Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 4).djvu/322

286 published in the proceedings of scientific societies. One of the most important of these was on "The Law which Governs the Production of Sex in Flowers." His papers exceed sixty in number, and the botanical articles in the "Encyclopaedia Americana" were prepared by him. In 1859 he established "The Gardeners' Monthly," which he still issues, and he was a member of the editorial staff of the Philadelphia "Press" in 1865-'81. In book-form he has published "The American Hand-Book of Ornamental Trees" (Philadelphia. 1853) and "The Flowers and Ferns of the United States" (1st series, Boston, 1878; 2d series, Philadelphia, 1880; 3d series, Boston, 1887).

MEEK, Alexander Beaufort, jurist, b. in Columbia, S. C., 17 July, 1814; d. in Columbus, Miss., 30 Nov., 1865. He was educated at the University of Alabama, admitted to the bar in 1835, and in the same year edited a newspaper at Tuscaloosa. He was lieutenant of volunteers in the Seminole war, and at the close of the campaign was appointed attorney-general of Alabama, but soon resigned and resumed practice. He was judge of the county court of Tuscaloosa in 1842-'4, and during that time prepared a supplement to Aiken's "Digest of Alabama." He was associate editor of the "Mobile Register" in 1848-'52, and in 1853 served in the legislature, where he secured the establishment of a free-school system in the state. He was a presidential elector on the Democratic ticket in 1856, served in the legislature again in 1859, and was chosen speaker. His later years were devoted chiefly to literary pursuits. His publications include "Red Eagle" (New York, 1855); "Songs and Poems of the South" (1857); and "Romantic Passages in Southwestern History" (1857). He left an unfinished "History of Alabama." His best-known poem is one on "The Charge at Balaklava."

MEEK, Fielding Bradford, paleontologist, b. in Madison, Ind., 10 Dec, 1817; d. in Washington, D. C., 21 Dec., 1876. He received a public-school education, and when a student became interested in the fossil remains that were found in the vicinity of his home. As he grew older he chose a mercantile career, but, failing in this, he directed his attention to geology, and became in 1848 an assistant in the U. S. geological survey of Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, then under the direction of David D. Owen. During 1852-'8 he assisted James Hall in the paleontological work of the state of New York except in the summers, when he was engaged in field-work. In 1853 he was associated with Ferdinand V. Hayden in making a collection of invertebrate and other fossils in the bad-lands of Dakota. He settled in Washington, D. C., in 1858, and thereafter devoted his time principally to investigating and reporting on the organic remains that had been accumulated by the government exploring expeditions. The invertebrate paleontology of the Rocky mountain region, as developed in the survey under Prof. Hayden, was intrusted to Mr. Meek. He also devoted much time to the paleontology of Illinois, Ohio, California, and of many of the territories. He was a member of many scientific societies, and in 1870 was elected to the National academy of sciences. His papers, which were numerous, appeared in the transactions of societies to which he belonged, in state and national geological reports, and in scientific journals. Mr. Meek published, through the Smithsonian institution, with Ferdinand V. Hayden, "Paleontology of the Upper Missouri" (1865); and alone "Check-List of the Invertebrate Fossils of North America," cretaceous, Jurassic, and miocene (1864); also a "Report on the Invertebrate, Cretaceous, and Tertiary Fossils of the Upper Missouri Country" (Washington, 1876).

MEEKER, Joseph Rusling, artist, b. in Newark, N. J., 21 April, 1827. He studied at the National academy of design in 1845-'6, and has exhibited at the American art union in 1849-'50, the Academy of design in 1867, and the Boston art club in 1877. His studio is at St. Louis. Mr. Meeker has shown a special sympathy with southern scenery, and has successfully rendered the landscapes of Louisiana. Among his paintings are "The Indian Chief," "The Acadians in the Atchafalaya," "The Vale of Cashmere," "The Lotos Eaters," "Louisiana Bayou," and "The Noon-Day Rest," from Longfellow's "Evangeline."

MEEKER, Moses, pioneer, b. in Newark, N. J., 17 June, 1790; d. in Skullsburg, Wis., 7 July, 1865. He removed to Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1817, and engaged in the manufacture of white lead till 1822. He then led a pioneer expedition to the then Indian settlement of Galena, Ill., and was the first to engage in smelting lead-ore. He served in the Black Hawk war as captain of a volunteer company, and at the close of hostilities removed to Iowa county, Wis., where he built the first smelting-furnaces in that territory. He served in the Wisconsin legislature in 1840-'3 and in the first constitutional convention in 1846. He published a "History of the Early Lead Regions" in the sixth volume of the "Wisconsin Historical Society Collections" (Madison, 1864).

MEEKS, Eugene, artist, b. in New York in 1843. He studied art in his native city, and then for five years at the Hague academy and under Van Lerius and De Keyser at Antwerp. Most of his professional life has been passed at Florence, Italy, and he is an associate of the Florence academy. Among his works are "Little Nell and her Grandfather," "Bridal Chamber in Palazzo Manzi-Lucca," "Gondola Party, Venice," "Startling Bit of Gossip" (1884), and "Halt at the Golden Lion."

MEES, Carl Leo, physicist, b. in Columbus, Ohio, 20 May, 1853. He was graduated at Ohio university and at Starling medical college in 1875, meanwhile, in 1870-'5, holding the office of assistant chemist of the Ohio geological survey. Dr. Mees was then called to the professorship of chemistry and physics in the Louisville, Ky., schools, where he remained until 1880, after which he spent some time in study at the Imperial university in Berlin, Germany. In 1882 he became professor of physical science in Ohio university, and in 1887 he was called to the chair of physics in Rose polytechnic school, Terre Haute, Ind. Dr. Mees is a member of scientific societies, and in 1887 was secretary of the physical section of the American association for the advancement of science, of which organization he has been a fellow since 1876. He has contributed the results of his researches to scientific periodicals, including determinations of wind velocity, comparative measurements, and photographs of blood.

MEGAPOLENSIS, Johannes, clergyman, b. in Koedyck, Holland, in 1603; d. in New York city, 14 Jan., 1670. The original form of the family "name, Van Mecelenburg, was Hellenized into Megapolensis by his father, who was settled as a minister in Egmont-aan-Zee. The son came to the United States, under the patronage of the patroon of Rensselaerwyck, in 1642. He was the first Protestant missionary to the Indians, preceding John Eliot by three months, and the second that was sent by the classis of Amsterdam. Having learned what he called the "heavy language of the