This is a street scene from 19th century Watford, believed to be the hometown of William Mead of Stamford, CT. Watford is a town in Hertfordshire, England. According to research by genealogist Gordon L. Remington, Mead is said to have been born on Dec. 27, 1592, to Priscilla Mead and Dorothy Grey. His grandparents were Richard Mead and Margaret Gouldhurst. The first documented records of William in the American colonies occurred on Dec. 7, 1641, when he was granted "a homelot and five acres of land" in Stamford. He continues to be the starting point as the progenitor of the Mead community in the New World.
Portrait of Cuyahoga
Vermont's
Stillman
Mead
Grave of Stillman Mead
Drummer Boy of 1812
By BRIAN WILLATS
In 1808, during the first years of the life of Granville, Ohio, a local merchant named Augustine Munson decided to form a band. He organized a collection of local musicians to play at area festivals, balls and other public events. At its peak, the band consisted of Munson and another gentleman on clarinet, three oboe players, two bassoonists and a cymbal player.
A couple of years later, soon after his family moved to the area from Vermont, a young drummer by the name of Stillman Mead joined the group.
Beyond the festivals and such, the musical troupe had another regular gig -- drilling alongside Granville's frontier militia, a local, rag-tag military outfit that had formed almost as soon as settlers began arriving in the region. The men of Granville had been drilling as militia units for some time in the early years of the community, and Augustine Munson's band had been marching right alongside of them.
Not surprisingly, then, when the governor of Ohio issued a call to the militiamen of his state to join forces with the United States Army to oppose the British in the War of 1812, the Granville militia quickly signed up. The members of Augustine Munson's band followed suit, offering their services to the military as a regimental band.
Stillman Mead was eager to join his band mates and jump into the fray of military service, but the young drummer faced a significant hurdle: he was only 13 years old, significantly younger than the other members of the ensemble, and quite young for any type of military service, even a regimental drummer. His enlistment required parental consent.
Obtaining parental approval, however, was a tough sell. His father, Ezra, approved of his son's enlistment in the army; his mother, Hannah, following the better side of caution, did not. But, eventually, a compromise broke the stalemate. Stillman could become a regimental "drummer boy", but, on his mother's stipulation, his name must be kept off the enlistment rolls.
Thus, in early June, in the days leading up to the conflict, Stillman Mead volunteered to join the "North Western Army" of Gen. William Hull, and began what was likely the most memorable summer of his entire life. Before it was over, Stillman would slog his way with 2,000 other men through the dense forests and swamps of frontier Ohio, sail, not once, but twice aboard a schooner across Lake Erie, be captured, not once, but twice by the British, witness one of the most lopsided defeats in American military history and still return home by mid-summer to tell everyone about it.
Bon Voyage
In March 1812, as war between Great Britain and her former colonies appeared imminent, William Hull, governor of the Michigan Territory, convinced U.S. Sec. of War William Eustis to send a strong military force to the strategic outpost of Detroit, then a small town of 200 people. In the event of war, the mission of this force would be two-fold: to protect the Michigan Territory from possible British and Indian invasion and to serve as a launching pad for an invasion into Upper Canada on the part of the Americans. Despite questions over Hull's fitness of service, Eustis appointed him as brigadier general and commander of this "North Western" army that would fortify the Great Lakes region. (In an unprecedented move, Hull retained his position as governor of the Michigan Territory.)
To buttress the regulars in Hull's new army, Sec. Eustis wrote the governor of Ohio, Return J. Meigs, to request his assistance in calling up 1,200 members of the Ohio militia to serve in this unit. Gov. Meigs complied and, on April 6, ordered each of the four divisions of the state's militia to supply 300 men for the North Western Army and to rendezvous with Hull at Dayton on April 29. Volunteers would be welcomed.
Stillman Mead joined as a drummer for a company commanded by Capt. Levi Rose as part of the Third Regiment of Ohio Volunteers. The regiment itself was under the command of Col. Lewis Cass, who would later become territorial governor of the Michigan Territory, a U.S. senator from Michigan and the Democratic presidential nominee against Zachaary Taylor in 1848. The Third Regiment made its way from Granville in central Ohio to catch up with the North Western Army, which already had begun its trek north. Cass' regiment finally fell in with Hull at Ft. McArthur near present-day Kenton.
If Stillman had any starry-eyed notions of military service, they were quickly dispelled as what became known as Hull's Trail made its way from Dayton to northern Ohio. No previous road or path existed for the army's travel, not even an Indian path, so the soldiers were forced to create their own. This was no easy task. The creation of a new road through the wilderness was a treacherous venture, blocked by dense forests, thick swamps and poorly trained militiamen with which to blaze the trail.
