Almon Rouse Meek (1834 – June 30, 1888), also referred to as Almon R. Meek and A. R. Meek, was an American lawyer and politician who served as the eighth

Florida Attorney General The Florida attorney general is an elected cabinet official in the U.S. state of Florida. The attorney general serves as the chief legal officer of the state and is head of the Florida Department of Legal Affairs. The office is one of Florida's ...

Early life and education

Meek was born in

Greenfield, Indiana Greenfield is a city in and the county seat of Hancock County, Indiana, United States, and a part of the Indianapolis metropolitan area. The population was 20,602 at the 2010 census, and an estimated 23,006 in 2019. It lies in Center Township. ...

, in 1834. In 1857, Meek attended

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

, graduating the next year. He moved to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

in 1868 and was admitted into the

Florida Bar The Florida Bar is the integrated bar association for the state of Florida. It is the third largest such bar in the United States. Its duties include the regulation and discipline of attorneys. The Florida Bar is also responsible for the govern ...

on April 9, 1868.

Political career

Governor Harrison Reed, who like Meek was a

Midwesterner The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. ...

who came to Florida after the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...

, appointed Meek as the eighth Florida Attorney General. During Meek's tenure the

Florida Senate The Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida House of Representatives being the lower house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted ...

attempted to

impeach Impeachment is the process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In ...

Reed twice. As a result of the first impeachment attempt, Lieutenant Governor William Henry Gleeson claimed the title of

Governor of Florida A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

. Meek, a supporter of Reed, sued Gleeson on behalf of the people of Florida. The trial, ''Florida v. Gleeson'', went to the Florida Supreme Court, where many of the recent appointees were supporters of Reed and the Court ruled Gleeson's claim unconstitutional and removed him from office as Lieutenant Governor on December 14, 1868. Meek resigned as Florida Attorney General in 1870 due to his health. He later served as a U.S. Court Commissioner and as the Chief Supervisor of Elections for the Northern District of Florida.

Personal life

In 1868, Meek married Eliza R. Rice, a friend he met while at Harvard, though she died the next year. In 1872, he married Phoebe Caroline Piper, another old friend. He had no children with either wife.

Death

Meek died on June 30, 1888, at his home in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meek, A. R. Florida attorneys general 1834 births 1888 deaths Harvard Law School alumni People from Greenfield, Indiana Lawyers from Jacksonville, Florida 19th-century Florida politicians