THE FIGHTING MEEKERS

This story of Revolutionary War soldier Timothy Meeker and his family from Essex and Morris Counties is so incredible that it was picked up by none other than Ripley’s Believe it or Not!

But the world did not have to wait for Ripley to publish it in the 1950s to learn of the Fighting Meekers. The family’s story even made the news during the war. When the ink on the Declaration of Independence was barely dry, and when the fighting had not yet hit New Jersey in earnest, the New York Gazette and Weekly Mercury published how the family stood ready to defend their fledgling country in July 1776. Even though the news clip does not mention the Meekers by name, there’s little doubt who the paper was talking about.

From the New York Gazette and Weekly Mercury, 29 Jul 1776

The patriarch of the family, Timothy Meeker Sr. (DAR ancestor A077135), was born ca 1708 in Elizabethtown NJ, and during the war he lived in Canoe Brook (now Northfield), Essex County.

Timothy married Sarah Pierson, who was the mother of his two oldest children, Joseph and Sarah. Mrs. Meeker died during childbirth of baby Sarah, and Timothy went on to marry Ms. Munn, who died shortly after their marriage. He married a third time to Desire Cory, who went on to bear 14 additional children: Jonas, John, William, Amos, Timothy Jr., Cory, David, Jonathan, Isaac, Desire, Hannah, Mary (Polly), Phebe, and Abigail.

Timothy Meeker, a very opinionated “staunch republican,” had a lifelong propensity to be somewhat combative. A full 30 years before the war, he was already demonstrating his strong desire for self-determination from Britain and his significant skills and inspiring and organizing others. A bitter land dispute arose in the Horseneck Tract (near present-day Caldwell) in the 1740s. Some settlers claimed title by deed from the Native Americans, others by grant from the East Jersey Proprietors, and still others (squatters) by right of possession. King George II tried to resolve the dispute by using a land grant to subdivide the Canoe Brook lots west of the Horseneck Tract. The East Jersey Proprietors who claimed ownership of the land lost them in King George’s arrangement, so they took matters into their own hands. They burned the home of Jonathan Pierson, where the land grant documents were kept, and demanded payment of “Quit Rent” to the settlers on the land. The settlers viewed this as an illegal tax. A neighbor Samuel Baldwin refused to pay the Quit Rent and was arrested for cutting logs on the disputed property that he considered his own land. This provoked Timothy Meeker to organize a group of settlers armed with clubs, sticks, and bats, and break into the Newark jail to free Baldwin. This episode, known as the Horseneck Riots or the Meeker Riot, were early signs of a long series of riots and rebellions against the Crown, ultimately leading to the American Revolution.

With his strong passion for independence, it is no surprise that many years later, Meeker still held a passionate Revolutionary spirit and was quick to volunteer to serve when the Revolution began.

Timothy Meeker had ten sons, nine of whom served in the war:

Captain Joseph Meeker (c 1737-1799), DAR ancestor A077119, married Molly or Mary Smith. Served from December 1775 until the battalion was discharged.

Sergeant Timothy Meeker Jr. (1748-1834), DAR ancestor A077138, married Sarah Parcells

Sergeant David Meeker (1758-1787), DAR ancestor A077100, married Phoebe Parcells/Pasel

Private William Meeker (ca 1745-1790), DAR ancestor A201756, married Hannah Tichenor

Soldier Jonathan Meeker (1758-1819), DAR ancestor A077114, married 1) Lydia Saunders, 2) Phebe Tompkins and 3) Eunice Kemp

John Meeker (ca 1742-1802). A Revolutionary War soldier named John Meeker was part of a 3-person spy network who carried goods to New York for sale, and while they were there Washington permitted them to pass certain information to the British and bring back information they collected from the British. At one point they were captured and taken prisoner by a suspicious Patriot, and Washington asked Governor Livingston interceded to secure their release, whereupon they returned to their spying business. While it is not confirmed that this John Meeker is Timothy’s son, the description makes it likely. He married Ms. Perry, then Rachel Force.

Private Cory Meeker (1752-1846), DAR ancestor A077098: Private, married Vannelia/Valeria Ward

Private Amos Meeker (c 1745-?), married Johanna Force

Private Isaac Meeker (c 1760-c1825), married Margaret McChesney

Only one son was not a Revolutionary War soldier. Jonas Meeker (1740/1741-1763/1764), who married Sarah Osborne, died before the war.

Timothy Meeker had six daughters, five of whose husbands are known to have served in the Revolution:

Captain Isaac Smith (1737-1823), DAR ancestor A105601, husband of Sarah Meeker (1738-?)

Private Moses Edwards (1756-1827), DAR ancestor A036731, husband of Desire Meeker. Edwards went on to become a Baptism pastor after and founder of the Northfield Baptist Church after the war. The Battle of Springfield was fought on his father Jacob Edwards’ farm. It was reported that Moses Edwards captured a British officer at the Battle of Springfield, whose sword remained in the family until at least the 1920s.

Private John Edwards (1746-1829), DAR ancestor A036664, husband of Hannah Meeker. He is reported his company was largely responsible for stopping the British advance at the Battle of Springfield, and as a result he received a commendation from General Nathanial Greene for his gallant conduct. It is reported that when he ran out of bullets, he fired pebbles from the side of the road.

