Milam, Benjamin C.

In 1835 jewelers Jonathan and Benjamin Meek, of Frankfort, Ky. began manufacturing a version of the "Kentucky Fishing Reel" which had been invented ca. 1807 by George Snyder of Paris Ky. Their company was named Meek and Meek, but was changed to Meek and Milam in 1853 when Jonathan left the company and their apprentice Benjamin Milam was made a partner. Milam later began a reelmaking business with his son, John, and continued to stamp his reels as "Meek and Milam." A later court decision prevented the Meeks from calling their reels the "Frankfort Kentucky Reel." Milam was declared the original maker of the reel.