McNAIRY COUNTY, TN - BIOGRAPHIES - General John H. Meeks ============================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping, with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic Pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Douglas H. Prather douglas-memphis@worldnet.att.net =============================================================== GENERAL JOHN H. MEEKS McNairy County Independent December 21, 1923 Just the year before the battle of New Orleans, when Old Hickory won imperishable glory by vanquishing the British on that memorable 8th day of January, 1815, there was born in a middle Tennessee county, one who was destined to become a leader of men and thought, a distinguished citizen, a great and good man. In the year 1814, John H. Meeks was born in Lincoln County, Tennessee. He was the son of John and Elizabeth Meeks, who had come from that place in North Carolina, from whence have come so many of the early settlers of this and other counties in West Tennessee --Pendleton district. The subject of this sketch was reared by his grand-parents, Capt. John Henderson and wife, his mother having died when he was an infant. His grandfather on the maternal side was a gallant soldier in the Revolutionary war. In early life he had gone with his grand-parents to Alabama, but was first in McNairy county a year or two after that, and settled in the county. His father was born in 1783, six years before the adoption of the Federal constitution. He died in 1877, in McNairy county. In 1841, Gen. Meeks was married to a daughter of another North Carolina family, his wife being Ellen Atkins, a daughter of George and Martha Atkins. His wife came to this county with her parents about the time that her husband first came to the county. To this union eight children were born, only three of whom are now living. Hon. M. H. Meeks, of Nashville, and one of the foremost lawyers of the state, Mrs. N. D. Erwin, of Stantonville, and Mrs. Mattie Johnson, of Henderson. He was the father of Elder R. P. Meeks, for many years one of the strongest preachers in the Christian church, another son, George, was circuit court clerk at the time of his death, John, another son, was killed during the civil war. Gen. Meeks located on the farm now occupied by his son-in-law, N. D. Erwin, about the year 1851, and resided there continuously until his death in the year 1898. His wife had died some two years before, she being at the time of her death 76 years of age. From the very first, Gen. Meeks showed his ability; and manifested in all his dealings the great strength of character that possessed him. He became a leader in the community, and was in the forefront in all movements that had for their purpose the up building of the county. He was leader in church affairs, and was also one in the political life of the county and this section. He was chosen as the representative of the county, being elected in 1848, 1850 and 1852. He was the first democratic representative from the county, and refused the democratic nomination many times thereafter. In 1870 he was elected a delegate to the constitutional convention, and was member of that body of such learned and distinguished men, who on the 23th day of February, 1870, signed the third organic law for the state of Tennessee. When Andrew Jackson was president of the United States, Gen. Meeks cast his first vote for president for Hugh Lawson White. This was just before the retirement of Old Hickory, and in that election Martin Van Buren became his successor. He was a voter during the administrations of Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, Wm. Henry Harrison, John Tyler, Millard Filmore, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, U. S. Grant, R. B. Hayes, James A Garfield, Chester A. Arthur, Grover Cleveland and Wm. McKinley. These historical facts are mentioned that you may get an idea of the times in which the subject of this sketch was an active participant in all the things that agitated the public mind for more than a half century. He lived in the days when, the immortal, triumverate, Clay, Webster and Calhoun were in their vigor, and when the great question of the Missouri Compromise. the Kansas-Nebraska bill, the compromise of 1850, and the all absorbing topic of slavery was being discussed everywhere. When the great civil war, swept in all of its internecine fury, every section to this country, Gen. Meeks was not then 50 years of age. He gave a son to the Confederate army, who fell mortally wounded on the battle field in 1864. He was with -???????