Priddy Meeks
| Priddy Meeks | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born |
August 29, 1795 Greenville, South Carolina, United States |
| Died | July 30, 1886 (aged 90) Orderville, Utah Territory, United States |
| Resting place | Orderville Cemetery 37°16′20″N 112°38′12″W / 37.2722°N 112.6367°W |
| Spouse(s) | Mary "Polly" Bartlett Meeks Sarah Mahurin Meeks Mary Jane McCleve Meeks |
| Children | 19 |
Priddy Meeks (August 29, 1795 – October 7, 1886) was an American frontier doctor who practiced Thomsonian medicine. He was a polygamist member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and helped settle areas in Utah as a Mormon pioneer. Meeks was the first doctor in Southern Utah. He appeared occasionally as a character in Mormon literature, such as the short story "They Did Go Forth" by Maurine Whipple.
Priddy Meeks was born in 1795. His father, Athe Meeks, moved the family from South Carolina to Grayson County, Kentucky when Meeks was about two or three years old. The family lived there for about 12 years, until they moved to Indiana. Athe Meeks was killed by Native Americans in 1812. After the Native American attack on the family, they moved to French Island, Indiana on the Ohio River. Meeks was married and owned a farm.
Meeks was inspired to become a doctor after helping many of the sick in his community during one particularly "sickly season". He had not studied medicine, but had helped more than doctors had. He learned medicine from James Miller and Thomson's New Guide to Health, and practiced in his community. He used elements of Thomsonian medicine like steam baths and vegetable remedies. Meeks prescribed natural remedies like cayenne pepper or dandelions to cure various ailments. He also created Dr. Meeks' Female Relief Pills, which were intended for common use to improve health in not only females, but males as well. Meeks also recorded that he confronted devils, evil spirits, and saw an angel.
Meeks moved from Indiana to Illinois in 1833 with his family. He became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1840. After becoming a member, he moved to Nauvoo, Illinois and stayed there until 1846. In 1845, however, when he was returning home from a business trip, Meeks was captured by a mob and put in the same jail in Carthage, Illinois where Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith were martyred.
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