Meeker, Samuel, 1763-1832

Samuel Meeker was a Philadelphia, Pa. merchant and a agent for William Meeker, London merchant.

Samuel Meeker was a Philadelphia merchant and militia captain.

James Winchester was a soldier, planter, and pioneer. He was born in Carroll County, Maryland. As a youth he learned his father's trade (surveyor) and was widely respected for his skill and industry. He enlisted as a private in the Continental army in 1776 and rose to the rank of captain. Wounded, captured, and imprisoned briefly by the British, he served to the war's end and was a leader in the organization of the Society of the Cincinnati. After the Revolution, Winchester and his brother George bought land in the Cumberland settlements north of Nashville in present -day Sumner County. Both moved to the Tennessee country by 1785 and immediately became active in frontier government and military service. George was ambushed and killed by Chickasaw Indians in 1794, but James prospered. He added to his land holdings, built mills, and established trade in tobacco and other products with merchants in New Orleans and several eastern cities. In 1802 he built a spacious home, "Cragfont," which was described by a contemporary as "the most elegant house west of the Appalachians." American National Biography Online http://www.anb.org (Retrieved December 16, 2008)