Return Jonathan Meigs Jr. (; November 17, 1764 – March 29, 1825) was a

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party (also referred to by historians as the Republican Party or the Jeffersonian Republican Party), was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early 1790s. It championed l ...

politician from Ohio. He served as the fourth governor of Ohio, eighth

United States Postmaster General The United States postmaster general (PMG) is the chief executive officer of the United States Postal Service (USPS). The PMG is responsible for managing and directing the day-to-day operations of the agency. The PMG is selected and appointed by ...

, and as a

United States senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

Early life

Meigs was born in Middletown in the Colony of Connecticut on November 17, 1764. He was the son of Return J. Meigs Sr. and the descendant of early

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

settlers in Massachusetts. He graduated from

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in 1785 and studied law there. In 1788, after being admitted to the bar in Connecticut, he moved to

Marietta, Ohio Marietta is a city in Washington County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located in Appalachian Ohio, southeastern Ohio at the confluence of the Muskingum River, Muskingum and Ohio Rivers, northeast of Parkersburg, West Virginia ...

, where his father had been one of the first settlers, arriving earlier that year.

Career

In Marietta, Meigs was a lawyer, storekeeper and farmer, as well as serving in public offices. He was appointed the first court clerk for the court established at Marietta in 1788. When a post office was established in Marietta in 1794, he became its first postmaster. In 1798 he was named to a judgeship on the

Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from part of the unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolution. Established ...

's territorial court, and in 1799 he won election to the territorial legislature. In 1803 he was appointed the first chief justice of the Ohio State Supreme Court. In October 1804, he resigned this position to become commandant of U. S. troops in the St. Charles district of the Louisiana Territory. He attained the rank of Brevet

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

and retained the command until 1806. In 1805 he was chosen as judge of the Supreme Court of Louisiana and then in 1807, judge of the

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for the

Michigan Territory The Territory of Michigan was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 30, 1805, until January 26, 1837, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Michigan. Detroit ...

. He returned to Ohio in 1807 to run for governor. He won the election but was declared ineligible for failing to meet the residency requirements. He then was appointed to the U.S. Senate to finish the term of John Smith and was re-elected to his own term a year later. He resigned in late 1810 after winning the governorship. He served two two-year terms, resigning in April 1814 when appointed Postmaster general by President

James Madison James Madison (June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison was popularly acclaimed as the ...

. His service as Postmaster General was not without controversy. Congress investigated him twice, and he was cleared both times. The size of the Post Office doubled during his tenure, which implicated financial difficulties. He served until 1823, when he retired due to ill health and returned to Marietta. Meigs died March 29, 1825, and is buried in Marietta's Mound Cemetery. His grave is marked by a large monument bearing a long inscription reciting his public services and family devotion.

Family

Meigs was married in 1788 to Sophia Wright, and they had one child, a daughter named Mary who married congressman and federal Judge John George Jackson of Clarksburg, Virginia, in 1810. Return J. Meigs Jr. did not have a direct male heir, but two of his younger brothers, John and Timothy, each named a son Return Jonathan Meigs. The first of these—called —passed the bar in

Frankfort, Kentucky Frankfort is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city and the county seat, seat of Franklin County, Kentucky, Franklin County in the Upland Sou ...

, commenced law practice in Athens, Tennessee, and became prominent in Tennessee state affairs before the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. He moved to Staten Island, New York, however, at the time of Tennessee's secession from the Union in 1861. Among those men who read law under his tutelage in Tennessee was William Parish Chilton who would become Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. Timothy's son, Return J. Meigs IV, married Jennie Ross, daughter of principal Cherokee chief John Ross, and emigrated to Oklahoma on the Trail of Tears.

Legacy

Meigs County, Ohio, is named in his honor. ( Meigs County, Tennessee, is named for his father.) Fort Meigs in Perrysburg, Ohio, was named in his honor during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

William Henry Harrison William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773April 4, 1841) was the ninth president of the United States, serving from March 4 to April 4, 1841, the shortest presidency in U.S. history. He was also the first U.S. president to die in office, causin ...

.Historic Perrysburg
Perrysburg, Ohio website, accessed January 10, 2011.

References

Bibliography

* Meigs, Return Jonathan Jr. (1764–1825): ''A Prophecy'', Ohio Archæological and Historical Society Publications: Volume 20 911 pp. 351–352, poem by Return J. Meigs Jr.

External links

Return J. Meigs Jr.
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress - Retrieved on 2008-08-10 * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Meigs, Return J. Jr. 1764 births 1825 deaths 18th-century American legislators 19th-century Ohio state court judges 19th-century United States Army personnel American people of English descent Burials at Mound Cemetery (Marietta, Ohio) Chief justices of the Supreme Court of Ohio Democratic-Republican Party state governors of the United States Democratic-Republican Party United States senators from Ohio George Washington University trustees Governors of Ohio Madison administration personnel Members of the Northwest Territory House of Representatives Military personnel from Ohio Monroe administration personnel Northwest Territory judges Ohio University trustees People from Middletown, Connecticut Politicians from Marietta, Ohio United States Army colonels United States federal judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law United States postmasters general Yale College alumni Meigs family 19th-century United States senators Candidates in the 1807 United States elections