The evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1907-1908, 1907-10-25
MEEKERS, OLD
AND YOUNO,AT
REUNION
FamiIy'S Part in COuntry'S
History Since EARLY Days
Related.

q h11 1R@1 F6ANN $3.50 @@@r~
from the State of Washington with a tenn
OF oxen and a prairie schooner. on his way
to meet President Roosevelt In Washing
ton. YVES happy yesterday afternoon. for
the reunion of the 'Meeker tribe he had
arranged for at the old Meeker homestead
in Prospect avenue, near Elizabeth avenue, |
in the Lyons Farms section OF Newark,
was a decided success,
Descendants of William Meeker, who
came to America from England soon after
the Pilgrims landed, and Joined the New
Haven colony, We're present from Newark.
Elizabeth. Lyons Farms, ~IrYington, Brook
Iyn. N. Y, and Maplewood.
Ezra Meeker had his oxen and prairie
schooner in the yard alongside the old
house, and the men and women of the
"Meeker Tribe gathered there and were
photographed in a group. William Grum-
mon, an aged man, who lives In the house
with his invalid wife. who Is also advanced
in years, was not at home, and none of
the reunion party entered the house. Mrs.
Grummon was assisted out OF doors by
a young woman, and for a few minutes
leaned against an automobile and gazed at
the visitors. The auto and the schooner
stood near each other.
William Grummon Is seventh in line of
descent from the original William Meeker,
his mother being a Meeker. He inherited
the house and the farm of thirty-seyen
acres, part Of which is in Union County.
The house was built by William Meeker's
son Benjamin in 1916.
After the Meekers were introduced to
each other and talked about the degrees
of relationship, Ezra Meeker stood on a
small grassy knoll and made a short
speech. He related the story Of his life,
as told in the EVENING STAR on Mon
day, and especially his ride with his
young wife in 1862 from indiana to the
wilds of Oregon Territory, now a thriving
State. over the "oregan trail,' which ne
c~essitated crossing the plains and the
Rocky Mountains. He said he was going
to Washington to try to interest Presi-
dent Roosevelt and the Congress in q plan
to preserve the Oregan trail by making 1t
a concrete road from the Missouri River
to the Oregan tide water, a distance OF
more than 1000 miles. He then asked DR..
Lewis u. Meeker, Of Brooklyn, historian
of the family, to make a speech.
DIR. Meeker traced the history of the ram
ily back several centuries. He said that
members of the family fought in the bat
tie of Hastings In England. The first
Meeker came to America in 1910 and settled
In Connecticut. He was a man of indie
pendent views and his Puritan neighbors
could not change his religious views. WILL
lam Meeker and other members Of The
New Haven colony purchased from the
Indians In 1864 a large tract of land, part
of which is the site of the city OF Eliza
beth, then known as Elizabethtown. They
were known as 1.-The Associates"
After peaceful possession for more than
a year Philip Carteret arrived from Eng
land with a grant made by Sir George Car
teret and Lord Berkeley and took a large
tract of land In the Colony of New Jer-
sey. His party was known as THE
Proprietors." 1t was agreed that no one
ryo. - .-a4e HIaN1 AOanHf hxv oAnoonH ~
the Council.
In 1871, without that consent, Richard
Michel. a Carteret man, took a plot of and
and built a home on 1t. He defied the
Associates, refusing to vacate the place,
and a party Of "the Associates" led by
William Meeker, who was the first con-
stable in the Colony of New Jersey, de-
molished tho house and fences. For this
they were proclaimed enemies to the Brit
ish Government. Meeker's property at
Elizabethtown was coniscated.
'"This was the first stroke for freedom
and home rule attempted in the colonies"
said DR.. Meeker. and 1t was the fore
runner of the Revolution. William Meek
er's friends In Newark and Elizabethtown,
In recognition of his efforts in their behalf,
gave him land at Lyons Farms, where his
son Benjamin erected the Meeker holbe-
stead about the year 1876. One hundred
years later the house was used for an I'M
derground station for continental soldiers
who escaped from the British prison ships
at Wallabout."
DIR. Meeker said all of the Meekers, from
the original William down, were fighters.
In the battles of Springfield, where the
Rev. James Caldwell, "the fighting par
son. took up hymn books from the old
church for wadoing for the patriot soldiers,
forty-four Meekers fought and Captain
Jonathan Meeker, who was born In the
homestead, led a company. 1t was at this
time a Hessian soldier IL the British army
shot Mrs. Caldwell dead inside a window
Of her home, where she was seated with
a baby in her arms.
"Meekers fought in the war Of 1872 and
the Mexican war, and / cannot guess how
many we're in the Civil War; said the
speaker.
A vote of thanks was given DR.. Meeker
and Ezra Meeker. After the OK team and
"prairie schooner and the old house were
photographed, Ezra Meeker shook hands
with all of his relatives and left for Eliza
beth, on his way to Washington.
Among those at the reunion were DR..
Lewis E.. Meeksr and Mr.. and Mrs. J. w.
Meeker, of Brooklyn; George B. Meeker,
of Irvington, who was q pupil in the little
stone schoolhouse at Elizabeth and Pros
pect avenues, built in lisa, and yet stand
ing. Mr.. and Mrs. Henry N. Meeker,
! W1ll1Hm 1dSsiIlOiG NlCChGAt ~ Allc9No
Janet and Margaret Meeker, William S.
Meeker, Mrs. ]. Francis Spinning, Mrs. G.
Albert Brown, Miss Helen Madeline
Brown. Margaret Overton Baker, all of
Newark; Mr.. and Mrs. Richard A. STREET.,
of Maplewood; Mrs. Henry G. Walters, Of
Roseville, daughter of William S. Meeker;
David ]. Post and MSS Adaline Post, of
LYONS Farms; ]. William Crane, of Union
township, and former Sheriff F. f.. CLASSIFY
and Jacob Thompson, Of Elizabeth.
There are ten mall rooms in the old
Meeker home, and the height from floor
70 ceiling is less than seven feet. TIL
walls are a foot thick. made of hand hewed
nlanks. The roof slants down on either
side. and the garrett is very low. The
house is shingled on the sides, and the
cedar shingles. which were hewn by hand,
are held by wrought iron nalls, made by
hand. Although the place is $50 years old,
the nails show no rust. In the kitchen
and parlor are old-style fire places. The
ceiling of the ground floor is supported by
a bewn beam IS by IS inches, which runs
from the front TO the rear of the house.
The following was the unique invitation
Ezra Meeker issued for the reunion:
Newark N. J. October %, 1907-You are
respectfully requested to. attend the re-
union meeting o. the Meeker Tribe at the
Old Meeker Homestead at Lyons Farms,
Thursday, oath inst, at 1870 p. M, TO swap
AatwMwr A-6 N.nwr. - aAnA