Wagonmaster Daniel Day (a 1739-1781), DAR ancestor A030862, husband of Mary (Polly)

Private James Walsh, husband of Abigail Meeker

Phebe Meeker’s husband, John A. Feazler, is not known to have served in the Revolution.

With such a large family, it’s difficult to exhaustively identify all grandsons who served. Here is a list of those I can identify (there might be more):

Fifer Caleb Meeker (1759-1817), DAR ancestor A077096, son of Joseph Meeker, married Susan Skinner

Soldier Jonas Meeker (1763-1852), DAR ancestor A077108, son of Jonas Meeker, married Charity

Private John Meeker (1759-1835), DAR ancestor A104305, possibly son of Jonas Meeker, married Elizabeth Lambert

Private Stephen Smith, son of Sarah Meeker and Isaac Smith

According to one DAR applicant, Timothy Meeker, son of Cory Meeker, was “Captain Amos,” a famous scout.

One fact that is cited across every reference to the Meeker family is that Timothy Meeker and his family of soldiers all served at the Battle of Springfield. On the night before the battle, many farmers drove their livestock to Timothy Meeker’s woodlots and concealed them there.

From The Pictorial Field Book of the Revolution by Benson J. Lossing

After the war, Meeker remained bold and opinionated. His son recounted an interesting story of Timothy Meeker’s encounter with General Dayton in the 1790s. Meeker went to Elizabethtown to pay his direct tax in hard cash to support the army. There he confronted General Dayton, saying “Of what use is your standing army?” Dayton responded that it was to support Congress. Meeker replied, “Ay, to support Congress,,,in taking away our liberties and in altering the Constitution so as to place men in public offices for life. I fought for freedom through the war for nothing (his Continental money was worthless), and now I want to pay for my land and be independent indeed, but tax upon tax keeps me poor. I could at any time raise one hundred men among my neighbors upon the Short Hills…and we’d march to Philadelphia and take your Congressmen from their seats. We will not have a standing army. Disband it.” General Dayton responded that the army was meant to intimidate the British, to which Meeker replied, “Look ahere, General Dayton, tell [your acquaintances in London] that Timothy Meeker is dead, and that he has left seven sons, every one of whom is a stronger man than he. Tell them we are seven times stronger than before, and that will intimidate them more than all your standing armies that suck the life-blood from the people.” Them’s fightin’ words, for sure.

A less pugilistic story of Timothy Meeker involves a special dinner guest. George Washington wanted to meet the man who singlehandedly furnished a small army of his own, so he stopped by the Meeker home on his way to Morristown along with two of his aides, remaining incognito. While they were watering their horses in a nearby creek, Meeker saw them and invited them in for dinner. Mrs. Meeker told the visiting officers that if she had known there would be company, she would have served chicken. Timothy responded that the dinner was fit for George Washington himself. After dinner, Washington took Meeker aside to thank him, and said “My friends, you have given me courage, I am General Washington.”

Timothy Meeker died on 22 Dec 1798. He is buried at the burying yard of the Northfield Baptist Church in Livingston New Jersey, where he was a founding member.

The Meeker family deserve our gratitude and respect for their extensive sacrifices during the war. They risked everything to fight for their beliefs.

SOURCES

Cook, Lillian Collins, Pioneers of Old Northfield, Livingston, NJ: Tribute Publishing Co., 1953, pp. 8-12

Find-a-Grave Memorial #37379420

Lossing, Benson J., The Pictorial Field Book of the Revolution, New York: Harper & Brothers, 1850, Vol. 1, pp. 324-325

Meeker, Leroy J., The Meeker Family of Early New Jersey, Charleston WV: Capitol Printing Company, 1973

New York Gazette and Weekly Mercury, 29 Jul 1776

Pichat, Eleanor, Historical Society: The Horseneck Riots, 19 Mar 2013, https://patch.com/new-jersey/livingston/ev–historical-society-the-horseneck-riots

Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, The Record-Argus, Greenville, PA, 5 Jun 1958, pg. 16

National Archives and Records Administration, M804, Roll 1707, Revolutionary War pensions W7442 (Timothy Meeker), S22394 (Cory Meeker), W7443 (Caleb Meeker), R7096 (Jonas Meeker), S2815 (John Meeker)

National Archives and Records Administration, RG94, M881, Roll 644, Compiled Service Records of Soldiers Who Served in the American Army During the Revolutionary War: Isaac Meeker

Shaw, William H., History of Essex and Hudson Counties, New Jersey, Philadelphia: Everts & Peck, 1884, vol. 1, p. 35

Stryker, William S., Official Register of the Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Revolutionary War, Trenton NJ: Wm. T. Nicholson & Co., 1872, pp. 14, 84, 249-250, 306, 468, 480

Sweetman, Jennie, Meekers Made Mark in Sussex County, New Jersey Herald, 6 May 2018, https://www.njherald.com/story/lifestyle/2018/05/06/meekers-made-mark-in-sussex/4145237007/

Vorwerk, Max K, A History of the Horseneck Riots, Montclair NJ: Montclair State Teachers College, 1948.

Morristown ChapterDaughters of the American Revolution