American academic, journalist, and government official (1757-1822) who was the grandfather of Major General Montgomery C. Meigs and served as the first acting president of the University of Georgia in Athens. After his academic career, Meigs was appointed Surveyor-General by President James Madison in 1812, and later accepted an appointment as Commissioner of the United States General Land Office in Washington, D.C., in 1814. During his tenure at the U.S. Land Office, under Thomas Jefferson, he instituted the nation's first system of daily meteorological observations at the land offices throughout the country, which evolved into the National Weather Service. Hand-addressed mailing envelope, 6.5 x 3.25, filled out by Josiah Meigs and postmarked on June 13 [1818], addressed to “Rev. Jeremiah Day, D.D., President of Yale College, Newhaven, Connecticutt,” and franked above, "General Land Office, J. Meigs," who also signs and dates the reverse, "J. Meigs, June 1818." In very good to fine condition, with scattered staining. Encapsulated in a PSA/DNA authentication holder, grading the autograph as "EX-MT 6.”
