John Silva Meehan was born in New York City on February 6, 1790. Little is recorded of his early life. He attended school in New York, and later entered work as a printer. In 1811 or 1812, he moved to Burlington, New Jersey to work as a printer for Richard S. Coxe's New Critical Pronouncing Dictionary of the English Language. In Burlington, he met Margaret Jones Monington, and married her in 1814.^[1]

In January 1815, he returned to New York to enlist in the Navy. He served as a midshipman on the USS Firefly during the War of 1812, assigned as the flagship of a small group of commerce raiders in the West Indies. Shortly afterwards, the ratification of the Treaty of Ghent concluded the war. The Firefly did not see action, to the disappointment of Meehan and the rest of the crew. Leaving service in April 1815, he moved to Philadelphia and declined an offered commission within the Marine Corps in order to focus on his printing career. His first daughter, Susan, was born the same month.^[2][3]

In Philadelphia, he partnered with fellow printer Robert Anderson to create the Anderson & Meehan firm. They began publishing the Latter Day Luminary in 1818, a Baptist religious journal sponsored by the Baptist General Conference. The firm moved to Washington, D.C., in early 1822, and the Luminary was shifted to a monthly publication. In February 1822, soon after moving to Washington, Anderson & Meehan also began publishing The Columbian Star, self-described as an apolitical Baptist weekly newspaper.^[2][4] The two also served as the chief editors of the paper for about a year, before editorship was transferred to Rev. James D. Knowles.^[4] Alongside the two regular publications, the firm would occasionally publish other items, such as pamphlets. Anderson left the partnership in early 1823, and Meehan became the sole publisher of the Luminary and Star. Knowles left the Star in July 1825, placing Meehan into editorship of the paper. He would leave the paper himself six months later, seeking to separate the Star from his entry into political writing. He transferred publication and editorship of the Star to Baron Stow and discontinued the Luminary.^[2]

United States' Telegraph edit

Following his narrow loss in a House contingent election after the 1824 presidential election, Tennessee senator Andrew Jackson and his former running mate John C. Calhoun sought a supportive newspaper in Washington D.C.^[5] Through allies William B. Lewis and John Eaton, the Jackson campaign indirectly purchased Jonathan Elliot's City of Washington Gazette. Although Meehan ostensibly purchased the paper, the purchase was likely directed by Eaton using notes endorsed by John Peter Van Ness. Meehan served as the first publisher and chief editor of the Telegraph, with the newspaper entering publication on February 6, 1826.^[6][7] The Telegraph was published in weekly, thrice-weekly, and daily editions, available by subscription. From the outset, the paper was immensely partisan, strongly opposed to the election of President John Quincy Adams and the appointment of Secretary of State Henry Clay. It declared this in violation of "the most sacred principles of the Constitution," and adopted the motto "Power is always stealing from the many to the few."^[8][9]

As editor, Meehan heavily critiqued the system of executive patronage (also known as the spoils system). He attacked the appointment of an Anti-Jacksonian postmaster in Jackson's hometown of Nashville, claiming the appointment was solely made to "mortify" Jackson.^[10] Meehan also placed an emphasis on defending Jackson's reputation, describing him as the "abused citizen" and claiming that he was above the political games and corruption that he attributed to the Adams administration. National Republican-aligned newspapers began to oppose the Telegraph, with The National Intelligencer and National Journal claiming Meehan held an "indiscriminate opposition".^[11]

Soon after his acquisition of the paper, Jacksonians began to worry that Meehan lacked the ferocity and boldness needed to support the campaign. Although Meehan was recognized for his strong anti-Adams advocacy through the Telegraph, the ownership of the paper grew uncomfortable with his perceived inability to mount an effective response against the administration. The lack of transparency around the formation of the Telegraph invited allegations of conspiracy. The Richmond Whig described the paper as "edited by nobody knows whom, supported, nobody knows how."^[9][12]

Missouri editor and politician Duff Green was summoned to Washington by prominent Jacksonians to take over the Telegraph.^[13] He published several editorials in the paper, and offered to purchase the paper after strong rebuttals from the National Journal. Green borrowed large amounts of money from Jacksonian politicians, including Eaton, to finance this purchase. An official deal between Meehan and Green was reached on June 5, 1826 purchasing the paper and its printing office.^[14] Meehan was additionally hired as Green's assistant for a three year term; however, Green soon left to travel the country, and Meehan continued serving as the de facto chief editor of the paper for several months. During this period, Meehan clashed with pro-administration presses on a number of issues, including Adams' alleged purchase of a billiards table and the military significance of Jackson's victory in the Battle of New Orleans.^[15]

