James Andrew MEEKS, Congress, IL (1864-1946)

MEEKS, James Andrew, a Representative from Illinois; born in New Matamoras, Washington County, Ohio, March 7, 1864; moved to Illinois with his parents, who settled on a farm near Danville, Vermilion County, in 1865; attended the public schools, Westfield (Ill.) College, and Illinois College at Jacksonville; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1890 and commenced practice in Danville, Ill.; master in chancery of the circuit court 1903-1915; corporation counsel of Danville 1925-1931; delegate to the Democratic National Conventions in 1920, 1924, 1928, and 1932; elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-third, Seventy-fourth, and Seventy-fifth Congresses (March 4, 1933-January 3, 1939); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1938 to the Seventy-sixth Congress and for election in 1940 to the Seventy-seventh Congress; resumed the practice of law and also engaged in banking until his death in Danville, Ill., November 10, 1946; interment in Spring Hill Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present