Silver Wedding Mr. and Mrs. S. Warren Mead (1910)

Source: Greenwich Graphic. Saturday, February 26, 1910. Page 1.

The silver wedding of Mr. and Mrs. S. Warren Mead was celebrated at their Round Hill home, Tuesday afternoon, and was attended by forty or more guests, including relatives and friends.

Had the roads of been in condition the attendance would have been noticeably greater, as was indicated by numerous telephone calls. 

The various rooms were tastefully decorated, carnations and roses being dominant, and a large number of beautiful presents added their brightness in the general effect.

Mrs. Mead was assisted by Miss Lucy A. Mead, also by her daughters, Misses Abigail and Esther, in serving a choice and bountiful supper, and the evening as well as the afternoon were most pleasantly spent in social games and entertaining converse, making the occasion one long to be held in happy remembrance.

YOUR VIEW IS MY LIFE: SAYS I.L. MEAD TO THE GRAPHIC (1911)

Source: Greenwich Graphic. Friday, July 21, 1911. Page 1.

Doesn’t Believe Would Be Good Plan to Crowd Children in One Building-His Ideas on the Subject

Saturday morning the telephone bell rang. “This is I.L. Mead, of Lafayette Place,” was the response to our “Hello.” 

“I want to say to you that I have just had read to me your article on the schools question, and I assure you I am fully in accord with your views. I do not believe that it is a good thing to have all the children of the borough all assembled in one building. I don’t think it would be good policy, and for more reasons than one.

“In case of disease, such as measles and others of epidemic nature, it would mean that you would have to close the entire building in case of quarantine, and then it would mean more to spread among.

“In case of fire or panic it s not a good plan to have so many children congregated. And then Havemeyer building is on a very busy street and have so many children going to and from it across the street is dangerous. 

“Your idea of having school buildings in different sections of the borough is to me the proper thing to carry out the points of which I have spoken. So far as the town being parsimonious in the matter of furnishing money for educational purposes, it isn’t so. I don't believe for a moment that there would be any hesitancy on the part of the town in providing all the money necessary to educate the children and provide proper accommodations for them. But it isn’t a matter to be rushed into, but should be gone into in a careful way and not to be decided by a few people but by the majority of the taxpayers of the town. The money will be forthcoming from the town if the people are satisfied that the conditions demand it and that the plan is a proper one.

“I was very glad that you took the stand that you have in this matter, for I think it will appeal to the public in general. Let Havemeyer building remain as it is and build other buildings elsewhere to accommodate increasing demand for larger quarters for the school children of the borough.”

No one is better acquainted with the school situation in Greenwich then I. L. Mead. He has made a study of it. He was for years a member of the board of school visitors of the town, and he spent much time in this work. He often visited every schoolhouse in the town, using his own horse and carriage for the purpose, covering many miles in the course of the year, going through the winter storms as well as the summer heat. He did it because personally he was interested in it and he liked it. He did it from a public spirit and not from any mercenary motive. He gave his services and that of his horse and carriage free. And all the time that he was a school visitor he never sent in a bill to the town for any work that he did as school visitor, and he had a right to do it, and we believe it is the only instance on record in Greenwich where a man who held public office and had a right to draw money for his services refused to do it. As we have said there is nobody in Greenwich that is more capable of passing upon the school question in the light of experience than Mr. I. L. Mead.

Isaac Lewis Mead Building, at the top of Greenwich Avenue. 

And it is for this reason what he says will have that weight which experience, public spiritedness and standing of a man of the character of Mr. Mead can give. What he says on the subject has force, character and weight with the people of Greenwich, who know him and the work that he is done for our schools.

That Box 100 Years Old At Edward Mead Homestead (1909)

Source: Greenwich Graphic. Saturday, July 17, 1909. Page 1.

The White Front Door and the Big Brass Knocker Pictured as "A New England Doorstep."

Travelers over the Post Road in trolley auto, vehicle, on foot or otherwise have observed an enormous specimen of that handsome hedge known as box. It stands so high and is so perfect in proportions that it attracts general attention and considerable curiosity is evinced as to the age and length of time it has been growing in the old fashioned garden as the west side of the handsome and hospitable looking old farm house of the late Edward Mead.

It was once one hundred years old on June 22nd, and the date of its planting is fixed from the fact that its deceased owner was born on that date and the two circumstances were chronicled in the family history.

Miss Amelia Mead, who lives in the old homestead with her sister Catherine and brother Augustus, had planned for a family gathering on the date of the centenary of the birth of her father and the planting of the box.

But instead of a happy gathering of the descendants of Mr. Mead on that date, the sad duty of attendance at the funeral ceremony of one of the daughters, Mrs. Seaman Mead, probated what might otherwise have been a joyous occasion. It is notable that Mrs. Mead's death was the first among the five daughters of the family all of whom had lived to be over 60 years of age.

The commodious white house, whose symmetrical lines have suggested more than passing comment of admiration, was built by Mr. Mead in 1832, upon the ancestral farmlands, which had been in the family for upwards of 200 years. And a feature of the house which has become notable through its beauty of carving and antique design, with its big brass knocker of Revolutionary days, is the white front door.