The last issue of the Telegraph featuring Meehan's name was published on October 17, 1826, although he continued to serve as Green's editor until 1829. No official statement was made regarding the change of ownership. While working as Green's publisher, Meehan additionally served as the Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the Baptist Columbian College.^[16][17][18]

Appointment edit

Upon Jackson's election in 1828, the incoming administration begun a mass shift of government positions in favor of supportive Democrats via the spoils system, likening the removal of incumbent officials to the cleaning of the Augean Stables. George Watterston, the Librarian of Congress since 1815, had strong connections to many of Jackson's opponents, and was later described as "librarian of one side of the isle".^[20] Jackson originally intended to replace Watterson with Charles P. Tutt, but Tutt declined in favor of a position as U.S. Navy Agent at Pensacola.^[21][20]

Green wrote to Andrew Jackson in April 23, 1829, recommending Meehan as Watterson's replacement for Librarian of Congress. Green, in increasing amounts of debt, wished to hire an assistant editor at a significant lower rate than what he had agreed for Meehan.^[18] A later biographer described the letter as significantly embellishing Meehan's scholarly capabilities, and his appointment itself as "purely an act of political patronage."^[21]

Meehan was officially appointed as Librarian on May 28, 1829, via a commission exalting his character. Henry Clay, angered by the appointment, compared Watterson's removal to the burning of the Library of Alexandria.^[20] Questions of Meehan's suitability for the role were immediately raised by some anti-Jacksonian press outlets and politicians; unlike his predecessor, he was a monolingual English speaker. The New-England Palladium condemned Watterson's removal, but conceded that Meehan was ultimately "an amiable and respectable man" and preferable to other possible Jacksonian candidates.^[21][20]

Watterson himself was indignant at his replacement, and repeatedly and unsuccessfully attempt to reclaim the position for the rest of his life, through "cajolery, threats, and flattery".^[20] Despite his past as a partisan editor, Meehan remained a relatively apolitical librarian, and even Whig administrations were unwilling to replace him.^[20]

Tenure edit

When Meehan took office, the library was situated within the western portion of the United States Capitol, containing about 16,000 books.^[23] He wrote in irritation at the conditions within the library, describing various maintenance taken to restore damaged books, clean shelves, and remove bookworms. In July 1832, Congress approved expansions to the Law Library of Congress, designating a nearby room to hold the slightly over 2,000 law books held in the collections. Around this time, he appointed his son C. H. Warton Meehan, previously employed as his assistant, to head the Law Library.^[23][24]

A steady appropriation of US$5,000 a year for the purchase of books, plus an additional US$1,000–US$2,000 for law books, was allocated to Meehan throughout his career with occasional exception. Meehan steadily acquired books, although was criticized for prioritizing the acquisition of popular books over scholarly concerns. Journalist Anne Royall rebuked his purchasing habits, claiming he had failed to "anticipate the research needs of legislators or scholars", and criticizing the acquisition of a number of books intended for Sunday school students.^[24][25] Two major opportunities were presented to purchase expansive collections, but were both denied by Congress, with Meehan doing little to advocate for the prospect. An 1836 offer to purchase Russian nobleman Dmitry Buturlin's multilingual collection of 25,000 books was denied by a 17–16 vote. An offer in 1844 to acquire the Durazzo family library, containing over 10,000 volumes, was rejected for largely containing non-English literature.^[24][25]

Classification systems in the library were archaic, with shelves placed in accordance to Thomas Jefferson's original classification schema. Books were generally categorized by subject, and within subjects by "size, or form".^[23] Library catalogues divided books by subject, with books within each subject listed alphabetically. Many years passed between different general catalogs of the library, requiring the consultation of additional supplementary listings.^[23]

In 1840, French actor and ventriloquist Alexandre Vattemare received federal support for his proposed government document exchange system between the United States and France. Meehan provided Vattemare with 700 volumes of congressional documents, an amount "said to be twice as large as any in Washington."^[26] However, widespread American enthusiasm for the program led to a massive quantity of documents, which Vattemare was unable to manage effectively. Meehan grew increasingly upset with the poor condition of shipments received through the program, describing the documents as poor quality and incomplete.^[27][28] Congress terminated the program in June 1853. However, Vattemare continued sporadic and unwanted shipments of books to the Library of Congress. The final shipment was sent in 1858, leading to a frustrated response from Meehan and the return of his shipment, unopened.^[27]

1851 Library of Congress fire edit

Slightly before 8:00 am on December 24, 1851, a large fire broke out in the main room of the Library of Congress. Meehan was quickly summoned to the scene. Freezing temperatures impaired fire hoses, slowing efforts to put out the fire. While the main room was essentially unsalvageable, books in adjacent rooms were quickly moved to safety. A number of fire engine crews, alongside a group of nearby Marines, were able to extinguish the blaze by around 11:00 am. About 35,000 of the library's 55,000 books were destroyed, alongside a number of paintings and statues. An inquiry was launched over the coming days to investigate the cause of the fire: after testimony from Meehan, Architect of the Capitol Thomas U. Walter determined that the fire was sparked by the timbers of library alcoves extending into a chimney-flue. Any potential censures or charges were dismissed.^[29][30]

