John Silva Meehan (6 February 1790 – 24 April 1863) was an American printer and publisher. He was the fourth

Librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time ...

of the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

from 1829 to 1861. Meehan, a

United States Democratic party The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States. Founded in 1828, it was predominantly built by Martin Van Buren, who assembled a wide cadre of politicians in every state behind war hero And ...

member, was appointed Librarian of Congress by President

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

, replacing in the post the Whig-activist George Watterston, who opposed Jackson. He and his congressional supporters advocated limits on the size of the library. Many of the library's functions were transferred to other government agencies. When a fire destroyed 35,000 volumes in 1851, including two-thirds of the materials originally provided by President

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the natio ...

, the money provided by Congress for restoration was used solely for replacing lost materials and not for expansion. Meehan did provide a small collection of periodicals for congressional perusal which, under later librarians, became the periodicals division. Meehan served under nine presidents. Despite congressional opposition, President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

replaced Meehan with a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

supporter, John G. Stephenson.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meehan, John Silva 1790 births 1863 deaths Librarians of Congress American printers American publishers (people) 19th-century printers 19th-century publishers (people) People from New York City New York (state) Democrats 19th-century American businesspeople