Eldest confirmed son of Walter Meeks and his wife Sarah, named in Walter's 1687 will (proved 1688, Cecil Co., Maryland) as receiving "The Forest" (250 acres) outright, with no minority condition — unlike his three younger brothers, who received a different tract only "at majority." This makes James the one Meekes/Meeks son independently documented as already an adult, likely married with his own household, by 1687. Proposed, unproven, as the father of Sarah Meeks (m. Darby Shawhan, 1707). 13.2), though the manuscript's own editorial pass flags that claim as uncited. Treat the father-of-Sarah link as a working hypothesis, not an established fact.
Life events
- 8 Oct 1687Named in Walter Meekes's will as eldest son, sole recipient of "The Forest" (250 acres), granted outright with no age condition (contrast with his three younger brothers, who share "The Forest Deane" only upon reaching majority)
- **c. 1677possible birth of daughter Sarah, if the parentage hypothesis holds (hypothesized, unproven)
Sources
- Walter Meekes Will 1688 — names James as eldest son, sole condition-free heir to "The Forest"
- Cotton, Jane Baldwin, ed. The Maryland Calendar of Wills, Vol. 2: 1685-1702 (Baltimore, 1906), p. 30 — published abstract of the same will, independently confirms James's status
- Two Roads from Munster, Ch. 13.2 Not documentary evidence; recorded here as the manuscript's independent (if unsourced) arrival at the same hypothesis.