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Salem Pioneer Cemetery ~ John Wesley Meredith ~ part of the Marion County Pioneer Cemeteries of Oregon
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John Wesley Meredith
LAST NAME: Meredith FIRST NAME: John MIDDLE NAME: Wesley NICKNAME: 
MAIDEN NAME:  AKA 1:  AKA 2:  AKA 3: 
TITLE: Dr. GENDER: M MILITARY: Rogue River Indian War
BORN: 27 July 1831 DIED: 9 Jan 1918 BURIED: 11 Jan 1918
ETHNICITY:   OCCUPATION:  First Josephine Co., Assessor, miner, Merchant, Transfer business, City Alderman and Dentist.
BIRTH PLACE:  Vernon, Oneida Co., New York
DEATH PLACE: Salem, Marion Co., Oregon
NOTES: 
OSBH DC (Marion Co., 1918) O #8 - John Wesley Meredith, male, widowed, b. New York, d. 9 Jan 1918 in Salem, Oregon (248 South Church street) at the age of 86 years, 5 months, name of father Hugh Meredith (b. Wales), maiden name of mother Elizabeth Lewis (b. Wales), occupation - Dentist, interment IOOF 11 Jan 1918, undertaker - Webb & Clough, informant Mrs. Nettie Lockhart of Portland, Oregon. 

A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH of DR. J. W. MEREDITH 
We are presenting a sketch of the life of Dr. J. W. Meredith written by his son, Frank Meredith. Doctor Meredith was one of the distinguished residents of early Salem. Always full of kindness and good cheer, he was a model of honorable dealings and friendship. 
On July 27, 1831, near the town of Vernon in Oneida County, New York, was born John Wesley Meredith, the son of Welch parents, who in their youth had migrated to America to make their home. He was a frail, child, whose health did not seem to improve as he grew older, and so, when his sister and her husband, the Reverand J. W. Hines, brother of the pioneer Methodist missionaries, Gustavus and Harvey K. Hines, decided to go to Oregon in 1853, John accompanied them in the hope that he might be benefited by the change of climate. The journey was made by way of the Isthmus of Panama. Shortly after his arrival in Oregon, young Meredith took up a land claim in Multnomah County on which is located the iron mine near Oswego. Later he disposed of this claim and went to the southern Oregon mines. He arrived at Althouse on March 5, 1855, and mined there as well as at Sailor Diggings, Kerby and other camps in that vicinity. On January 22, 1856, by an act of the Territorial Legislature, Josephine County was created, and Meredith was appointed its first assessor. James Hendershot was appointed Sheriff. These two officers, instead of following the procedure of the present day in the manner of assessment and collection of taxes, devised a plan of their own, whereby they went together to the various settlements and 'diggings', and whenever they found anyone possessed of taxable property Meredith would proceed to make the assessment forthwith and Hendershot would collect the taxes then and there! The first assessment roll of Josephine County was sworn to by Meredith, assessor, on January 27, 1857. 
Meredith served in the Rogue River Indian war. Later he made his way north, having lived in both Roseburg and Corvallis for a short time, then settled in Linn County at a place call Spring Hill, near Albany, where he ran a store. While there, on October 16, 1859, he married Milley Ann Adams, eldest daughter of Charles Adams, who with his family had crossed the plains from Iowa in 1852. They became the parents of four children. The first two died in infancy. The other two are still living. Frank is in Salem, and Jeanette, now Mrs. E. B. Lockhart, resides in Lebanon, Oregon, where her husband is pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The year following their marriage Meredith sold his store and he and his wife went overland to California, their destination being Vallejo, where he worked in the Mare Island Navy Yard. A year later they returned to Salem, where Meredith and his father-in-law established a truck and dray business. 
During this time Beal and Baker were convicted of the murder of a Mr. Delaney, a farmer residing near Turner, and were sentenced to be hanged. On the day set for the execution the condemned men were placed in the omnibus, a very elaborate vehicle for those days, in which, driven by Meredith and surrounded by the home guards under the command of Captain S. E. May, who afterwards became Secretary of State, they were conveyed to a spot near the corner of what is now South Church and Mill Streets, where they paid the penalty for the crime. 
In the late sixties, Meredith, as an apprentice, entered the dental office of Dr. H. Smith, where, after he had learned the profession, he became a partner. Later he purchased Dr. Smith’s interest. He occupied the same office for over forty-six years and continuously practiced in this location until he retired in 1915. The office was located in the northeast corner of the second floor of the Griswold Building, now known as the Murphy Block, on the corner of Commercial and State Streets. About the years 1865 Mr. Meredith built a little house on South Church Street, between Ferry and Trade Streets, which was the family home until 1913 when he built a new house within 15 feet of the old residence. Here he and his wife spent their last years together. In 1909 Dr. and Mrs. Meredith celebrated their golden wedding which was attended by their two children, grandchildren and other close relatives. Seven years later they were separated by the death of Mrs. Meredith, which occurred on May 24, 1917. A little over a year later, on January 9, 1918, Dr. Meredith quietly passed away. 
Dr. Meredith was a quiet and unassuming man who readily made friends and by his sincerity maintained them and their respect. With the exception of the term which he served as Assessor of Josephine County, and one term on the City Council of Salem, he never ran for or held any public office. He was a lifelong member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and as long as he was able, attended at least one service each Sunday. 
Ladd and Bush Annual, 1931. pgs. 40-41 [photograph of Dr. Meredith]

