Weekly Chillicothe crisis. (Chillicothe, Livingston Co., Mo.) 1878-19??, 1879-10-30
THE MARTYRED MEEKEi
His LIES Work Briefly Told by His

His LIES Work Briefly Told by His Son.
The following from the New York Her
aid, concerning Agent Meeker and his
family was evidently written by his son,
Ralph Meeker, who is an attache of that
paper:
"Nathan c. Meeker, the agent of the
White River, was about sixty years old.
He was born in Euclid, Ohio, near Cleve-
land. The place is now known as Cola
mer. At an early age he began to write
poems and stories for the magazines.
When he was still in his boyhood he trav-
eled on foot most of the way to New Or
leans, where he arrived without money or
letters of recommendation. He succeeded
in getting work on the locll staff of one OF
the city papers, which barely gave him a
living. In yeal or two he returned to
Cleveland, and taught school until he
could earn money enough to pay his way
to New York, whittier he went with the
friendship Of George d. Prentice, whom
he had met during his southern travels.
In New York he was encouraged by N. p.
Willis, and he contributed poems and
sketches to the New York Mirror, a liter.
ary Journal edited by Willis, and which
attracted considerable attention from good
writers OF that day. The young mans
style was quaint and somewhat melan-
holy, and his poems were copied. but he
could scarcely earn bread to eat and his
suilerings were so great that he abandon
ed poetry for the rest OF his life. He man
aged to raise money enough to enable him
to proceed on foot to Pennsylvania
where he taught school and con-
tinued his literary studies. Af-
forwards he returned to Ohio and in 1874,
when about thirty years old, married the
daughter of Mr.. Smith, retired sea cap
tain, ut Claridon, and took his bride to
what is known as the Tumbull Phalanx,
which was Just being organized at Brace
vile, near Warren. Ohio. The society
was a branch OF the Brook Farm and the
North American Phalanx, OF which liaw-
thOrne, Curtis and Greeley were leading
members. The Ohio Phalanx was com.
posed of young and ardent admirers of
Fourier, the Socialist There was no free
love, hut the members lived III village,
dinel at common tables, dwelt in separate
cottages and worked in the community
fields together, and allowed the proceeds
of all Their earnings to 90 into q common
fund. Manufactures were established,
and soil wils fertile, and prosperity would
have followed all had all the members
been honest and the climate healthtul.
Fever and ague ran riot with the weeds
and the most ignorant and avaricious of
the Arcadian band began to absorb what
really belonged to the weaker ones who
did most of the hard labor, Mr. Meekcr
who was one of the great chief workers,
was glad to get away alive with his wife
and two boys the youngest of whom were
born shaking with the ague. Mr.. Meeker
was the librarian and chief literary
authority of the community, but
he lost most OF his books, and when he
reached his Cleveland home he mad but a
few dollars. In company with his broth.
er he opened store and began business
on a worldly" basis; and he prospered
so that he was invited to Join another
community, the deciples and followers of
Alexander Campbell, ScOtch-lrishman, |
the founder Of the re igious sect, the mem
bcrs of which are sometimes called Camp |
belitcs. Gen. Garfield is follower of
lIllS lulllls anu llt DtNhult al ltllOh lOWHS-
man of Mr.. Meeker. The "deciples"
were building a large college at Hiram,
Ohio, and Mr.. Meeker moved his store
thither and received the patronage of the |
school and church. While there he wrote
book called The Adventures OF Captain |
Armstrong" In 1856, when the great |
panic came, he lost nearly everything. |
Then he moved to Southern Illinois, and, |
with the remnants of his goods, opened IL
small store near Dongola, in Union COun
ty. For several years his boys 'ran" the
store, while he worked a small farm and |
devoted his spare hours to literature. His
correspondence with the Cleveland Plain
dealer attracted the attention of Arte-
mus Ward, and the result was
II warm and personal friendship. |
When the war broke ont he wrote Il letter
to the Tribune on the Southwestern pOliti- |
cal leaders and the resources Of the Miss
issippi Valley. Horace Greeley telegraph |
ed to A. D. Richardson, who was in charge |
of the Trbuhe at Cairo, this dispatch;
"Meeker is the man we want" Sidney |
Howard Gay engaged him. and, after SEW |
ing as a war correspondent at Fort Donel- |
son and sther places, at the close of the
war, Mr.. Meeker was called to New York |
to take charge Of the agricultural depart |
mcnt and do general editorial work on the |
Tribune. He wrote book entitled life |
in the West" and his articles on the
Oneida community were copied into
leading German, French and other
European journals. In 1869 he was
sent to write up the Mormons,
but finding the roads beyond Cheyenne
blockaded with snow he turned southwark
and followed the Rocky mountains down
to the foot of Pixies Peak where he was so
charmed with the Garden Of the Gods and
the unsurpassed scenery Of that lovely |
region, where birds were singing and
grasses growing in the mountains that he
said that if he could persuade u doz.
EN- families to go thither, he would
take his wife and girls to live and
die there. Mr.. Greely was dining at
the Delmonico when he heard of it.
"Tell Meeker," exclaimed he, "to 20
ahead, will back him with the Tri-
buRe."
A letter was printed, meeting held, |
subscriptions invited and $96, 900 was for
warded to the treasurer Immediately. Mr.. |
Meeker was elected president of the col |
ony and Horace Greeley made treasurer.
So many applications were sent in that 1t
was thought that larger tract of land
would be needed than seemed to- be free
from incumberance at Pixies Peak. Sever
al miles square of land were bought on
the Cache.la-P Poudre river where the town
of Greeley now stands, and several hun
dred families were established in what had
been styled "The Great American Desert.
Horace Greeley's one exhortaton was.
"Tell Meeker to have no fences nor
rum"
On this basis the colony was founded.
To-day Greeley has 5000 population, a
hundred miles of irrigating canals, fine
graded school, and it is the capital of a
county 100 miles long.
Mr.. Meeker went to the White River
Agency with his wife and youngest daugh-
ter, Josephine, who taught the young In
dians and was a general favorite. Mr..
William A. Post, OF the Yonkers, was his
'boss farmer" and general assistant. Mr..
Post had been competent and very pop.
ular Secretary Of the Greeley Colony. He
was at the Agency at the time of the out
break.
Mr.. Meeker's plan was to have the In
dians raise crops and support themselves
in an improved way. He encouraged them
to live IN log houses and have some of the
miscellaneous conveniences oil civilization.
1t was an experiment and had worked
well until the encroachment Of the min
Org A lnr0a and nffnntiya irriuatino ga |