who bore the maiden name 
of Helen Thomas, was of English and Welch descent, and the daughter of 
J. H. Thomas, a farmer, who settled in Michigan. Her family have been 
in America many generations. 

Our subject was the second in a family of five children and was raised 
on a farm. He received the advantages of the district schools and 
graduated from the Elkhart, Indiana, high school. He was engaged in 
teaching about two years in Michigan, after which he went to 
Gettysburg, Potter county, South Dakota, in August, 1883. He took a 
homestead and tree claim and erected a board shanty, 8 x 12 feet, on 
section 26, township 117, range 76, and lived the life of a bachelor 
the first summer. Later he formed a partnership with I. J. Eales, under 
the firm name of Eales & Meacham Abstract Company, and did a general 
land and real estate business. He disposed of his interests in 1893 and 
went to Chicago, where he took the management of G. W. Todd's grocery 
house. He returned to Gettysburg in December, 1894, and, in company 
with C. W. Dean, purchased L. Tillotson's general store, in which 
business our subject has since been engaged. The store was established 
about 1887 by Mr. Tillotson and is now one of the largest general 
stores in the city. Aside from his mercantile interests, Mr. Meacham is 
interested in country real estate. The city was platted in the spring 
of 1883 and our subject became a resident there the following August, 
since which time he has been closely identified with its growth. He was 
elected treasurer of Potter county in the fall of 1884 on what was 
called the people's ticket, and the political parties were much split 
up at that time. He was the first treasurer to hold office in the 
county, and three subsequent times he was elected on the Republican 
ticket, serving altogether four terms. He is now a member of the 
township board of supervisors and takes an active part in local 
affairs. He is a Republican in political sentiment and is chairman of 
the Republican county central committee, and was a delegate to the 
Republican national convention at St. Louis in 1896. He is prominent in 
secret society circles and holds membership in the Knights of Pythias, 
the Modern Woodmen of America, and the Masonic fraternity and its 
auxiliary lodge, the Eastern Star, and in their social affairs he is a 
leader. He has a bright future in South Dakota.