My Genealogy Hound

Below is a family biography included in The History of East Tennessee published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1887.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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John M. Meek, a prosperous farmer, was born on the old homestead of his grandfather in Jefferson County, January 2, 1838. He is the son of Adam K. and Elizabeth (Childers) Meek. Adam, Sr., the grandfather, was a native of Ireland, of Scotch-Irish blood, and among those early men of Mecklenburg, N. C, who originated the famous Mecklenburg Resolutions, the first declaration of independence of any American people. He was a lieutenant in the Revolution, and after the close of the war, he was the first settler in Jefferson County who built a house. He was also a Government surveyor, and after the close of a useful life his body was laid in Strawberry Plains Cemetery. Adam K., the father, is a successful farmer, and was one, in the Seminole war times, who organized a company, but was mustered out before reaching the field. He is now an old and respected citizen of Jefferson County. His mother Elizabeth (Childers) Meek, was born in Yancey County, near Mecklenburg, N. C, and came to East Tennessee, when quite young, with her father’s family, after the close of the war of Independence. Our subject, the youngest but one of four sons and six daughters, was reared on the farm, and when seventeen he entered and in 1858 graduated from the college at Strawberry Plains. In September, 1859, he married Elizabeth J., a daughter of Maj. Gaines McMillan, of Knox County, Tenn. Of their six sons and five daughters, two of the former and one of the latter are deceased. Alexander K., John L., Gaines M., Dan W., Mary E., Margaret B., Nellie B. and Bertha C. are living. He was at home two years of the civil war, and succeeded in avoiding the Confederate conscript by enlisting in the Federal Army, as scout, guide, etc., and was mustered out at the close with a captain’s commission. He had studied law thoroughly, and after the war was admitted to the Jefferson County bar. In 1876 his farm caused him to withdraw from practice, and he now cultivates about 300 acres of his 500-acre farm, which lies near Strawberry Plains, and is known as Fancy Meadows Stock Farm, and is crossed by the East Tennessee, Virginia & Georgia Railroad. He has been active in public affairs, and for three years was secretary, and two years president, of the East Tennessee Farmers’ Convention. He is an active Republican, and has been a prominent party worker since the war. He is an elder in the Presbyterian Church, of which church his devoted wife, who died August 10, 1886, was a member, as are also all his children except the youngest.

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This family biography is one of 938 biographies included in The History of East Tennessee published in 1887.  For the complete description, click here: History of East Tennessee

To view additional Jefferson County, Tennessee family biographies, click here

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