Latest news of interest…
Reunion Updates
Due to the risks and restrictions associated with the current virus pandemic, the 2020 Annual Meeting was conducted online via video conference instead of having a physical meeting in Atlanta as originally planned.
The 22nd Biennial Reunion scheduled to be held in Louisville, Kentucky in June 2021 may be delayed until later in the year or cancelled. Announcements will be made here and in the Newsletter soon.
TMSI WorldConnect Tree Now Available
Ancestry/Rootsweb has finally brought back the WorldConnect site, allowing us to post a public version of our TMSI Research Database. Check out the access info in the Resources tab.
Meriwether Connections Newsletter
The Jan-Mar 2020 issue of Meriwether Connections (Vol. XXXIV No. 1) has been released. Below is the Table of Contents:
CONTENTS
Found!………………………….……… 1
From the President ...…………….……. 2
Nicholas Meriwether’s Ancestry............. 3
Meriwether Lewis in Georgia.................. 7
Old News Articles..................................10
Family News...........................................11
In Memoriam......................................... 11
Meriwethers in America, Order Form....13
Contact Information.............................. 14
Meriwether Sales Form ........................ 15
Meriwether Descendants Chart............. 16
English Family of Nicholas & Francis
The Jan-Mar 2020 issue of Meriwether Connections has further information about the following announcement! If your TMSI Membership has expired, be sure to renew to read the research articles in this and subsequent issues.
FOUND!
The TMSI English Research Committee is pleased and excited to announce that almost three hundred and seventy years after our ancestor Nicholas Meriwether (1631–1678) came to the Virginia Colony, his family—grandparents, parents, uncles, aunts, and siblings—left in England have been identified, documented and, most importantly, verified!
As you all know, the Meriwether family has been searching for this connection as long as Meriwether family history books have been written. By the mid to late 1800s, information in books by George Wood Meriwether, Gov. George R. Gilmer, Louisa H. A. Minor and Minor Meriwether was so confused it was not known that Nicholas himself had come to Virginia. The 1899 publication of William R. Griffiths’ book “Nicholas Meriwether of Wales and Virginia…” corrected a lot of misinformation and helped establish that Nicholas I was indeed in the Virginia Colony 1653–1678, along with a younger brother, Francis. But the English connection remained completely lost to the descendants of Nicholas.
Woodstock for Sale!
Woodstock, the home built by Charles Nicholas Minor Meriwether in Todd County, Kentucky, is now being offered for sale. It would be wonderful if someone in the Meriwether family wanted to buy it!
Woodstock has a storied history in the Meriwether family. Notables born or who lived there include Capt. Charles Edward “Ned” Meriwether, killed in 1862 at the Battle of Sacramento (KY), Elizabeth (Meriwether) Gilmer, the famous journalist known as Dorothy Dix, and Caroline (Meriwether) Goodlett, founder of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
Located in Trenton, Kentucky; the realtor is James Bullington. jimbullington@remex.net
New Book: The Meriwether Family in America, Volume I
The Meriwether Society, Inc. is excited to announce the publication of the first book in The Meriwether Family in America series, “Volume I: The Colonists”. This book covers the history of the Meriwether family in colonial times (1650-1750) with additional detail on the Meriwether family in England prior to 1650. This remarkable book reviews and expands the information known about the original immigrant, Nicholas Meriwether, his wives and children.
This book is in limited supply and is a must for anyone interested in the Meriwether heritage.
Click here for the order form.
Reader Comments
"Wow!! The Colonists is truly amazing. It encompasses so much."
"LOVE the new book! I’ve been reading a bit every day – it reads well and is easy to follow. There have been so many theories and discussions over the years, I appreciate you discussing each one. I like how you addressed the unknown – ‘this is what we do know....this is what we do not know.....this is what we conclude....this is speculation….’"
General John Hartwell Cocke of "Bremo"
John Hartwell Cocke's son, Brig. Gen. Phillip St. George Cocke, married Sarah Elizabeth Courtney Bowdoin, a descendant of Jane Meriwether and William Browne (FG M14). The link below is to an interesting research thesis on the effect of slavery on one anti-slavery slaveholder.
Links to the TMSI Research Database:
Phillip & Sarah (Bowdoin) Cocke
Jane Meriwether & William Browne
Shuttle Columbia
Meriwether Society President Monte Monroe, archivist of the Southwest Collection at the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library at Texas Tech, has been involved with the donation of items connected with the Columbia tragedy in 2003. This is the same library that now contains The Meriwether Society archives.
TEXAS TECH TIES TO SPACE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA ENDURE 13 YEARS AFTER TRAGEDY
Elizabeth Avery Meriwether
Here is a link to an interesting article on Elizabeth Avery Meriwether, wife of Minor Meriwether and mother of Lee Meriwether, author and politician. (Thanks to Woody Savage for providing us with this link!)
Maurice W. Kendall Distinguished Member Award
At the 2015 Annual Meeting, the Society announced that henceforth the Meriwether Society Distinguished Member Award, the highest recognition presented by the Society, would be known as the Maurice W. Kendall Distinguished Member Award, in honor of Society member Maury Kendall and in recognition of the significant contributions he has made to the Society as a past President, genealogist, and Volume I author.
Sgt. John Ordway Statue at Fort Lewis...
In 2006, The Meriwether Society was a major donor to the construction of a statue of Capt. Meriwether Lewis and his dog, Seaman, which was dedicated last fall on a public park/plaza at the entrance to Fort Lewis, near Tacoma, Washington. A companion statue of Sgt. John Ordway was also commissioned to honor the non-commissioned officer who was an instrumental part in the success of the Corps of Discovery. The statue is to be dedicated this weekend, with Col. Mike Kendall representing The Meriwether Society. I just received an email from the sculptor, John Jewell, with a link to an article about the new statue and the dedication ceremony, which will be open to the general public. If you are in the area, please try to attend!
Sgt. Ordway Statue Dedication (23 Sep 2006)
Here are companion links:
AUSA info on Capt. Meriwether Lewis and Seaman statues.
For being a major donor to the Lewis statue project, The Meriwether Society received a miniature version of the statue, based on the sculptor's maquette, that will be on display at the Meriwether Reunion in 2007. We then hope to have it on permanent dispay at the Virginia Historical Society rotunda. We'll have more info and pictures on the web of our beautiful miniature soon.
Albemarle homes...
The Albemarle Historical Society has pictures of a selected set of Albemarale county homes and plantations on its web site. Quite a few of these are connected to the Meriwether family. If someone sends me a list of those that are, I'll post it.
http://www.albemarlehistory.org
http://www.albemarlehistory.org/MiltonWaffIndex.htm
In Memorium: Gordon Meriwether
Captain Gordon Kenyon Meriwether, Jr., Ph.D., a past president of The Meriwether Society, passed away Friday, March 10 in Pensacola from complications from pneumonia. The Society expresses our condolences to his family and mourns the loss of a good friend.