Born at Hamilton, Scotland

Son of William and Margaret Jackson Meikle

Married Harriet Louisa Peacock, 23 Jan 1864, Smithfield, Cache, Utah

Married LaVinia Noble, 17 Oct 1872, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah

History - His parents joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1848. His father William Meikle, died shortly after that event. James was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church on August 17, 1848, at the age nine.

James, his mother and sister Isabelle emigrated to Utah in 1856. They crossed the ocean on the "Enoch Train'' steam ship. They traveled the plains with the Captain McArthur Handcart Company arriving in Salt Lake City, Utah on September 29, 1856.

Here he joined his brother, Robert, who had come to Utah in 1849 and got employment with the Jenning Tannery Company at Salt Lake City, Utah. The Meikle brothers worked for that company until 1860 when they came to Smithfield. They had taken advantage of their opportunity at the Jennings Tannery to thoroughly master the tanning process.

In 1860 they began the building of a leather processing plant at Smithfield, and early in 1861 had the business well underway tanning out a good supply of excellent leather. Meikle brothers carried on a very successful leather processing plant for 15 years, but in 1874 they were pressured by other interests. Up to that time the leather processing business had expounded to a need for a contributing sideline industry, that of getting expanded quantities of calcifying rock to get more a better lime to use in the processing. The end product, of course continued to better leather. Those sidelines meant the employment of more people. The leather production in 1873 was 3300 hides valued at $11,300.

In 1875, the United Order at Smithfield set up a boot and shoe manufacturing plant that at one time employed ten men and women. The rock calcifying enterprise in itself became a valuable employment industry.

On January 23, 1864 James Meikle married Harriet Peacock, daughter of William Peacock. She was born in England and came to Utah with her parents on November 10, 1848. James and Harriet had four sons and two daughters born to them.

James Meikle married a second wife on October 17, 1872, LaVinia Noble a daughter of William Goodwin Noble and Mary Ann Harper Noble. She was the divorced wife of Benjamin Burke Aiken. She was born on March 23rd or l3th, 1839, at Irchester, Hamptonshire, England.

LaVinia had six daughters born to her during her second marriage. They were: LaVinia Priscilla Meikle, born in 1873, married James Kirby in 1898; Kate Violetta Meikle, born August 15, 1875, married Wickliff Anderson Ewing, June 15, 1904; Jessie Margaret, who died when she was 18 months old; Zelphia Meikle, born June 3, 1879, married Lindsay Lightfoot, January 12, 1899; Mamie Rebecca Meikle, born April 7, 1882, married Carl Nilson, June 5, 1902; Birdie Meikle, born September 11, 1884, married Frank Covey, September 1902.

Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel, Daniel D. McArthur Company (1856), Age at departure: 17