Return J. Meigs, Jr.
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Return J. Meigs, Jr.
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| In office 1814 – 1823 |
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| Preceded by | Gideon Granger |
| Succeeded by | John McLean |
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| Born | November 17, 1764 Middletown, Connecticut, USA |
| Died | March 29, 1825 (aged 60) Marietta, Ohio, USA |
| Political party | Democratic-Republican |
| Alma mater | Yale University |
| Profession | Politician, Lawyer, Judge |
| Military service | |
| Service/branch | United States Army |
| Rank | Brevet Colonel |
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This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2008) |
Return Jonathan Meigs, Jr. (pronunciation: [mɛgz] – rhymes with "eggs") (November 17, 1764 – March 29, 1825) was a Democratic-Republican politician from Ohio. He served as the 4th Governor of Ohio and 5th United States Postmaster General.
Meigs was born in Middletown, Connecticut, the son of Return J. Meigs, Sr. and the descendant of early Puritan settlers in Massachusetts. He graduated from Yale College in 1785. After passing the bar in Connecticut, he moved to Marietta, Ohio, three years later. He was appointed the first Chief Justice of the Ohio State Supreme Court in 1803. He served in that position for a year before serving as a judge in the Louisiana Territory and Michigan Territory. 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 Madison. He served until resigning in 1823 due to ill health.
Return J. Meigs was disappointed not to have a male heir. However, two of his younger brothers, John and Timothy, each named a son Return Jonathan Meigs. The first of these passed the bar in Frankfort, Kentucky, but commenced law practice in Athens, Tennessee, and became prominent in Tennessee state affairs before the Civil War, but moved to New York at the time of Tennessee's secession from the Union in 1861.[1] Among those men who read law under his tutelage in Tennessee was William Parish Chilton.
Meigs County, Ohio is named in his honor. (Meigs County, Tennessee is named for his father.)
[edit] References
- Return J. Meigs, Jr. at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress Retrieved on 2008-08-10
[edit] Notes
- ^ Return Jonathan Meigs 3rd, Meigs Family Genealogy and History website
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by Samuel H. Huntington |
Governor of Ohio 1810-12-08 – 1814-03-24 |
Succeeded by Othniel Looker |
| Government offices | ||
| Preceded by Gideon Granger |
United States Postmaster General 1814 – 1823 |
Succeeded by John McLean |
| Assembly seats | ||
| New district | Member of the Northwest Territory House of Representatives from Washington County 1799–1801 Served alongside: Paul Fearing |
Succeeded by Ephraim Cutler William Rufus Putnam |
| United States Senate | ||
| Preceded by John Smith |
Senator from Ohio (Class 1) 1808-12-12 – 1810 Served alongside: Edward Tiffin, Stanley Griswold, Alexander Campbell |
Succeeded by Thomas Worthington |
| Legal offices | ||
| New title | Chief Judge of the Ohio Supreme Court 1803 – 1804 |
Vacant
Title next held by
Hugh L. Nicholsas Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court |
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