Meigs Hall, located on the northwest corner of the old main campus, is named for one of the most unique men ever to serve the University of Georgia.
Josiah Meigs was, in a sense, the first head of UGA. Abraham Baldwin, the first president who had authored the school’s charter in 1785 resigned before classes began and recommended Meigs, a former friend and associate at Yale. Meigs was hired and was in charge when classes began in 1801. He resigned in 1810 after a disagreement with the board of trustees, remained on the faculty for as additional year and returned to the North for the remainder of his distinguished career.
Born in Middletown, Connedticut in 1757, Meigs graduated from Yale and then studied Law while tutoring in mathematics, natural philosophy and astronomy. He was admitted to the bar in 1783 and served as city clerk of New Haven, Ct. for five years. During this period, he established and published the New Haven Gazette newspaper and in 1788 published the first American Medical Journal.
He then practiced law in St. George, Bermuda for five years and returned to the U.S. to take the chair of mathematics and natural philosophy at Yale. He taught there until 1801 when he came to Athens as president of the University of Georgia.
He became well known in academic circles when he implemented the university’s first physics curriculum. After his resignation, he remained for one year as professor of Mathematics, Natural Philosophy and Chemistry.
Meigs was appointed Surveyor General by U. S. President James Madison in 1812 and after two years accepted the appointment as Commissioner of the United States General Land Office where he instituted the nation’s first system of daily meteorological observation at land offices throughout the country.
He was also president of the Columbian Institute and one of the original corporators and trustees of Columbian College (now George Washington University) and professor of experimental philosophy there.
Meigs married Clara Benjamin in 1782 and they had two sons and a daughter. One son, Henry served in the U.S. congress and another, Charles became a famous obstetrician. Their daughter Clara married John Forsyth, U.S. Secretary of State under presidents Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren.
Meigs died in 1822 and was originally buried in Holmead’s Cemetery in Washington, D.C. The cemetery was later disbanded and the graves removed, so he was reinterred in Arlington National Cemetery in 1878 in the lot of his grandson, Major General Montgomery Meigs.
The University’s highest teaching honor is named for him. The University recognizes up to five faculty members each year with the Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professorship.
Meigs Hall was built in 1905 during the administration of Walter B. Hill.
