Memorial Record of Western Kentucky, Volume I and Volume II, Lewis Publishing Company, 1904, pp. 17-19. Christian Co. CHARLES MAYFIELD MEACHAM Prominent among journalists, newspaper editors and publishers of Kentucky, is Charles Mayfield Meacham. He was born in Gracey, Kentucky, June 14, 1858. He is descended from an old and prominent Kentucky family. The first ancestor of the Meacham family of whom there is any reliable information, was William Meacham, who lived in Chatham county, North Carolina, prior to the Revolutionary war. It is uncertain whether the name is of Irish or English origin, but more probably the latter. The progenitor of the family in America came to this continent at a very early date. William Meacham was born about 1720, and was an old man when American independence was declared. His wife was named Elizabeth, called Betsy, and they reared a large family of children, among whom there were William, Joseph, James, John, Jesse and George. Of these William, Joseph, James, John and George went west from North Carolina, and their descendants are both numerous and well scattered throughout the states. Joseph and William married sisters, whose name was West. Joseph and John about 1792 came to Kentucky and settled in Christian county, but later John removed to Montgomery county, Tennessee. Joseph was about forty or forty-five years old when he settled in Kentucky. His eldest son, Edmund, who came with him, had married Miss Richardson. Joseph was probably born about 1750. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. He reared a large family, eight sons and one daughter, namely, Edmund, Willis, Jeremiah, Andrew, Joseph, West and Wyatt (twins), Jonathan and Sinah. Edmund was twice married. His second wife was a Calvin. He has many descendants in Christian county, Kentucky. Willis was a Baptist preacher. Jeremiah was married three times and had thirteen children. Andrew was also a Baptist preacher but years ago removed to Illinois. Joseph was born in Christian county, Kentucky, in 1794. He moved to Illinois and died there about 1845. West died in childhood. Jonathan lived to be a young man and married, but died without issue. Sinah, the daughter, married Mr. Spurlin, but died without issue. Wyatt Meacham, son of Joseph and Molly (West) Meacham, was a twin brother of West Meacham. He was born in Christian county, Kentucky, in 1798. In 1817 he married Ellen Robinson, a daughter of Abner Robinson, and granddaughter of James Robinson, a soldier in the Revolutionary war. To Wyatt and Ellen Meacham were born three children, two sons and one daughter. He died in 1876 and she in 1878. Their descendants all reside in Christian county, Kentucky. Their oldest son, Rev. Abner Winchester Meacham, was born in this county, February 13, 1818, and died at his home in Gracey, Kentucky, December 11, 1902. He was ordained as a Baptist minister in 1838, and in 1898, after sixty years spent in the ministry, he retired from active work. He married Marian Lander in 1855 and settled at Gracey, Kentucky. He reared six children, namely: Robert T., born in 1856 and died in 1883; Charles Mayfield Meacham, the immediate subject of this sketch; Mollie H., who married T.E. Bartley; James Parrish Meacham; Victoria, who married T.J. Baynham; and Lander Meacham. Charles M. Meacham was educated in the schools of Hopkinsville, receiving a fair high school education. He studied law, and in 1879 was admitted to the bar, but about that time he became involved in newspaper work, and soon became owner and publisher of the "Kentuckian", of Hopkinsville. He gave up the practice of law after a brief time that he might give full time to newspaper work. Since 1883 he has published and edited the "Kentuckian" as a semi-weekly paper. As a journalist he has gained an enviable reputation but no more so than as an "after-dinner speaker." He is enjoyed both as a writer and speaker because of his wit and humor. In 1893 Mr. Meacham was president of the Kentucky State Newspaper Association, and for some eight or nine years has been the Kentucky national committeeman of the National Editorial Association. He has long been prominent in the Democratic party, but has held none other than minor offices. He is a Master Mason, a Knight of Pythias and a member of the Baptist church. In 1883 Mr. Meacham married Miss Lizzie E. Tandy, and they have three sons, Rodman Y., Charles M., Jr., and Ralph Tandy Meacham. Meacham West Richardson Calvin Spurlin Robinson Lander Bartley Baynham Tandy = Chatham-NC Montgomery-TN IL http://www.rootsweb.com/~kygenweb/kybiog/christian/meacham.cm.txt