Greenwich,CT Biography: Col. Thomas A. Mead

"John Mead was one of two brothers who emigrated from England about the year 1642. The family was then an ancient and honorable one, though it is not within the author's means to trace their genealogy previous to their emigration to this country.* One of their ancestors had been the friend and the physician of the talented, though not very amicable Queen Elizabeth. One of the two brothers emigrated to Virginia, where the family still exists. The other, John Mead, with his two sons, came to New England about the year 1642. The name is spelled Meade as well as Mead. Many claim that they emigrated from Greenwich, Kent Co., England, but we have not fallen with any direct proof of the fact, and this town was known by its present name long before the settlement of the Mead family. John Mead and his two sons, John and Joseph, having tarried awhile in Massachusetts, first settled in Hempstead, L.I., where they remained until October, 1660, when the two sons came to Greenwich and bought land of Richard Crab and others, which was deeded to John Mead, he being the elder. Either John, the father, never came to Greenwich, or if so, he took no active part in life, now having become quite an old man. His son Joseph left no children in this town. He may have died young, or left no issue, or may have emigrated to another part of the country. John Mead, the second, died 1696, married Miss Potter of Stamford, and left as appears by his will, eight sons and tradition says, three daughters, viz: John, Joseph, Jonathan, Ebenezer, Nathaniel, David, Samuel, Abigail, Mary and Susan or Susannah. Ebenezer, the fourth son of second John, was born in 1663, and married Sarah Knapp, of Stamford, and left Ebenezer, Caleb, Sarah, who married Jonathan Hobby, Hannah, who married John Hobby, Jabez, David, Abigail, who married Isaac Holmes, Susannah, who married Moses Husted, Jemima, who married Moses Knapp. The second Ebenezer was born Oct. 25, 1692, and died May 3, 1775. He married Hannah Brown, of Rye, N.Y., on the 12th of December, 1717. His children were Ebenezer, Silas, Abraham, Jonas, Solomon, Deliverance, Amos, Edmund, Hannah, Jabez, Jared, and Abraham, second. Amos Mead, seventh son of the second Ebenezer, was a physician by profession, and was a surgeon of the Third Connecticut Regiment in the French and Indian War, and his grandson, Col. Thomas A. Mead, has now (1880) in his possession a powder-horn, a rich souvenir of those terrible days. He was a prominent man during the Revolutionary war and represented his town a great many times in the Colonial Legislature, and after the adoption of the Constitution of the United States, was a member of that noble body of men who adopted the Constitution of the United States. He married Ruth Bush. Their children were Richard, born September 1753, and Thomas, who died soon after he had completed his college course in 1773. Dr. Amos Mead was a member of the Congregational Church of Greenwich. He died February, 1807. Richard Mead was a farmer by occupation, and during the Revolutionary War, rendered valuable aid to the American army. We quote the following from the history of Greenwich: "Andrew Mead, Humphrey Denton, and Richard Mead. These men, more than any others-deserve the highest praise for their brave and daring acts. It was not so much their province to counsel and advise as to act. "Old men for counsel and young men for action." Such men were Dr. Amos Mead, John Mackay and Abraham Mead were of great service to the inhabitants as counselors. They were past the meridian of their life, and one of them, Dr. Amos Mead, had gained much experience by active service in the French war. But was any daring deed to be accomplished, where hardy, brave, and reliable men were necessary. After all, control of the town was lost to the Americans by the destructive expedition of Governor Tryon, it was not safe for a patriot to remain publicly in the limits for an hour. Yet, these three hung about the place ready to assist the defenseless population against the brutalities of the Tories. Each possessed of his arms, a faithful dog, and a fleet horse, they spent their time about the village, hidden in the by-and-secret-places. The winter of 1780 was one of the severest on record. The Sound was frozen across and a great amount of snow