Collaboration with Pearce and rebuilding edit

From the outset, Meehan collaborated with the Congressional Joint Committee on the Library, often deferring to its advice regardless of partisan lines. He worked closely with the Democratic-Republican Edward Everett during the early 1830s. Maryland Senator James Pearce was appointed chairman of the Joint Committee in 1845, beginning a long-running period of close collaboration between him and Meehan.^[31] Pearce comforted Meehan in the aftermath of the 1851 fire, leading him to describe Pearce as "so eminent a gentleman, and so discriminating a friend".^[32]

Meehan, Pearce, and Walter worked steadily on rebuilding efforts over the course of 1852. Congress authorized various appropriations to finance the reconstruction of the library and the repurchase of lost books. By March 1852, temporary facilities for the library had been finished. The construction process faced numerous delays, irritating Meehan. While Walter had promised in March that the work would be completed in three months, the reconstruction of the main room was not finished until the spring of 1853. Despite these delays, Meehan was extremely pleased with the library room, calling it "truly beautiful."^[32]

Meehan commissioned Rich Brothers, a London-based book dealing firm, to restock the library. His purchasing efforts were critiqued by an anonymous two-part National Intelligencer article (sometimes attributed to Smithsonian librarian Charles Coffin Jewett), stating that an agent should be sent overseas to purchase books, and that the Library of Congress should attempt to become "a systematic collection of books chosen with competent bibliographic learning for a specific and well-defined purpose."^[33][34] Meehan rebuked criticism, writing that such efforts would place "Congress in a position which admits that they cannot select the books they need."^[33] Meehan diligently produced various "want lists" based on earlier catalogs. Although control over what books the library was to purchase had been shifted from the Joint Committee to the Librarian of Congress, he reassured Pearce that he sought to return to the previous system and did not intend to expand his control over book acquisition.^[35] The library's collections were restored by early 1856, following the purchase of 36,000 at a "cost very far below the prices given for the lost books" through Rich Brothers.^[36]

Increased annual funding for the library, on top of various special appropriations, enabled the rapid growth of the library over the following years.^[37] An attempt by Jewett and the Smithsonian Institution to re-catalog the library ended after criticism from Meehan. Rumors that the newly-elected Franklin Pierce had appointed a new Librarian of Congress troubled Meehan. After consultation with Pearce, he met with Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, who reassured him that the rumors were unfounded. Secretary of State Lewis Cass of the succeeding Buchanan administration also reaffirmed Meehan's position as librarian. ^[38]

Removal edit

Following the election of Abraham Lincoln and the ensuing secession of the southern states in late 1860 and early 1861, Meehans position became increasingly unstable. Ainsworth Spofford described him as a "very ancient fossil", and rumors began to circulate of pro-Southern sympathies.^[39] Pearce wrote to Lincoln in March 1861, asking that Meehan be allowed to continue his role as librarian. Indiana physician John Gould Stephenson was able to convince Lincoln to choose him for the position through shared political sympathies. Stephenson officially accepted his appointment on May 23, 1861 and Meehan calmly left his duties at the end of the month.^[39]

Legacy edit

Later historians would call into question Meehan's abilities as Librarian, critiquing his inability to transform the Library of Congress into a national library during his tenure. In his 1904 History of the Library of Congress, historian William Dawson Johnston described Meehan as having the "second qualification of a successful administrator, that is, business ability."^[40]

Meehan and his wife Margaret had seven children. Margaret died during childbirth in July 1826, alongside the infant later the same day. Meehan remarried in October 1827 to Rachel T. Monington, his wife's sister, and the two would go on to have two more children together. Only three of Meehan's children would outlive him.^[16]

In the afternoon of April 24, 1863, Meehan died suddenly from apoplexy at his residence in Washington. An obituary described him as "[leaving] to his family that best inheritance, an unsullied name."^[41] His son C. H. Warton Meehan would continue his role as custodian of the Law Library until his own death in July 1872.^[42]

Citations edit

Bibliography edit

Further reading edit

• Ostrowski, Carl. Books, Maps, and Politics: A Cultural History of the Library of Congress, 1783–1861. University of Massachusetts Press, 2004. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt5vk55t.
• Ostrowski, Carl. “James Alfred Pearce and the Question of a National Library in Antebellum America.” Libraries & Culture 35, no. 2 (2000): 255–77. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25548814.