Alfred B. Meacham
| Alfred Benjamin Meacham | |
|---|---|
Alfred B. Meacham
|
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| Born |
29 April 1826 Orange County, Indiana, United States |
| Died | 16 February 1882 (aged 55) Washington, D.C., United States |
| Occupation | American Methodist minister, Indian agent, author, reformer, Indian Rights activist |
| Nationality | American |
| Spouse | Orpha Caroline Ferree |
| Children | Clara Belle Meacham, George Ferree Meacham, Elinor “Nellie” Frances Meacham |
Alfred Benjamin Meacham (1826–1882) was an American Methodist minister, reformer, author and historian, who served as the U.S. Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Oregon (1869–1872). He became a proponent of American Indian interests in the Northwest, including Northern California. Appointed in 1873 as chairman of the Modoc Peace Commission, he was severely wounded during a surprise attack on April 11 by warriors, but saved from death by Toby Riddle (Winema), a Modoc interpreter,
Meacham continued to work for justice for American Indians. He wrote a lecture-play about the Modoc War, and made a national tour with Modoc and Klamath representatives in 1874–1875. He helped represent American Indian tribes to Washington officials, and testified about relocation issues to Congress. In 1880 he served on the Ute Commission. Meacham published two books about the war. The reformer Wendell Phillips wrote the introduction to the first book, and Meacham dedicated the second and named it for Winema Riddle.
Meacham was born on April 29, 1826 in Orange County, Indiana, where his parents Anderson Meacham and Lucinda Wasson had moved from North Carolina because of their objection to slavery. When he was still a child, the family moved further west to Iowa, where he came to know people of the Sauk and Fox tribes. In Indiana and Iowa he was educated in the common schools.
In 1844, he worked with others hired to assist with the Sauk and Fox removal 100 miles to the west across the Mississippi River, and saw their grief. He realized they would never voluntarily have left "the graves of their fathers."
Meacham married Orpha Caroline Ferree (1827–1888) in Brighton, Iowa, on October 28, 1852. She had also been born in Indiana. He had returned from working in California to marry her. They traveled together back to the West Coast by way of New Orleans and the Isthmus of Panama. They had three children together: Clara B., b. 1855, who married Dr. J. N. Prather of Iowa; George F., b. 1856, who married Lucia M. Mills of Seattle, Washington, where he moved as an adult; and Nellie Francis, b. 1859, who married Charley Troup (died of tuberculosis) and later Colonel J. W. Redington of Walla Walla, Washington.
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