Documents on the plaque of Dr. E. A. Meams on Plummer's Island 



The following information has been compiled from the Washington Biologists' Field Club 

 Archives concerning Edgar Alexander Meams (1 1 Sep 1856 - 1 Nov 1916) and the fact that he 

 has a plaque on Plummer's Island, although he was never a member of the Club. 



Note: the 1984 Revised Edition of the Members & History of the Club says (p. 48) "... 

 although he was not a member, there rest on the island, through his special request, the ashes of 

 an early distinguished friend of the Club, Edgar Alexander Mearns." 



1. letter of 10 Jan 1917 from J. H. Riley (U. S. National Museum, Washington, DC) 

 to Dr. A. K. Fisher (member of Board of Managers) 

 "Mrs. Mearns called at the office this moming and states that Dr. Meams' ashes were still at 

 the undertaking establishment. She said that the doctor [i.e., E. A. Meams] had expressed a wish 

 that his ashes be taken to Plummer's Island and there scattered or deposited. It seems to me there 

 could be no objection and it would really add to interest to the Island as the last resting place of 

 the greatest of natural history collectors. If you would call around in the near future I would like 

 to discuss some plan to carry out Dr. Meams' wish. / Very truly yours, / J. H. Riley. 



2. Annual meeting 1 2 Apr 1917 



[p. 3] "Dr. Fisher brought up the matter of the spreading of the ashes of the late Dr. Mearns 

 on the Island and by motion it was ordered that the Club give appreciative and solemn 

 acceptance to the proposition of spreading the ashes of Dr. Meams on Plummer's Island and the 

 a committee of three be appointed to carry out the wishes of Dr. Meams. 



"The Chair [President Henry C. Fuller] appointed Mssrs. [A. K.] Fisher, [David] White and 

 [W. E.] Safford. 



"It was moved and carried that the question of installing a suitable tablet commemorative of 

 the spreading of ashes of Dr. Mearns be left to the Board of Managers." 



- 3. Annual Business Meeting 12 Apr 1918 

 [p. 2] "Dr. Fisher then reported on the activities of the Committee appointed on the memorial 

 for Edgar Alexander Mearns and presented designs for a suitable tablet to be cast in bronze and 

 placed on an upright face of stone on a high point on the island immediately north of the cabin. 

 Dr. Fisher then presented a motion to the effect that, in installing such a tablet, friends of Dr. 

 Meams who were not members of the Club be given an opportunity to subscribe and that the 

 club meet the rest of the expense, this not to exceed $50. The motion was seconded and carried. 

 The chair directed that the / [p. 3] committee in charge of this memorial continue." 



4. Annual Business Meeting 18 Apr 1919 

 [p. 3] "Dr. A. K. Fisher, Chairman of the Committee on a suitable memorial for Edgar 

 Alexander Meams, stated that a bronze tablet, the design for which had been approved at the last 

 annual business meeting, had been secured. There had been unlooked for delay in placing this 

 tablet through difficulty in securing an experienced man to do the necessary work but it was 

 hoped to have it installed by the date of the spring Field Meeting." 



