David Meriwether [TMSI #5727]
David Meriwether, representative, was born in Virginia in 1755. He joined the
14th Virginia regiment,
Nov. 14, 1776, for service in the Revolutionary war. He
was promoted 2d lieutenant, Dec. 28, 1777,
served in New Jersey, and after
Sept. 14, 1778, his regiment was designated as the 10th Virginia. He
was
promoted 1st Lieutenant, May 7, 1779, and served in the siege of Savannah,
where he was taken
prisoner, Oct. 9, 1779. He was exchanged and was again taken
prisoner at Charleston, S. C., May 12,
1780. On his release he was transferred
to the 1st Virginia, Feb. 12, 1781, where he served till the close
of the war.
He settled in Wilkes county, Ga., in 1785, and represented that county in the
Georgia
legislature for several terms. He was elected a Democratic
representative in the 7th congress to fill the
vacancy caused by the death of
Benjamin Taliaferro, Sept. 3, 1821, and was re-elected to the 8th and 9th
congresses, serving 1802-1807. President Jefferson appointed him a commissioner
to treat with the
Creek Indians in 1804, and he was a commissioner with Andrew
Jackson and Gov. Joseph McMinn of
Kentucky, in the Cherokee treaty of 1817,
whereby a large territory west of the Appalachee river was
ceded to the United
States. He died near Athens, Ga., Nov. 16, 1822.
Source: "The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans" by Rossiter Johnson, John Howard Brown, Boston, 1904.
Merriwether, David (Va.), Ensign 14th Virginia, 14th November, 1776; 2d Lieutenant, 26 November 1777; regiment designated 10th Virginia, 14th September 1778; 1st Lieutenant, 7th May 1779; taken prisoner at Savannah, 9th October, 1779; exchanged ____; taken prisoner at Charleston, 12th May 1780; transferred to 1st Virginia, 12 February 1781, and served to close of war. (Died 16th November, 1822.)
By Francis B. Heitman, 1914, 1932, reprint 2008.