-brave and dashing -?????? - Saddle, Nathan Bedford Forrest. During his long and eventful life he lived a model citizen. He was patriotic, kind and generous, open, frank, and with an unfaltering faith in God, and in his fellow man. He believed in the Golden Rule, and practiced it. He recognized that eternal principal of the brotherhood of man, and the Fatherhood of God. He trusted men; they trusted him. He practiced no deceit, and was happy in serving mankind. Left an orphan at an early age, he struggled and won in the battles of life by sheer force of character. His life is a shining example of what can be accomplished by any boy who has courage and character. During his day Gen. Meeks was known far and wide for his many generous deeds. The widows and the orphans shared his bounty in the community in which he lived. He was a most knightly man, a gentleman of the old school. The people knew him and they had faith in him. Devoted to his church, and to his family, to his county, and to his state, he made this world better for having lived in it. He was a Master Mason, and in his daily life exemplified the principals of tha ancient order, and after all it is the character of lives like that of Gen. Meeks, that has enabled this order to survive the revolutions of time and whose teachings have challenged the admiration of the world in all the centuries of the past. The ashes of this noble citizen mingle with the dust of his people in the old Clear Creek burying ground, and his tomb is the shrine before which his children and his children's children and those who revere the memory off so great and good a man, will bow in solemn reverence. ********************** REMINISCENCES of the EARLY SETTLEMENT and EARLY SETTLERS of McNairy County, Tennessee by GEN. MARCUS J. WRIGHT Page 65 and 66 Sketch of General John H. Meeks Gen. Meeks' family was of English origin. The family in this country descended from two brothers, Littleton and Nacy. who settled in South Carolina. Both of them were Baptist preachers, and were regarded as very able, as well as pious and good men. General John H. Meeks is the grandson of the eldest of these brothers, Littleton Meeks, and the son of the eldest child of his grandfather. His father moved at an early day to Georgia, and there married the eldest daughter of Capt. John Henderson, an officer in the Revolutionary army. The subject of this sketch was named John Henderson in honor of his grandfather, by whom he was taken from infancy and brought up, his mother having died soon after his birth. There were two other brothers, Thomas Harvey and Felix Grundy Meeks, both of whom died in Lincoln county, Tenn., to which county the family had moved in 1811. Gen. Meeks' father married a second time, by which there were several children, among whom was Col. Orville S. Meeks, so well known and highly respected in McNairy county. The elder Meeks moved to McNairy county in the fall of 1844, and died in March, 1877, being about ninety years of age at the time of his death. He was a man who had the universal confidence and respect of his neighbors and acquaintances, his whole life being one of good example, and strict adherence to principle. He was for fifty years a member of the old Baptist Church. Gen. Meeks was born in Lincoln county, Tenn., on the 27th day of September, 1814, and, as before stated, was brought up by his grandfather, Capt. John Henderson, who moved to Alabama in February, 1820, from whence he moved to McNairy county in 1830, settling on Oxford Creek, where his young grandson, with the aid of some negroes, cleared up some land and made a crop of corn. The old Captain remained at his Oxford Creek home until February 20, 1840, when he died, making John the executor of his will. In 1836 and soon after the adoption of the Constitution of 1834, Mr. Meeks was elected major of the Second Battalion of the 108th Regiment Tennessee Militia, an office in those days of great honor, but no pecuniary profit. Two years subsequently he was elected colonel of the regiment. and was afterwards elected brigadier-general. In 1840 he was appointed Deputy United States Marshal for McNairy county, and had charge of the census taken that year. In 1843 Col. Meeks was the Democratic candidate for representative in the General Assembly from McNairy county, but was defeated by Matt. A. Trice, the Wig candidate, by a strict party vote, the majority of the successful candidate being 14 votes. In 1845 he again the candidate of his party for the same position, and was defeated by his warm personal friend, James Warren, by 50 votes. He was in 1849 for the third time renominated by the Democrats, and elected by 133 votes, and re-elected in 1851 by 116 votes. In the canvass of 1849 Col. Meeks took ground in favor of the Homestead law, and was probably the first man in the State who ever publicly advocated that just and popular measure. In 1853 the nomination was again tendered him, but he declined, and John V. Wright was nominated, and defeated by one vote -- that vote being cast by his opponent. The Democrats of the senatorial district, composed of the counties of Hardeman, Hardin and McNairy, this year nominated Gen. Meeks for the State Senate, but he declined and nomination. Gen. Meeks passed his time quietly at home up to the beginning of the war. Two of his