Popularly known as the "Father of the Carbonate Camp" for his influence on the growth of the city of Leadville, Colorado, Meyer was a prominent figure in Colorado's mining and smelting industry for many decades. Meyer was one of the founders of the St. Louis Smelting and Refining Company, serving for many years as its general manager as well as managing the Harrison Reduction Works in Leadville. Born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1851, Meyer traveled to Switzerland at the age of 14 to study chemistry and geology at the College of Zurich. He completed his formal education at the University of Berlin.
Returning to the United States in 1873, Meyer examined coal deposits near St. Louis before accepting the position of Colorado Territory Assayer. He subsequently erected and operated a sampling works at Alma, Colorado ad remained there for three years before reloacting in what became Leadville. He constructed another sampling works, and assisted Edwin Harrison and other St. Louis capitalists in organizing the St. Louis Smelting and Refining Company, which erected the Harrison Reduction Works at Leadville. That enterprise was for many years under Meyer's management. He was also an active participant in the firm's other operations, including a smelter in Argentine, Kansas, plus mining properties in Colorado and other states. He is buried in Elmwood Cemetery, Kansas City, Missouri.