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Note: N264 William Douglas Meriwether
The Meriwethers and Their Connections?
He was the first child of Dr. Charles Meriwether and Mary (Walton) Daniel. This was the member of the family credited by quite a few as being the go-getter of his age. During the War between the States a large section of Tennessee and Kentucky had served as a battleground. When the war ended, a way of life had disappeared. His family as well as their kinsman, the Barkers, were reduced from a state of gracious living to one of bare subsistence. He contributed to their rise by his industry and business acumen.
There is another picture of William Douglas Meriwether — his ability to hold on to a dollar under adverse conditions. In 1868 Jesse James, not yet the famed desperado, train robber, and highwayman he was to become, heard that Meriwether had $10,000 which was on the premises of "Meriville" and James and his band of cutthroats captured Meriwether, threatened him to the extent of putting a rope around his neck, and told him if he did not divulge the hiding place of the money they would pull the rope and leave him dangling. Meriwether convinced the bandits that there was no money on the place, and so lived to tell the tale. I'm glad that William D. Meriwether had five guests that late afternoon because they provided the irrefutable testimony as to his adventure with Jesse James as he started out on his tempestuous career.
An article in the Courier-Journal, August 7, 1955, described the scene:
The noose tightened around the neck of the farmer as the leader of the armed band, a somewhat stooped young man with blinking blue eyes and a receding chin, repeated his threat.
'This is your last chance,' he snarled in a high pitched voice, tugging sharply at the rope. 'We know you just sold your tobacco and that you dug up them gold dollars you buried from the yankees. Tell us where the money is or, by God, we'll snap your neck like a match stick.'
The time was half an hour before dark on an early March day in 1868; the place was [Meriville] the back yard of the home of William Douglas Meriwether, a bachelor farmer who lived near Guthrie, Todd County, Kentucky…
Earlier, the men in tattered grey army uniforms had ridden on horseback up to the house. They said they were Confederates and could they get a bite of supper. Although Meriwether and his five guests had eaten, a table was set for the strangers. No sooner had they finished than the spokesman called "Dingus" [Jesse James] by the others pulled a gun and leveled it at Meriwether. 'Now we'll have that $10,000 you got in the house.' Meriwether kept insisting there was no money in the house, but his words fell on deaf ears. 'Take him out and string him up to that big oak tree,' said one of the strangers. 'That'll jog his memory.'
Now there was very little slack left in the rope around Meriwether's neck.
'There's no money here,' he gasped. 'I put it all in the bank in Russellville [Ky.]. The deposit book is in my pocket — that'll prove I'm not lying.' Dingus, the leader, dug the book out of his pocket. 'That's right, boys,' he said. 'This shows he made a big deposit the other day in the Long Bank in Russellville. But,' he added almost as an after thought, 'what's to keep us from still getting that money?'
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Note: N265 Leaf-Chonicle Weekly (Clarksville, Tennessee), 14 Nov 1878, Thursday
Mr. William Douglas Meriwether died at his home, Meriville, Todd county, Ky., on the 6th inst., in the 67th year of his age.
Mr. Meriwether was in many respects a remarkable man and useful citizen. He was a highly cultivated man, possessing talent, and in every sense of the word strictly honorable. He was one of the most generous men we have ever known, dealing out open-handed charity wherever he saw it deserving. The young men growing up around him who made an effort to help themselves were sure to enlist his sympathy and advice.
He possessed a large fortune, and during his life used it to good advantage, and left to his relatives quite a large estate.
The community has lost a valuable citizen in the death of Mr. Meriwether, and the poor a staunch friend.
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Note: N266 Clarksville Tobacco Leaf (Clarksville, Tennessee), 14 November 1878, p. 5
William Douglas Meriwether was born in Virginia on November 27, 1809 and died November 6, 1878 at Meriville, Todd County.
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