William Morris Meredith (1799-1873) was born in Philadelphia and received his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Pennsylvania in 1812 and 1816, respectively. He was admitted to the bar at the age of eighteen. Meredith served in the Pennsylvania State legislature from 1824-1828. In 1840, he was appointed as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania under President William Henry Harrison. Meredith served as President Zachary Taylor's Secretery of Treasury from 1849-1850, after which he returned to practicing law and served as the attorney general of Pennsylvania until 1867.