J. Fred Meyers
J. FRED MEYERS was born in Oettinger, Bavaria, Germany, in 1833. His parents came to America when he was fourteen years of age and located at Adrian, Michigan, where he learned the printing business.
He was a radical abolitionist in the days of slavery and became the editor of The Independent, published at Columbus, Indiana. In 1857 he was associated with S. M. Booth in the publication of The Free Democrat at Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
In 1861 he was appointed Chief of the Printing Division of the Treasury Department at Washington under Secretary S. P. Chase, serving until 1874.
He was for several years' editor and publisher of The Civil Service Journal at Washington and was chief editor of The Republic, a political magazine under the direction of the National Republican committee. He was twice sent by the Treasury Department to Germany to investigate emigration. During his life in Washington he graduated from the Columbian University Law School.
In 1874 he removed to Iowa, locating in Crawford County, where he purchased and published the Denison Review. He was postmaster from 1877 to 1886. In 1889 he was appointed by President Harrison, chief clerk in the office of the Sixth Auditor of the Treasury Department.
In 1891 the Bureau of Labor sent him to Germany to report on the Industrial School system of that country. Mr. Meyers was a strong writer in the field of Iowa journalism. He died at Denison, Iowa, May 1, 1898.
History of Iowa From the Earliest Times To The Beginning of the Twentieth Century. Volume IV, Iowa Biography, B. F. Gue, 1903.
Submitted by Phyllis Heller