The entire enterprise seemed doomed from the start. Hull's 200 mile march to Detroit soon slowed to a crawl, as the difficult landscape and incessant rains mired men, horses and equipment in a morass of mud and muck. The soldiers also had to contend with the heat and humidity of the Ohio summer, and a steady barrage of mosquitoes which bombarded the soldiers' every move. The troops moved at a snail's pace and any plans for a speedy trip to Detroit were soon muted
Fortunes appeared to take a turn of the better, though, when the North Western Army arrived at the Maumee Rapids in northern Ohio on June 30, three weeks and 130 miles from its launching point in Dayton. A privately owned schooner, the Cuyahoga, piloted by Capt. Cyrenius Chapin, had sailed up the mouth of the Maumee near the spot where the Battle of Fallen Timbers had taken place some years before.
Hull saw the Cuyahoga as an opportunity to lighten the load on his army and speed his march to Detroit. He commissioned the schooner for 60 dollars to carry both men and supplies on ahead of him to the fort, and quickly loaded the ship with military equipment, some of the army's sick list, the medical staff and several of the officers' wives who had made the trip with their husbands. In what would become a catastrophic mistake, Hull also packed his military papers, his baggage and several extra uniforms on the Cuyahoga and sent it sailing across Lake Erie to the Detroit River, where it would eventually rendezvous with the North Western Army at Fort Detroit.
Hull also ordered Stillman and several of his fellow musicians aboard the vessel, bringing their intruments with them. It was just as well for the young drummer. In normal military practices at that time, a regimental drummer would assist company marching by providing a cadence for the soldiers' steps. With the army slowly crawling along its path through the thick wilds of Ohio, actual regimental marching probably was rare, so Stillman had little chance to offer his musical services. It was a relief to board the ship and leave behind the mosquitoes and mud.
Hull's decision to send the Cuyahoga on ahead was not without some risks. To get to Detroit, the Cuyahoga would need to sail past the British outpost of Fort Amherstburg (later Fort Malden) on the Canadian side of the Detroit River. Hostilities had been increasing between the two nations in previous months. However, Hull surmised, with the two nations not yet at war, the boat would be given safe passage.
Hull was wrong. Two weeks previously, on June 18, the U.S. had declared war on Great Britain, but Sec. Eustis sent a letter announcing the declaration to Hull through the regular mail, at that time an extremely slow means of communication. When the letter finally reached the general on July 1, the Cuyahoga was already adrift in Lake Erie and on its way to Detroit. Hull sent several men on horseback to catch the ship before it left the Maumee, but they stopped at the shores of Lake Erie empty-handed.
The British stationed at Fort Amherstburg, however, did know of the state of war, having received the news some days before. As the Cuyahoga entered the Detroit River and neared the British outpost, a British lieutenant, Frederic Rolette, spied the schooner with the Stars and Stripes waving in the breeze. In a brash move that would typify his military career, Rolette grabbed six other soldiers and jumped into a longboat from the British brig, the General Hunter, and rowed out to capture the Cuyahoga.
Stillman and his fellow passengers, still unaware of the state of war, were expecting greetings from their neighbors to the north. Instead they found themselves staring down the barrels of six muskets trained upon their ship and a bold British officer climbing aboard to commandeer the vessel. Rolette ordered the Americans to lower their mainsails and bring the ship to a stop. When they hesitated, the lieutenant fired a shot into the air, possibly the first shot fired in the young war.
Though the Americans on the Cuyahoga outnumbered Rolette's meager force by 6 to 1, most of the American soldiers on board were ill and their arms were locked up below deck. The Americans surrendered their ship without incident. The British lieutenant ordered the ship's crew to dock at the British fort and Stillman and the other passengers soon found themselves to be British prisoners.
Seeing the instruments gave Rolette one final idea to humble his captives and trumpet his victory to all within earshot. He gather Stillman and the other musicians and ordered the ensemble to regale the British troops with a rendition of "God Save the King."
Captured Again
Stillman and the other American prisoners disembarked from the Cuyahoga and were placed aboard the British ship, the Thames, where they were held prisoners. They apparently were very well treated, even leaving the Thames briefly to dine with the British at a local inn. The idea of war was still fresh and neither side was quite sure how to act, so cordiality ruled the day.
Because the captured officers' wives were non-combatants in the affair, the British allowed them to return to the American side to rejoin their husbands when they arrived in Detroit. One of the women, a Mrs. Miller (possibly the wife of Lt. Col. James Miller), "adopted" young Stillman as her son, thus ensuring his freedom to return with her. He accompanied her to Fort Detroit on July 3 and a few days later rejoined his regiment with Hull's army in Spring Mills, a few miles south of the American fort.
