Charles D Meeks

Submitted by Marrie Miller

Born and reared in Adair county, Missouri, of parents who were among the first settlers in that region, living since he left there in what is now Crook county, Wyoming, far from the great centers of population and the blandishments of artificial social life, Charles D Meeks, now of Carlile, has passed almost his entire life on the frontier, and he has been rewarded by the strength of fiber, self-reliance, resolute manhood and readiness in action, physical and mental, begotten in such an experience. He was born on February 27, 1863, in Adair county, Mo, the son of Andrew and Mary (Nicholas) Meeks, natives of Ohio, who came to Missouri in 1842 and tilled the virgin soil in that state through all the border troubles and the long Civil War, suffering many hardships and privations, witnessing the contests of rival opinions, and ultimately enjoying the fruits of peaceful progress. The father was a leading citizen of his section, prosperous as a farmer, influential in the councils of the community, an example in character and conduct, being well known throughout the northern part of the state. In 1878 he removed to South Dakota, and, after a short time, from there to Wyoming, his location being then in Laramie county, in the portion since segregated to constitute Crook. He homesteaded there, living for a time with his sons, and there he also conducted a sheep and cattle industry. In 1901 he bought a drugstore in Sundance, and has since conducted that, still holding ownership, however, to his land and cattle interests. Charles D Meeks grew to manhood and was educated in his native county, and, after leaving school, he was engaged in farming with his father on the home place for a few years, and later on his own account. In 1880 he joined his father in Wyoming, where, in Crook county, he was united with him and the other sons in a cattle business. In 1884 C D Meeks took up land for himself on Kara Creek, twenty-five miles from Sundance, and there he planted his altar and located the hearthstone around which his hopes have since grown and flourished, with unbroken success and prosperity.