accumulated. Yet these men scarcely knew a night, during the early part of that winter, in which they did not sleep with their horses and dogs in the snow. During that winter, some dozen or twenty head of cattle, the most of which belonged to Mr. Jared Mead, were taken off in haste by the Tories and driven towards New York. After much earnest solicitation on the part of the owner, the trio consented to make the most daring attempt of crossing the enemy's lines to retake them. There had been recently a storm of rain, which had frozen as it fell and rendered the roads extremely slippery, and made a hard, sharp crust upon the snow. The pursuers therefore when upon the Sound with their horses and kept the ice as far as Mamaroneck, and then, taking the road, could track the cattle by the blood which had trickled from the wounds of the bayonets which had forced them along. At Mount Vernon, they retook the cattle, and were returning when they found they were pursued by a body of the enemy under a lieutenant. Their horses were tired by their swift ride, and they knew that their only safety was in separation, and in that case even one must be inevitably taken. Accordingly, they left the cattle and plunged separately in different directions. The enemy selected Richard Mead, pursued and took him prisoner. This was about the middle of January, 1780. He was taken to New York and thrown into the famous Sugar-House, where he remained for a period of six weeks until exchanged. These three men were held in high estimation by the people. Their known patriotism and courage, which could ever be relied on, caused the other citizens, long after the Revolutionary War to remember their acts with the greatest gratitude." Other facts might be recited and incidents given. Richard Mead was twice married: first to Sarah Mead, and had one daughter, Sophia, who married Peter de Mill, second to Rachel Mead, widow of Whitman Mead, and had three children, viz., Thomas A., Elizabeth R., and Sarah A. Elizabeth R. married George Webb, of New York, and is now dead. Sarah A. married Joseph Brush, of Greenwich, and died leaving a family of ten children. Richard Mead was a man respected by all those who knew him. He died April 19, 1824. His only son, Col. Thomas A. Mead, was born in the same house where he now (1880) resides in Greenwich, Fairfield Co., Conn., May 29, 1799. He has always been a farmer, and now owns the same farm his father owned, which has been in the family since 1785, and lives in the house built by his father in 1797. He married Hannah Seaman, daughter of David Seaman, of New York, Feb. 23, 1833. They have had eight children, seven of them still living, viz.: Louisa S., Mrs. Thomas Rich; Thomas R., who was captain of Company G, Tenth Regiment, Connecticut Volunteers, was in several engagements, sickened and died at Washington, NC, Oct. 22, 1862; Seaman; Abigail R.; Mrs. Benjamin Wright; Elizabeth H.; Mrs. Henry Webb; Delia, Mrs. William E. Mead; Zophar; and Lucinda P. In politics, Col. Mead has always been a Whig and Republican, and as such has been one of the leading men of Greenwich. He was an assessor ten years, selectman a number of years, member of the State Legislature two terms, 1852 and 1872, and during his last term, server." SOURCE: Hurd, D. Hamilton. History of Fairfield County, Connecticut. Philadelphia: J.W. Lewis & Co. (1881), p. 396-398. [NOTE: This biography was originally published in 1881 (see above) and does not constitute "proof" of authentic historical fact or early Greenwich, CT or Mead family history. I simply offer it as clues to further research.--mp] ADDITIONAL MEAD FAMILY COMPILED RECORDS:* Remington, Gordon L., FUGA. "The English Origin of William [1] Mead of Stamford, Connecticut." The American Genealogist (TAG). Whole Number 289, Vol. 73, No. 1. January 1998. MEAD, Spencer Percival. History and genealogy of the Mead Family of Fairfield Co. CT, Eastern.NY. New York: Knickerbocker Press, 1901. Draper, Cecil Mead. Jonathan Mead of Rensselaerwyk and some of his descendants. With a shorter sketch of a single line of Williams, Mass., Conn. New York. Denver: 1972. Feltus, Louise Celestia (Mead).Our Two Centuries in Greenwich Conn., 1728-1924. Troy, NY.: R.H. Prout and Co., 1948. . Parker, C.E. The Mead family of Connecticut. Santa Ana, CA: 1968. Mead Landowners in Greenwich 1640-1652

