Return Jonathan MEIGS, Jr., Congress, OH (1764-1825)

MEIGS Return Jonathan, Jr. , a Senator from Ohio; born in Middletown, Conn., November 17, 1764; graduated from Yale College in 1785; studied law; admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Marietta, Washington County, Ohio (then known as the Northwest Territory), in 1788; participated in the Indian fighting of that period; appointed territorial judge 1798; member, territorial legislature 1799; chief justice of the Ohio supreme court 1803-1804; brevetted colonel in the United States Army and commanded in the St. Charles district in Louisiana 1804-1806; judge of the supreme court of Louisiana 1805-1806; judge of the United States District Court for the Territory of Michigan 1807-1808; returned to Ohio and was elected Governor in 1808 but declared ineligible because of his prolonged absence from the State; elected as a Democratic Republican to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of John Smith; reelected in 1809 and served from December 12, 1808, until he resigned, having been elected Governor, on or before December 8, 1810; Governor of Ohio 1810-1814; Postmaster General in the administrations of Presidents James Madison and James Monroe 1814-1823; died in Marietta, Ohio, March 29, 1825; interment in Mound Cemetery.

Bibliography

American National Biography; Dictionary of American Biography.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present