Samuel Meeker's cousin and business partner: More on Wm Parsons Meeker. He was indeed married!

William Parsons Meeker, also a sitter for Gilbert Stuart 

I have been in touch with a descedent of Samuel's cousin and business partner William Parsons Meeker. William handled the business side of things in England, organizing items to be shipped from London to Philadelphia ["dry goods and hardware"], to be retailed to Philly customers. My thought is that he went back and forth (probably rarely, how often did retail businessmen from America sail between London and Philadelphia, the hazardous trip could take anywhere from 1 1/2 to 3 months), did he carry on two lives? It seems that William met his demise, at sea as a younger man, during the War of 1812 with England.  As an American, he perhaps was no longer welcome in England. It was a tragic time for both nations, negatively impacting the economies of both countries (in particular import/export, through shipping). Here is more information on William Meeker from my "distant" cousin. More input is welcome at any time, from you Meekers out there. It was thought that he was unmarried, but that has been shown to be false.

Terry's discovery that an ancestor of hers was painted by Stuart was exciting, 

as it would be to anyone!

She, like me, delved into the STORIES of our Meeker ancestry. Terry wrote the excerpt below.

Regarding the Gilbert Stuart blog by Elizabeth Ahrens:

I read and felt your excitement in 2008 at finding the portrait of your ancestor Samuel Meeker (1763-1831) painted by non other than Gilbert Stuart in 1803. As an Australian, I needed to read about Stuart to appreciate the artist’s following in America. Seemingly, his greatness was evident and his artistic merits were in part due to the nature of many of his clientele – The ‘wealthy and/or famous’.

My own excitement arose when I read that Samuel’s cousin, William Parsons Meeker (1769-1812) was also painted by Stuart and there it was, William’s portrait right in front of my eyes. I have to admit that it wasn’t the greatness of the artist nor the attributes of many of the sitters that aroused my emotions. You see, William was my 3-x great grandfather. I had done a lot of background reading about the Meekers in America, starting with the progenitor William (Goodman) Meeker who arrived there about 1635. Samuel and William were descendants (and first cousins) of William (Goodman) Meeker. 

William’s parents were Matthias (1744-1832) and Jane Parsons (1746-1814). Matthias Meeker was famous in his own right. He, Rev. J. Arsdalen and Matthias Denman organised residents of Springfield, NJ to discuss how to help those people who were seeking refuge from Yellow fever. That particular epidemic killed 5000 Philadelphians. It was decided to offer asylum and a hospital to those who were affected.

A sentence written by Elizabeth Ahrens on her blog related to Gilbert Stuart caught my eye; ‘William Parson Meeker, he never married’.  It wasn’t the first time that I had seen this statement about William. I have written a biography of my family’s history. In it, I have shown that William did in fact marry during his time spent working as a merchant in England in the early 1800s. 

William’s portrait presents a handsome young man, yet, apparently, Stuart never beautified his sitters. It’s easy to understand then then why an English lady, named Elizabeth Vandenbrant would find Mr. William Parsons Meeker an attractive gentleman, fall in love, and marry him, and then have his child in January 1810.

One has to ask why is William presented as a childless bachelor in death (1812); and how do I know otherwise? We can assume that Willian hadn’t told anyone ‘back home’ that he had married or fathered a son. Do we know if he actually travelled ‘back home’? To date, there isn’t any evidence suggest that he did so.

Likewise, we haven’t found a specific marriage record for William. However, there is ample documentation to support our proposal that he and Elizabeth married. Parish baptismal records show William and Elizabeth Meeker as parents for a son.

When their son married in 1836, he and his wife Charlotte Callan made William Parson a grandfather for 11 children. From those 11 children then are descendants such as myself, settled throughout the globe.

William Parsons and Samuel Denman (based in America) were declared bankrupt in London in 1808. Dividends due to creditors were still being played out in court when he died in 1812. Perhaps he was returning home to sort out his financial difficulties when he died at sea in 1812?

There’s plenty more to William Parson Meeker’s story as presented by Dr. Terry Joyce PhD (Australia) and Pam Prior (England).

Correspondence:   doctor.terry60@yahoo.gov.au