William Henry Harrison Meacham, a
native of Tennessee, was born January 7, 1839
in Ripley, Lauderdale County,
Tennessee. He was married July 30, 1857 to Martha Ann
Brown, born October 15, 1839, the daughter of James Brown. William Henry died February 2, 1894 and is
buried in Smithfield
Cemetery. Martha Ann died July 1, 1914.
They were parents of six children:
1)
George Allison, married Josie Smith.
2)
William Calvin, born November 4, 1863, married
Catherine Texana Hightower.
3)
James Ollie, married Mary Wallace.
4)
Nancy Emeline (Nannie), born August 30, 1866, married
Charles Tiffany Whitley on October 9, 1887.
5)
Walter, married Johnnie White.
6)
Thomas Owen, married Nell McKillip
The father of these children is
remembered by his grand children as a man of peace, believing that human
differences could and should be settled without violence. He preferred to remain neutral during the War
Between the States, but was conscripted to guard Federal prisoners at Fort Pillow. Because of the short supply of fire arms, he
carried a wooden weapon, carved to resemble a rifle. While he was on guard duty, Union soldiers
burned his smoke house which contained the winter’s supply of meat for the
Meacham family.
In 1872, William Henry Harrison
Meacham brought his family by wagon train from Tennessee
to Arkansas,
where they lived for several years.
Between 1875-1878, they continued their westward trek to Tarrant County and established their home on a
farm just west of Athol, now Keller.