Stillman's freedom, though, was short-lived. On Aug. 16, in an embarassing beginning for American forces in the war, Gen. Hull surrendered Fort Detroit and his entire army to the British without a fight. In capturing the Cuyahoga, the British forces had come upon the windfall of Hull's military papers, which gave them an idea of the strength and morale of U.S. forces. A month of delays, bungled decisions and an increasing fear of Indian attacks provoked Hull to cower within Fort Detroit. After a day of bombardment from the British (in which Hull prevented American forces from firing a single shot), he raised the white flag over the fort and surrendered his superior force to British general, Isaac Brock. Stillman again found himself in the hands of the enemy.
His detainment was once again brief. Because he was militia and not a member of the regular American army, Stillman was paroled and placed once more upon the Thames, this time to sail across Lake Erie to Cleveland, where he and other members of the Ohio militia were allowed to return home. He made his way south to Licking County and arrived at his parents' home in October, sometime around his 14th birthday, now a seasoned veteran and an international traveler.
A Long Life
In the subsequent years of the war, Stillman joined a number of military units who were practicing drills in the Licking County area, performing his duties as a drummer. However, he remained near home and never left the confines of the county for the remainder of the war. Apparently, his mother's cautionary wisdom won out.
Ironically, it was his mother's decision to keep him off the enlistment rolls that would later come back to haunt Stillman. He tried for years to receive a pension from the government for his time of service to the military, giving depositions and trotting out witnesses to prove his military service. It is not known whether he ever received a pension.
Legend has it that, at the age of 22, Stillman walked nearly 700 miles back to Vermont to find himself a wife. He married Sarah Packard in Jericho, Vt., on Feb. 20, 1821, and returned with his bride to Ohio, where he worked as a miller and a farmer. Their union produced 13 children, including two sons who followed in their father's military footsteps and fought for the Union in the Civil War.
As the country expanded west, Stillman and his family went with it, moving to Webster County, Iowa, in the 1850s. After Sarah died in 1878, Stillman moved with his son, Giles, and his family to Saline County, Neb., near the town of Tobias. He died on Aug. 21, 1885, at the age of 87, the end of a long and interesting life that included one summer in which he marched -- and sailed -- to the beat of a different drummer.
(EDITOR'S NOTE: Brian Willats is a seminary student in Grand Rapids, Mich. Stillman Mead is his great-great-great grandfather.)
Medes of the Cinque Ports, 1470-1670
By VANCE MEAD
The story of the Cinque Ports in Kent and Sussex, on the south coast of England, is an interesting chapter in English maritime history.
This association of towns, originally five - Sandwich, Dover, Hythe, Romney and Hastings - was later joined by a dozen other seaports.
The earliest written record of the Cinque Ports was a royal charter of 1155 granting them privileges such as freedom from import duties in exchange for maintaining fleets and crews that could be used to defend the English Channel during the frequent wars against France. At other times they were havens for pirates, who lured ships aground in order to plunder them.
The peak prosperity of the Cinque Ports was in the 14th and 15th centuries. A decline set in during the 15th century as the harbors began to silt up, making them impassable for sea-going vessels. Today, for example, the towns of Rye and Tenterden are miles from the sea. Only Dover has remained a major port until the present day.
People named Mede lived in many of the Cinque Ports going back to 1300. As early as 1388, John atte Mede was appointed to take carpenters to repair a ship belonging to William Heron called "la Marie" of Sandwich, Kent. But each individual left so few records that it is difficult to connect them into families.
There was a family living in Rye, Sussex, however, that left more substantial records. Robert Mede was born in about 1470 and died in 1516. He was the Chamberlain of Rye in 1496-97, and in 1510 he was chosen a jurat, an alderman, and remained one until his death. He was a Member of Parliament in 1512 and 1515, receiving £6 15s. in wages at the first session and £5 2s. at the second. For six years in a row, until 1516, he was appointed to represent Rye at the Brotherhood of the Cinque Ports, held that year at New Romney, Kent.
His son, William Mede, was born in around 1490 and died in about 1545. His career followed a similar path as his father’s. He was the Chamberlain of Rye in 1516-17, was chosen a jurat in 1538, and was an MP in 1539, for which he received £7 4s. in cash and 2s. 8d. worth of lumber. He may have been involved in the building trade. This was the trade engaged in by Thomas Birchet, an executor of William Mede's will and an MP at the same time as him.
