1. Thomas Meek was born about 1745, Ireland. He married Jean Redmond. She was born before 1760 Ireland.
Information provided by E-mail Fred Meek.
James Meek of Ballymena, County Antrim, Ireland
According to his obituary, James Meek was born in 1777 in Ballymena, County Antrim, Ireland. The Genealogy of Mrs. Frederick William Meek, dated 1937, states James' parents were Thomas Meek and Jean Redmond. James married Jane Tompson about 1802 in Ireland.
James immigrated to America in about 1818 and then moved to Elgin County, Ontario. The story of James's immigration as told in old family letters is as follows: First he went to stay with Meek relatives in Tennessee. After a few months, probably in the spring of 1818, James traveled north to near the present location of Cleveland, Ohio. He took a boat and crossed Lake Erie intending to land at Port Talbot, but by accident the boat arrived at the mouth of Kettle Creek where Port Stanley now is. James met with Col. Talbot, the founder of the settlement, and arranged to acquire 200 acres of land near Port Stanley. This original 200 acres became the Meek homestead and was known as Hillside.
The Hillside residence is located in lot 12 of Union road, Southwold Township. James hired Indians to help him clear the land, build structures, and start farming. His wife Jane Tompson and 6 children (Thomas, Jane, Sarah, John, James, and William Henry Meek) left Ireland in 1819 to join him, arriving in Southwold Township in 1820. The Meek family in Southwold were members of the Anglican Church.
By the time of his death he had acquired about 1500 acres in the township. He and his wife Jane are buried in the Old English Church cemetery, St Thomas, Elgin County, Ontario, Canada. James last will was written September 24, 1833 and recorded March 30 1835. In the will James mentions all 6 of his children, some of his grandchildren, and one of his brothers, Thomas Meek, Jr., who also immigrated to the Port Stanley area.
Frederick Barber Meek lived in Elgin County until about 1893 when he went to the McGill Medical School, in Quebec, Canada. The family story is that he did not want to go to medical school, but his mother made him go and made his stick with it several times when he was discouraged.
We next find my grandfather Fred on May 15th 1901 when he emigrated from Ontario, Canada on the Ferry at Windsor & Detroit, to Detroit, Michigan. At that time records state he was 28, already completely gray headed, blue eyed, 6' 1", and 210 lbs. He eventually ended up in Cripple Creek, Colorado, where he started a medical practice. Sometime about 1906 or 1907, Fred was in Oklahoma City when he met his future wife Augusta Fenn. One story is that Fred was there on vacation or business in Oklahoma City (traveling with a patient) when they met. A bit of family lore is that Fred was a member of the famous Pickwick Club in OKC, a male only social fraternity. If so, then I suspect he was probably living in OKC when they met. I doubt he could have been a member of the club and married as well. Augusta was in OKC to visit her brother Emery Fenn when they met. What is known is that Fred and Augusta fell in love, and were married October 10, 1908 in Augusta's home town in Connecticut.
Fred and Augusta returned to Oklahoma City to live. In 1909, Fred became a U.S. citizen in Oklahoma City. They had two children; Francis born in 1912, and Fred Jr, in 1914. Some early memories of Fred relayed to me by his children are: he enjoyed drinking & gambling, singing Scottish songs, he was an emotional person who could cry or laugh easily; he was a good doctor and provider for his family. The Meeks were close friends with their neighbors the Blakney Family.
In the 1920 Census, Fred and family are living in Oklahoma City, on West 13th Street. In 1930, Fred is listed in the Oklahoma City directory as: Meek, Fred B (Augusta) phys, home 609 W. 19th. About 1937, Fred was in a car wreck on way to Alva, OK, and injured his leg. His health never fully returned after that accident. On June 22, 1938, Fred died from a blood clot that originated in the leg he injured in the accident. On June 23, 1938, he was buried in family plot at Memorial Gardens Cemetery, in Edmond, Oklahoma.