"John Mead was one of two brothers who emigrated from England about the year 1642. The family was then an ancient and honorable one, though it is not within the author's means to trace their genealogy previous to their emigration to this country.*
           One of their ancestors had been the friend and the physician of the talented, though not very amicable Queen Elizabeth. One of the two brothers emigrated to Virginia, where the family still exists. The other, John Mead, with his two sons, came to New England about the year 1642. The name is spelled Meade as well as Mead. Many claim that they emigrated from Greenwich, Kent Co., England, but we have not fallen with any direct proof of the fact, and this town was known by its present name long before the settlement of the Mead family. John Mead and his two sons, John and Joseph, having tarried awhile in Massachusetts, first settled in Hempstead, L.I., where they remained until October, 1660, when the two sons came to Greenwich and bought land of Richard Crab and others, which was deeded to John Mead, he being the elder. Either John, the father, never came to Greenwich, or if so, he took no active part in life, now having become quite an old man. His son Joseph left no children in this town. He may have died young, or left no issue, or may have emigrated to another part of the country.
           John Mead, the second, died 1696, married Miss Potter of Stamford, and left as appears by his will, eight sons and tradition says, three daughters, viz: John, Joseph, Jonathan, Ebenezer, Nathaniel, David, Samuel, Abigail, Mary and Susan or Susannah. Ebenezer, the fourth son of second John, was born in 1663, and married Sarah Knapp, of Stamford, and left Ebenezer, Caleb, Sarah, who married Jonathan Hobby, Hannah, who married John Hobby, Jabez, David, Abigail, who married Isaac Holmes, Susannah, who married Moses Husted, Jemima, who married Moses Knapp. The second Ebenezer was born Oct. 25, 1692, and died May 3, 1775. He married Hannah Brown, of Rye, N.Y., on the 12th of December, 1717. His children were Ebenezer, Silas, Abraham, Jonas, Solomon, Deliverance, Amos, Edmund, Hannah, Jabez, Jared, and Abraham, second.
         Amos Mead, seventh son of the second Ebenezer, was a physician by profession, and was a surgeon of the Third Connecticut Regiment in the French and Indian War, and his grandson, Col. Thomas A. Mead, has now (1880) in his possession a powder-horn, a rich souvenir of those terrible days. He was a prominent man during the Revolutionary war and represented his town a great many times in the Colonial Legislature, and after the adoption of the Constitution of the United States, was a member of that noble body of men who adopted the Constitution of the United States. He married Ruth Bush. Their children were Richard, born September 1753, and Thomas, who died soon after he had completed his college course in 1773. Dr. Amos Mead was a member of the Congregational Church of Greenwich. He died February, 1807.
         Richard Mead was a farmer by occupation, and during the Revolutionary War, rendered valuable aid to the American army. We quote the following from the history of Greenwich: "Andrew Mead, Humphrey Denton, and Richard Mead. These men, more than any others-deserve the highest praise for their brave and daring acts. It was not so much their province to counsel and advise as to act. "Old men for counsel and young men for action." Such men were Dr. Amos Mead, John Mackay and Abraham Mead were of great service to the inhabitants as counselors. They were past the meridian of their life, and one of them, Dr. Amos Mead, had gained much experience by active service in the French war. But was any daring deed to be accomplished, where hardy, brave, and reliable men were necessary. After all, control of the town was lost to the Americans by the destructive expedition of Governor Tryon, it was not safe for a patriot to remain publicly in the limits for an hour. Yet, these three hung about the place ready to assist the defenseless population against the brutalities of the Tories. Each possessed of his arms, a faithful dog, and a fleet horse, they spent their time about the village, hidden in the by-and-secret-places. The winter of 1780 was one of the severest on record. The Sound was frozen across and a great amount of snow accumulated. Yet