In William Mede's will, made in 1543, he had four shops on the Strand and lived in Watchbell Street. He left to his wife, Amy, his moveable goods, her dower of 40s. and the use of one of his houses. His other possessions were divided between his sons, John and Humphrey, at the age of 21; his daughter Martha, christened in Rye in 1542; his brother Robert; and his apprentice John Gillam. The remainder went to his stepchildren John and Ellen Petyt, children from his wife's first marriage. His moveable goods were valued at £87.
The Mede family disappeared from Rye after the death of William Mede, but it probably continued in Dover. In 1543-44, Robert Mede, possibly the brother mentioned in the will of William Mede of Rye, was the vicar of St. Mary, the Virgin, in Dover. The will of Robert Mede, clerk, of Fairlight, Sussex (five miles from Rye) is dated 1546.
Humphrey Mede and Mary Minge were married in St. Mary, the Virgin, Dover, in November 1566. Alexander Mede, probably their son, was born there in 1567. Humphrey Mede was in Dover in the 1560s to 1590s, and was the mayor of Dover in 1591. Alexander Mede had two children; in 1599 Humphrey Mead the son of Alexander was born in Bearsted, Kent, near Maidstone, and in 1601 Martha the daughter of Alexander was born in Dover.
Another Humphrey Mede, born in around 1590, was probably the grandson of Humphrey Mede and Mary Minge. He married Bennet Brooke in 1614 in Maidstone, Kent, and had Mary in about 1620, Humphrey in 1624, Sibill in 1627, Elizabeth in 1629, Thomasin in 1632, and Ann in 1634. These children, born in Dover, are in the will of Humphrey Meade, gentleman of Dover, dated 1646.
Humphrey Meade, his son, born in 1624, was a mariner. He left a will, dated 1662 and probated in 1663, in which he left his property to his sisters and friends. He was unmarried and had no children, so this is the end of the line for this family.
DUTCHESS COUNTY
Early settlement of Nine Partners
Hudson River from West Point
(EDITOR’S NOTE: About 1740, Nathan Mead, a direct descendant of the Connecticut branch of the Mead family tree through William Mead of Stamford, Conn., relocated his family from Greenwich, Conn., to the Nine Partners area of Dutchess County, along the Hudson River in New York state. He is believed to be the very first of the Mead clan to begin the westward migration across the nation through Dutchess County. It was still 36 years before the American Revolution and their settlement near Amenia placed them in one of the country's most historic valleys. Part One of this report deals with the history of the discovery and exploration of the Hudson River.)
By LEE MEADE
Early settlement of upper New York was started by Dutch immigrants in New Amsterdam.
Ever since Henry Hudson first sailed up the Hudson River in 1609, the area along its banks has remained one of the most important navigable water passages in America.
The Hudson River had a deep channel and was almost a mile wide as Hudson's ship, the Half Moon, and its mixed crew of 20 Dutch and English sailed along, past Fishkill, Poughkeepsie and Catskill Landing.
They hoped to find the fabled “Northwest Passage,” but they opened the gateway to the rich and enticing farmland of central and upper New York state.
During the exploration, they visited among the friendly natives who lived there and were “delighted every moment with the ever-changing scenery, and the magnificent forests which clothed the river banks with their gorgeous autumnal hues.”
While he anchored the Half Moon safely in deep water, Hudson sent a ship’s mate and a small crew up the river past West Point and as far as Albany to gather more information about the river. Once the glowing reports of their discoveries were circulated, settlement of the area quickly followed.
In 1682, Col. Thomas Dongan was appointed governor of the Province of New York and instructed to form a council of not more than 10 of the “most eminent Inhabitants.” One of the first acts authorized by the council was establishment of 12 “countyes,” of which Dutchess was one. At the time, Dutchess included parts of Putnam and Columbia counties.
It is located on the Hudson River midway between New York City and Albany with the town of Poughkeepsie as its civic and cultural center. The countryside was hilly, but easily suitable for farming. A plentiful supply of water was a major factor in its early settlement.
The first white child was born to Nicholas Emigh and his wife, who were pioneer founders of the county about 1685. However, there were not enough inhabitants to give the county representation in the General Assembly, so it was provisionally attached to Ulster until 1713. As a result, it has been difficult to establish the early history of Dutchess until after 1720.
The people who lived in the states along the Atlantic Ocean of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut also laid claim to eastern New York. As a result, many diverse groups of settlers came from New England, making Dutchess County a virtual melting pot of nationalities.
