Return J. Meigs Sr.
Return Jonathan Meigs (December 28, 1740 – January 28, 1823)[a] was a colonel in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and an early settler of the Northwest Territory. He also served as an Indian agent working with the Cherokee in East Tennessee.
Early life
Meigs was born in
American Revolutionary War
Meigs served in the local militia, achieving the rank of lieutenant in 1772 and promoted to captain in 1774.
After Meigs was formally exchanged on January 10, 1777, he returned to active service as major of the 3rd Connecticut Regiment of the newly organized Connecticut Line. Meigs was appointed lieutenant colonel of Sherburne's Additional Continental Regiment on February 10, 1777. On May 12 he was sent to command the 6th Connecticut Regiment when its colonel, William Douglas, became incapacitated by ill health.
One of his most important achievements during the war was leading the
When a corps of light infantry was formed under General Anthony Wayne in July 1779, Meigs was given command of its 3rd Regiment, which he led at the Battle of Stony Point.[3][5] Following its disbandment in December, he returned to the 6th Connecticut and became acting commander of the 1st Connecticut Brigade. In that capacity, he put down an incipient mutiny and received the written thanks of General George Washington. In January 1781 the Continental Army was reorganized, and many of its regiments were consolidated. As a result, the Connecticut Line was reduced from eight to five regiments; four colonels, including Meigs, were retired.
Northwest Territory
After the Revolutionary War, Meigs was appointed surveyor of the Ohio Company of Associates. In April 1788, at age 47, he was one of a party of pioneers to the Northwest Territory from New England. They reached the confluence of the Muskingum and Ohio rivers, where he participated in the founding of Marietta, Ohio. Meigs drafted the code of regulations used for governance until the formal creation of the Northwest Territory the following year.[2][8][9]
Subsequently, he entered political life, being appointed as a territorial judge, a justice of the peace, and clerk of the Court of Quarter Sessions. In 1795, he served the army under General Anthony Wayne, as a commissary of clothing in the western country. In 1799, Meigs was elected as a member of the Ohio territorial legislature, serving until 1801.[2]
Indian agent
In 1801, Meigs went to Tennessee to fill the combined position of US
Meigs' role as military agent ended in 1813 when the Federal soldiers stationed at Hiwassee Garrison were withdrawn. He continued as Cherokee agent on the Hiwassee River until his death on January 28, 1823. The government's trading or factory operations were linked with Indian relations in the War Department during these years. As Cherokee agent, Meigs promoted the well-being of the Cherokee, defended their rights in treaty negotiations, and encouraged Cherokee efforts to establish a republican form of government.[7] His death was attributed to pneumonia contracted from sleeping outdoors in a tent while giving a visiting Indian chief his own living quarters.[2]
Meigs is buried in the Garrison Cemetery in Rhea County, Tennessee, near the site of the former Hiwassee Garrison.[7]
Legacy
His son
Two Tennessee place names honor Meigs: Meigs County, which was formed in 1836 from part of Rhea County, and Meigs Mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains.[7]
Notes
References
- ^ William M. Meigs, Life of Josiah Meigs Archived February 11, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Philadelphia (J.P. Murphy, printer), 1887. pp. 4-5.
- ^ a b c d e f g Ward, Harry M. (February 2000). "Meigs, Return Jonathan". American National Biography Online. Retrieved April 14, 2014.
- ^ a b c The Magazine of American History with Notes and Queries, by John Austin Stevens, Benjamin Franklin DeCosta, Martha Joanna Lamb, Henry Phelps Johnston, Nathan Gillett Pond, William Abbatt. A.S. Barnes and Company, 1880. Vol. IV, pages 282-292. Scanned by https://books.google.com/.
- ^ "The Biography Return Jonathan Meigs Sr. and Return J. Meigs Jr". Archived from the original on July 18, 2007. Retrieved December 11, 2007.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link), TNGenNet Inc. TNGenWeb Project, Autobiographies, Biographies, and Diaries of Our Ancestors; archived July 18, 2007 - ^ a b "Return Jonathan Meigs", Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography, edited by James Grant Wilson and John Fiske. Six volumes, New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1887-1889, accessed March 9, 2006
- ^ "Sag Harbor: A Port Bigger Than New York", Newsday - Our Town series]
- ^ The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture. Retrieved December 1, 2007.
- ^ Ohio Fundamental Documents Return J. Meigs, Jr. Biography Archived February 5, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Return Jonathan Meigs surveyor's field notes" Archived July 19, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, Marietta College Library, Manuscripts and Documents of the Ohio Company of Associates Collection, accessed April 4, 2009
- ^ Emmet Starr (1922), History of the Cherokee Indians and their legends and folk lore