Lea Sanders

John Valentine Meeker; Son of Jacob Redding and Phebe Shaw (Baker) Meeker; Husband of Mary Jane Pence. John Valentine Meeker was born on the 13th day of July 1824, at the little town of Monroe, in Butler county OH, about 25 miles north of Cincinnati. The privations of life on a little farm in the woods of that time were many and severe but Mr. Meeker records that at the age of 4 years he was first sent to school, and at the age of 14 he had a fairly good common school education, which he supplemented by his study by himself of algebra, geometry, trigonometry and surveying. At a little past 14 his father sent him to visit an uncle living in the western part of Indiana where he remained about three years. Returning home he went after a few months, to Indianapolis, IN, where he attended school and was a classmate of Lew Wallace, afterwards Gen. Lew Wallace, and author of Ben Hur. Lack of money, however, forced him to leave school and work upon a farm where he received the meager pay of $6 to $7 per month. In 1844, at the age of 20, he became a teacher, which occupation he followed for many years, both in the East and the West. In 1849 he married Mary Jane Pense at the home of her parents 5 1/2 miles east of Indianapolis, Ind. In 1851 they removed to Eddyville on the Des Moines river in Iowa where he lived and became an Odd Fellow. In 1853 he joined The Dayton Lodge #56 at Eddyville and taught school until 1859, when he came to the Pacific Coast. They traveled by wagon and railroad to NYC, where the family boarded the steamer North Star. They experienced a shipwreck on one of the Bahamas, a sandy key about two miles wide and 10 miles long, and remained on this uninhabited island for six days. Obtaining help from Fortune Island 50 miles away they were transferred to Jamaica and eventually to Aspinwall Panama, where they traveled 48 miles by railroad across the isthmus. On the Pacific Ocean side they took the steamer Cortez for San Francisco. After a rest of five days in San Francisco, they took the steamer Northerner for Portland and Steilacoom, arriving at Steilacoom December 10, 1860, the trip taking two months. Ironically on its next voyage the Northerner sank off Cape Mendicino taking the life of John's brother Oliver Meeker. The trip was a trying one to Mrs. Meeker and her little daughter, the future Mrs. Bean, who were seasick during the whole ocean journey. The first school in Steilacoom was taught in July, August and September, 1854, by Lydia A. Bonney, the mother of the Secretary of the Historical Society in Tacoma, in a house belonging to Willis Boatman. Here Uncle John Meeker taught in 1860, teaching next at the Byrd school house near Fern Hill. The Indian scare about this time drove the family to Steilacoom where "Uncle John" taught for three years mostly in the winter time. The intervals between these terms of school were occupied in government surveying for which he had many contracts. This work supplemented his school work very well, and afforded almost constant and profitable employment. Puyallup. "Uncle John" Meeker taught in the log school house on the A. H. Woolery claim in 1862. About this time John V. Meeker and his brother Ezra Meeker, took government claims of 160 acres each, joining each other and which were mostly within the present limits of Puyallup. From this time on "Uncle John" gave more and more time and attention to his farm at Puyallup until the death of his wife on March 26, 1904. She is buried in Woodbine Cemetery near Puyallup where "Uncle John" in his family notes expresses the wish to be buried by his wife at the end of his life. Titles 1862 Election clerk for Steilacoom precinct 1864 Appointed Pierce County Commissioner by Governor Pickering. 1864 Justice of Peace in Puyallup Valley; petitions to build a road on the south side of the river connecting with the military road. 1865 Asks fro a road up Stuck Valley to the county line 1865 Helps start the Puyallup Valley Hop Industry. 1873 Chosen to select lands for public schools Sept 1873 Appointed County Surveyor, 1878 elected to the position 1873-76 Superintendent of Pierce County Schools 1886 Grand Master of the Washington Grand Lodge of odd fellows in 9th annual convention member of Unity Lodge ##18 1890 An officer in the Puyallup K of P Lodge 1891 Trustee for Puyallup cemetery and the IOOF plat the cemetery. Vocal music teacher throughout his life. - Dennis Larsen (#47401741)