Early development of Dutchess County evolved around the issuance of the Nine Partners patents. The Great Nine Partners Patent, sometimes called the Lower Nine Partners Patent, was issued in 1697 in the names of John (Jan) Aertson, William Creed, James Emott, Hendrick ten Eyck, Lt. Col. Henry Filkin, Maj. Augustine Graham, Col. Caleb Heathcote, David Jamison and Jarvis Marshall. It included the towns of Clinton, Pleasant Valley, Stanford, Washington, Amenia, Hyde Park beyond the Crum Elbow Creek and the southern part of Northeast. The Little Nine Partners Patent, just to the north and south of the Columbia County border, was granted in 1706.
The first of the Mead families did not arrive until 1740. Nathan Mead relocated from Greenwich, Conn., and settled in Crum Elbow near Amenia. His wife's name is unknown, but their two children, both born in Greenwich, were Nathan Jr. and Job. Nathan died at the age of 86 and is buried in the Amenia Cemetery.
Among those who followed Nathan and his family were Nathan's brother, Jonathan "Cooper" Mead, and his first cousins, Jonathan II and Timothy. Then, as word of the new area spread, others joined them in settlement of the Hudson Valley. Some moved on to the Meadville area of Pennsylvania and the Rutland area of Vermont. But, for the most part, they remained to become mainstays in the colorful history of Dutchess County.
(EDITOR'S NOTE: A new research group has been established to study information on the early Meads who settled there and helped develop the area. If you would like to join the group or obtain additional information, contact www.meadresearch@yahoogroups.com.)
Between Us ...
Lee Meade
IT’S DIFFICULT to believe, but this issue of the mead-e family tree is the fourth since we embarked upon our electronic adventure into internet publishing last spring. Several years ago, we had put together a more traditional print version, selling subscriptions and fighting the ongoing battle to write, edit, print and mail the published results to a circulation that, at its very peak, was less than 100 readers. We gave it up in a moment of frustration.
Then, roughly a year ago, our appetite was whetted by the changing world around us. As we viewed what others were doing, we asked “Why them? Why not us?” A few e-mail messages later, we had solicited pledges of support from several fellow Mead family genealogists. Some said they would contribute articles and photos, others told us how we could enter such an unknown medium and many more simply promised to read.
We believe we have made a successful start. Our domain site tells us the results have been quite promising. In fact, as we put the finishing touches on the current issue of the newsletter, more than 2,300 viewer “hits” have been made on our website. The current issue has been called up more than 1,200 times. Now, admittedly, these may include hackers, spammers and just the curious, but we like to think they were all Meads or Meades or Meaghes or Medes or other members of our extended family , who share a common interest with us in whence we came, who we share our heritage with and how we got to this point in time.
Have you enjoyed Vance Mead’s look into early English heritage as much as we did putting it together? Was the pioneer life hunting buffalo on the Chisholm Trail and bringing the railroad to Wichita, Kansas, as interesting to you as it was to us? Did you share Brian Willat’s tale of the adventurous lifestyle of Vermont’s Little Drummer Boy of the War of 1812 the way we did? We certainly hope so!
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THE GOOD NEWS is we’re having too much fun planning each new issue and bringing it to fruition to even consider not going ahead. The bad news is, as we prepare to enter Year Two, we haven’t begun to figure out a way to make it a paying proposition.
We don’t really know how many Mead, etc., etc. and etc. “cousins” are out there. But, limiting ourselves to an extended family of relatives and friends, as we do, we don’t visualize circulation that will challenge the Christian Science Monitor or the New York Times. Advertising? Well, we’re just cleaning up our computer screens to rid ourselves of unwanted solicitations, so we don’t think that’s the answer.
I have to admit publishing the mead-e family tree has not been an expensive undertaking. Our total costs for the first four issues, plus maintenance of the website, have been less than a few hundred dollars. But, looking ahead, it is time to renew our domain site. And the expenses that were trivial at the start, keep on recurring.
So, I’m glad you finally asked, what can be done about it?
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I HAVE HAD a number of letters praising the newsletter and telling us how much our efforts have been appreciated. I am proud and humbled. Many of you have asked aboutsubscriptions. Of course, there are none. It’s all free for the viewing, once we get it on the website. But, if you are of an inclination to offer your support in the form of a free-will donation of any amount, we will apply it to meeting the ongoing expenses of the newsletter.
The snail-mail address is: mead-e family tree, P.O. Box 7974, Horseshoe Bay, TX 78657. But, whether you do or don’t, please keep on “hitting” our website every three
months or so. Write us with your comments and suggestions. Send us copies (they will be returned) of pioneer photos you care to share. And, please, if you have a family story to tell, put it in prose and send it to us by mail to the same address as above or by e-mail at leemeade@meadnewsletter.com