PHOTO NOTE - Photograph of the Giswold building is courtesy of Salem Public Library Historic Photograph Collections, Salem Public Library, Salem, Oregon. DESCRIPTION:  Dr. Harrison Smith is shown operating a pedal operated drill on Dr. J.  W.  Meredith who is posing in a dental chair.  Dr. Meredith apprenticed under Dr. Smith and later bought out the practice.  The office was located on the second floor of the Griswold building which was across from the Ladd and Bush bank on the corner of Commercial and State Street in Salem, Oregon.  McMahan's furniture store now occupies the location [note - McMahan Rurniture was destroyed by fire on 10 Aug 2006]
DEATH CERTIFICATE: 
OBITUARY: 
DR. MEREDITH AGED DENTIST DIES, AGED 86. 
Veteran Practitioner Had Lived in Oregon for Sixty-five Years. 
LIVED EVENTFUL LIFE. 
Journey Westward Was By Way of Isthmus of Panama in 1853. 
Dr. John Wesley Meredith, a resident and practicing dentist in Salem for half a century, died last night at about 6 o'clock at his home, 248 South Church street. He was 86 years old and had been ill for about four years. Dr. Meredith lived in the same block in which he died and within fifty feet of the same house for fifty-three years. He was a practicing physician for forty-six years in the same office. He was also the oldest member of the First Methodist church, and had lived in the state for sixty-five years. The revered resident was born July 27, 1831. He came around the Isthmus to Oregon in 1853, settling in southern Oregon. It was in Josephine county and in a mining district. He lived also at Spring Hill near Albany. He married there, October 16, 1859, to Miss Millie Adams. 
Lived At Navy Yard. 
Later, Mr. Meredith went to the Mare Island navy yard and worked there until his return to Oregon. He was an unassuming man and during his entire residence only held one public office and that was as city alderman. In his early years in Salem the pioneer was in the transfer business. Following that he served an apprenticeship in a dentist's office and later bought the business. His office was in the Murphy block, corner of State and Commercial streets. He remained there until retiring four years ago. His wife died in Salem, May 24, 1917. Only two children survive. They are Frank Meredith of North Yakima, Washington, former secretary of the Oregon state fair board, and Mrs. E. B. Lockhart, wife of Rev. E. B. Lockhart of Portland. Masons To Read Ritual. 
The funeral announcements will be made later, the arrangements being in charge of Webb & Clough. The burial will be in Odd Fellows cemetery. Rev. Richard N, Avison will conduct the services and a ritual will be held under the auspices of the Masonic lodge. 
Oregon Statesman 10 Jan 1918.
INSCRIPTION: 
Father 
John W. Meredith 
1831 - 1918
SOURCES: 
LR 
OSBH DC (Marion Co., 1918) #8 
S&H pg 30 Barrick #806 
OS 10 Jan 1918  
Ladd & Bush Annual, 1931, pg. 40-41 (with photograph)
CONTACTS: 
LOT: 187 SPACE: 3 NW LONGITUDE:  LATITUDE: 
IMAGES:
     
 
 

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