these men scarcely knew a night, during the early part of that winter, in which they did not sleep with their horses and dogs in the snow. During that winter, some dozen or twenty head of cattle, the most of which belonged to Mr. Jared Mead, were taken off in haste by the Tories and driven towards New York. After much earnest solicitation on the part of the owner, the trio consented to make the most daring attempt of crossing the enemy's lines to retake them. There had been recently a storm of rain, which had frozen as it fell and rendered the roads extremely slippery, and made a hard, sharp crust upon the snow. The pursuers therefore when upon the Sound with their horses and kept the ice as far as Mamaroneck, and then, taking the road, could track the cattle by the blood which had trickled from the wounds of the bayonets which had forced them along. At Mount Vernon, they retook the cattle, and were returning when they found they were pursued by a body of the enemy under a lieutenant. Their horses were tired by their swift ride, and they knew that their only safety was in separation, and in that case even one must be inevitably taken. Accordingly, they left the cattle and plunged separately in different directions. The enemy selected Richard Mead, pursued and took him prisoner. This was about the middle of January, 1780. He was taken to New York and thrown into the famous Sugar-House, where he remained for a period of six weeks until exchanged. These three men were held in high estimation by the people. Their known patriotism and courage, which could ever be relied on, caused the other citizens, long after the Revolutionary War to remember their acts with the greatest gratitude." Other facts might be recited and incidents given. Richard Mead was twice married: first to Sarah Mead, and had one daughter, Sophia, who married Peter de Mill, second to Rachel Mead, widow of Whitman Mead, and had three children, viz., Thomas A., Elizabeth R., and Sarah A. Elizabeth R. married George Webb, of New York, and is now dead. Sarah A. married Joseph Brush, of Greenwich, and died leaving a family of ten children. Richard Mead was a man respected by all those who knew him. He died April 19, 1824. His only son, Col. Thomas A. Mead, was born in the same house where he now (1880) resides in Greenwich, Fairfield Co., Conn., May 29, 1799. He has always been a farmer, and now owns the same farm his father owned, which has been in the family since 1785, and lives in the house built by his father in 1797. He married Hannah Seaman, daughter of David Seaman, of New York, Feb. 23, 1833. They have had eight children, seven of them still living, viz.: Louisa S., Mrs. Thomas Rich; Thomas R., who was captain of Company G, Tenth Regiment, Connecticut Volunteers, was in several engagements, sickened and died at Washington, NC, Oct. 22, 1862; Seaman; Abigail R.; Mrs. Benjamin Wright; Elizabeth H.; Mrs. Henry Webb; Delia, Mrs. William E. Mead; Zophar; and Lucinda P.
            In politics, Col. Mead has always been a Whig and Republican, and as such has been one of the leading men of Greenwich. He was an assessor ten years, selectman a number of years, member of the State Legislature two terms, 1852 and 1872, and during his last term, server."

SOURCE: Hurd, D. Hamilton. History of Fairfield County, Connecticut. Philadelphia: J.W. Lewis & Co. (1881), p. 396-398.

*[NOTE: This biography was originally published in 1881 (see above) and does not constitute "proof" of authentic historical fact or early Greenwich, CT or Mead family history. I simply offer it as clues to further research.--mp]

ADDITIONAL MEAD FAMILY COMPILED RECORDS:

Remington, Gordon L., FUGA. "The English Origin of William [1] Mead of Stamford, Connecticut." The American Genealogist (TAG). Whole Number 289, Vol. 73, No. 1. January 1998.

MEAD, Spencer Percival. History and genealogy of the Mead Family of Fairfield Co. CT, Eastern.NY. New York: Knickerbocker Press, 1901.

Draper, Cecil Mead. Jonathan Mead of Rensselaerwyk and some of his descendants. With a shorter sketch of a single line of Williams, Mass., Conn. New York. Denver: 1972.

Feltus, Louise Celestia (Mead).Our Two Centuries in Greenwich Conn., 1728-1924. Troy, NY.: R.H. Prout and Co., 1948. .

Parker, C.E. The Mead family of Connecticut. Santa Ana, CA: 1968.

Mead Landowners in Greenwich 1640-1652