Жонатан Мейгс: Американ саяхатшысы және саяси қайраткері

American politician and judge (1764 – 1825)

Return Jonathan Meigs Jr. ('/m//ɛ//ɡ//z/; November 17, 1764 – March 29, 1825) was a Democratic Republican politician from Ohio. He served as the fourth governor of Ohio, fifth United States Postmaster General, and as a United States senator.

Meigs was born in Middletown in the Colony of Connecticut on November 17, 1764. He was the son of Return J. Meigs Sr. and the descendant of early Puritan settlers in Massachusetts. He graduated from Yale College in 1785 and studied law there. In 1788, after being admitted to the bar in Connecticut, he moved to Marietta, Ohio, where his father had been one of the first settlers, arriving earlier that year.

In Marietta, Meigs was a lawyer, storekeeper and farmer, as well as serving in public offices. He was appointed the first court clerk for the court established at Marietta in 1788. He returned to Ohio in 1807 to run for governor. He won the election but was declared ineligible for failing to meet the residency requirements. He then was appointed to the U. S. Senate to finish the term of John Smith and was re elected to his own term a year later. He resigned in late 1810 after winning the governorship. He served two two year terms, resigning in April 1814 when appointed Postmaster general by President James Madison. His service as Postmaster General was not without controversy. Congress investigated him twice, and he was cleared both times. The size of the Post Office doubled during his tenure, which implicated financial difficulties. He served until 1823, when he retired due to ill health and returned to Marietta. Meigs died March 29, 1825, and is buried in Marietta's Mound Cemetery. His grave is marked by a large monument bearing a long inscription reciting his public services and family devotion. Among those men who read law under his tutelage in Tennessee was William Parish Chilton who would become Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. Timothy's son, Return J. Meigs IV, married Jennie Ross, daughter of principal Cherokee chief John Ross, and emigrated to Oklahoma on the Trail of Tears.

Meigs County, Ohio, is named in his honor. (Meigs County, Tennessee, is named for his father.) Fort Meigs in Perrysburg, Ohio, was named in his honor during the War of 1812 by William Henry Harrison.