Josiah Meigs Letter
Josiah Meigs, then acting as the United States Surveyor General, wrote this letter to the General Land Office of the State of Alabama on 24 February 1820. In it, he instructs Alabama and Mississippi to continue surveying the boundary between their two states.
Dates
- 1820 February 24
Conditions Governing Access
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Conditions Governing Use
The UT Libraries claims only physical ownership of most material in the collections. Persons wishing to broadcast or publish this material must assume all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants on www.special.lib.utk.edu for detailed information. Collections must be requested through a registered Special Collections research account.
Extent
0.1 Linear Feet
Abstract
Josiah Meigs, then acting as the United States Surveyor General, wrote this letter to the General Land Office of the State of Alabama on 24 February 1820. In it, he instructs Alabama and Mississippi to continue surveying the boundary between their two states.
Biographical/Historical Note
Josiah Meigs, born on 21 August 1757 in Middletown, Connecticut, was the 13th child of Return Jonathan and Elizabeth (Hamlin) Meigs. He graduated from Yale University in 1778 and was admitted to the Connecticut Bar in 1783. He married Clara Benjamin in 1782 and the couple had nine known children. Meigs served as New Haven's City Clerk from 1784 to 1789 and established the New Haven Gazette in 1784. He returned to education in 1794 and worked as a Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy at Yale until 1800, when he was chosen as the President of the University of Georgia. Meigs served as President until 1810, during which time he introduced the University's first Physics curriculum. President James Madison appointed Meigs Surveyor General of the United States in 1812, and Meigs used his time in office to develop a meteorological system to record daily observations at land offices throughout the country. Josiah Meigs passed away on 4 September 1822 in Washington, D.C.
Arrangement
This collection consists of a single folder.
Acquisition Note
This collection is property of the University of Tennessee Libraries, Knoxville, Special Collections.
Repository Details
Part of the Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections and University Archives, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Repository