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Robert Meek
Van Buren County
Born in Wayne County, Ohio, on the 25th of January, 1815, and there spent the first fourteen years of his life. He then accompanied his parents on their emigration to St. Joseph, Mich. Near that city his father laid out the town of Constantine. In 1835, in company with his father, and brother, Johnson Meek, he went on a prospecting tour to the South, visiting in Louisiana and Texas, but the latter was overrun with brigands, and not caring to make a location in the former, they returned to the North and in 1836 visited Lee County, Iowa, where Johnson made a location. Although the county was then in its infancy it gave promise of rapid growth and development, and Mr. Meek determined here to locate, so after selecting land, in the spring of 1837, he retraced his steps to St. Joseph, Mich., in order to remove with the family to their new home. Robert Meek was three times married. In 1838 he was joined in wedlock with Miss Mary Ann Allen, and of their union were born four children. The mother of this family went to her final rest October 3, 1845, and for his second wife Mr. Meek chose Miss Nancy Flint, a native of New York. Their union was blessed with four children. Mrs. Nancy Meek died June 1, 1853, and a third time Mr. Meek was married, that union being with Mrs. Abigail P. Barber, widow of Dudley C. Barber. Mr. Meek represented Van Buren County in the Fifth Iowa General Assembly, 1850. He was identified with many of the leading interests of Van Buren County. The growth of the county he witnessed, watching its transformation from an unbroken wilderness to a tract of rich fertility, whose well-cultivated farms are equal to any in the State.
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