sons entered the Confederate army, and his residence being in the neighborhood of Shiloh Church after the great battle fought there in April, 1862, he was subjected to many annoyances and losses, and would have lost his life but for the interference of Gen. Grant. In December, 1869, he again entered public life, this time being elected by an overwhelming majority as delegate from his county to the Constitutional Convention. Since then he has devoted himself to home affairs, withdrawing entirely from political or public life. Gen. Meeks' wife was Miss Eleanor Atkins, whom he married in 1841, by whom he has a large family of children, all of whom are promising and highly respected, and some of whom occupy important places of trust. One of his sons, George L. Meeks, who married Mary McKinney, and died a few years since, was Clerk of the Circuit Court of McNairy county, and Marcus H. Meeks's the present Attorney General of the Judicial District, in which McNairy county is situated, and is a man of marked ability. The Goodspeed History of Tennessee, McNairy County Pages 875 and 876 Gen. John H. Meeks, one of the most influential citizens and leading farmer of McNairy County, was born in Lincoln County, Tenn. in 1814, was the youngest of three son and the only one now living. His parents were John and Elizabeth (Henderson) Meeks,both natives of Pendleton District , S. C. The father was born in 1783, He was well educated, married the first time in 1810 to the mother of John H., and after her death made a second marriage in 1819 with Elizabeth Lane, by whom he bad six children. In 1811 be moved to Lincoln County, and engaged in farming until 1844, when he located in McNairy Co., and there resided up to the time of his death, which occurred In 1877. The mother was a daughter of Capt. John Henderson, a gallant and noted man of Revolutionary fame. Mrs. Meeks died in October, 1814. when the subject of this sketch was but a Infant; he was taken by his grandfather, Capt. Henderson whom he remained until manhood. He received liberal literary and business education, and spent the time from 1835 to 1838 as a teacher, in which capacity be proved most efficient. Since the latter date he has been tilling the soil, either carrying it on himself or having it done by others. In 1830 he was sent by Capt. Henderson to McNairy County, to take charge of a number of men and raise a crop, after which he returned to Alabama, his grandparents having moved there in his childhood. In 1832 they settled in McNairy County. January, 1841, John H. was married to Ellen, daughter of George and Martha Atkins; she was born in Rockingham County, N. C., and came to McNairy County with her parents in 1832 . To them were born eight children, only two sons and two daughters are living. Martha, E. wife. of F. A. Johnson, of Dyer County; Elder Rufus P., an earnest and influential minister of the Christian Church, residing at Jackson, Tenn.; Marcus Henry, a leading attorney at law of Jackson, Tenn., and Zilpah, wife of W. D. Erwin, a prominent merchant of Falcon. Gen. Meeks has been living on his present farm since 1851; it is twelve miles east from Falcon, extends over 600 acres of the county's most productive soil, which is highly cultivated and improved; the dwelling-house is one of the most elegant and well arranged in the country. He also owns about 800 acres of Tennessee River bottom land in Hardin Couuty, which is very valuable. The General is a half-brother to Orvil L. Meeks, of same county. He is a man of unusual strength of mind, a keen financier, and of indisputable integrity; is an ardent advocate of universal education,and gives liberallly to all charitable and religious institutions. He has always been a staunch Democrat-the recognized leader of that party in McNairy County, having held various responsible and prominent positions. His public career began In 1849, when he represented his county in the Lower House of the State legislature, being the first Democrat representative from McNairy County; he was reelected in 1851; was nominated several times after ward, but declined further election. In 1855 be was offered the nomination for congressman in his congressional district, but positively declined. He was a member of the constitu- tional convention of 1870. His first presidential vote was cast for Hugh L. White in 1836 He has been a Mason of good standing and prominence since 1848. The entire family are members of the Christian Church. He received the title of general from the militia votes of both Hardeman and McNairy Counties; was not a soldier in the late war, but had two sons who fought bravely in defense of the lost cause. The elder of these, under the command of Gen. Forrest, fell, mortally wounded, in 1864. Gen. Meeks earnestly opposed the first action of the South in bringing about secession, but, finally, when the war was forced on the Southern, be was afterward an ardent supporter of the lost cause.