John Silva Meehan

John Silva Meehan
Meehan, 1850s
4th Librarian of Congress
In office May 28, 1829 – May 24, 1861
President	Andrew Jackson Martin Van Buren William Henry Harrison John Tyler James K. Polk Zachary Taylor Millard Fillmore Franklin Pierce James Buchanan Abraham Lincoln
Preceded by	George Watterston
Succeeded by	John Gould Stephenson
Personal details
Born	(1790-02-06)February 6, 1790 New York City, US
Died	April 24, 1863(1863-04-24) (aged 73) Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C., US
Political party	Jacksonian (1825–1828)
Spouse	Margaret Jones Monington
Children	7
Occupation	Publisher printer newspaper editor
Military career
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	Navy
Years of service	1815
Rank	Midshipman
Conflict	War of 1812

John Silva Meehan (February 6, 1790 – April 24, 1863) was an American publisher, printer, and newspaper editor who served as the fourth Librarian of Congress from 1829 to 1861. Born in New York City, Meehan served as a printer in his youth. After this, he saw a brief period of service in the United States Navy during the last stages of the War of 1812. Returning without seeing combat, he began work as a publisher in Philadelphia alongside fellow printer Robert Anderson, publishing a Baptist religious journal. The firm moved to Washington, D.C., in early 1822, and Meehan begun editing and publishing The Columbian Star, a Baptist weekly newspaper. Leaving the Star in late 1825, Meehan nominally purchased the City of Washington Gazette on direction from Andrew Jackson's presidential campaign, renaming the paper the United States' Telegraph. Although an immensely partisan paper, Meehan was considered unsuitable for the role by Jackson allies, and control over the paper gradually shifted towards editor and publisher Duff Green, with Meehan officially leaving the paper in October 1826.

Following a large purge of incumbent officials in the aftermath of Jackson's 1828 election, Meehan was appointed as Librarian of Congress via the spoils system, replacing the staunch Anti-Jacksonian George Watterston. Meehan's tenure as Librarian saw the steady growth of the Library of Congress, although reforms such as an overhaul of the library's archaic catalogue system remained unimplemented. Meehan collaborated with longstanding Joint Committee on the Library chair James Pearce for most of his tenure. A large fire in December 1851 saw the destruction of 35,000 of the library's 55,000 books. Meehan and Pearce oversaw the reconstruction of the library after the disaster, purchasing large volumes of books and rebuilding the main hall. The election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 prompted Meehan's removal in 1861 in favor of Indiana physician John Gould Stephenson. Largely unbothered by this, he retired gracefully and died suddenly in 1863.