This door is not only famous hereabouts, but its fame has spread all over the country, so much so that Wallace Nutting has incorporated it in one of his beautifully colored pictures under the title of "A Visit to the Parson." The scene includes two young ladies in colonial costume, who are the daughters of Vice President Rudle of the Greenwich Trust Company. This picture is for sale in art shops all over the country. 

Of the centennial of the birth of Mr. Mead and planting of the box Miss Amelia Mead has written a history, and it was the intent to have it read at the family gathering. 

It includes much data that has come to her in direct conversation, has never been in print and is of added interest. Miss Mead means to issue it in a book form for exclusive family distribution. 

Patriotic Society: Meets in Colonial Home (1911)

Source: Greenwich Graphic. Friday, October 6, 1911. Page 1.

Daughters of American Revolution Have Bridge Party in Old Mead Homestead on Putnam Ave To Raise Money.

The stately old colonial house on Putnam avenue, thought by some people to be the most attractive house in Greenwich, opened its hospitable doors for patriotic charity on Monday. And it is not the first time in the one hundred years and more, that it has stood there that society has met within its portals. 

'Dearfields' illustration from Other Days in Greenwich, by Judge Frederick Hubbard.

The quaint old knocker on the door, which came from Holland, when the house was built, on which is inscribed the name Richard Mead and the date 1797, the little brass door knob that came also from Holland, and which is as aged as the knocker, have responded many, many times to the hands that have asked admission to a welcome to the famous old house. 

These reminders and associates of colonial days could tell many a tale of the passing in and out over that threshold of sad and serious faces, as well as of gay and happy ones, in one hundred and fifteen years. 

It was a fitting place indeed for the patriotic Daughters of the American Revolution to meet. 

Mr. and Mrs. Henry Webb, Mrs. Webb being a great granddaughter of Richard Mead, gave the house over to the society for a bridge party to help raise a fund of which Putnam Cottage, the home of the Daughters, is in need. 

It was one of a number of meetings to be held this winter in various homes for the same purpose. 

About eighty ladies accepted the hospitality of the house. They were charmed by its beauty as they wandered about the spacious rooms, admired the old colonial furnishings, and looked with awe at the flint-lock muskets and swords of the Revolutionary war, with other relics of a by gone time.

The dining room, where the refreshments were served, was attractive indeed, and patriotic as well -it was really beautiful in all that appeals to the eye and a refined taste. Everything was in harmony with the old building, the old fashioned chairs and mahogany furniture of years ago adding their effectiveness.

Delicate and extremely appropriate was the color scheme of the room-red, white and blue. Brilliant red dahlias profusely were scattered about it, and in vases on the tables over the snow white linen, the blue of the walls completing the delicate effect.

“How beautiful! How charming! How exquisite!” were the general comments among the ladies.

It was something unusual, far out of the ordinary, really new, the setting of it all, to be long remembered.

Miss Mead, the regent of the Putnam Hill Chapter, and Mrs. Robert Wilcox did the honors of the table -“poured,” as it is called. 

There were seventeen card tables, four to a table. There were seventeen prizes.

Among those who graced the house with their presence were:

Mrs. Henry Webb, Mrs. Augustus Knapp, Mrs. C. T. Pierce, The Misses. Schneck (Rye), Mrs. Miller, Mrs. Norman McCutcheon, Mrs. Morton, Mrs. Herring, Miss Allen, Mrs. Duane Cooper, Mrs. S.W.C. Jones, Miss Louisa Mead, Miss Susan Mead, Miss Emily Mead, Miss Sarah T. Mead, Mrs. S. Christy Mead, Mrs. R. J. Walsh, Mrs. Weir, Mrs. E. H. Abrams, Mrs. Hitchcock, Mrs. Bray, Mrs. N. Webb, Mrs. St. Clair Hitchcock, Mrs. W. T. Ritch, Mrs. Seaman M. Mead, Mrs. Robert Wilcox, Mrs. James F. Walsh, Mrs. Anderson, Mrs. S. E. Minor, Mrs. Rungee, Mrs. Howard, Mrs. N. T. Reynolds, Mrs. H. H. Adams, Miss Kent, Miss Kent (Charlestown), Mrs. Whitson, Mrs. Nott, Mrs. F. G. C. Smith, Mrs. W. A. Stevens, Miss Raymond, Mrs. E. C. Ray.

Advertisement: Seaman M. Mead's Stationary and Book Store (1909)

S. Merwin (Seaman Merwin) Mead's house on the east side of Greenwich Avenue. 

Putnam Cemetery, Greenwich. 

About the Mead Family. Some Facts Obtained by Spencer P. Mead (1899)

Source: Greenwich Graphic. October 28, 1899, Page 1.

Researches Seem to Show that William Mead is the Ancestor of the Fairfield County and Horseneck Meads. 

Perhaps there is a large number of the Mead family, who are at a loss to understand why it is, that in the new "History of Fairfield County," Conn., just published, the author states that John came from England (some authorities say William) in 1642, (some authorities say 1635) and was the progenitor of the family in Fairfield County.  

Every member of the family, no doubt, is thoroughly familiar with the tradition in regard to the alleged John, therefore the writer will give the history of William.

In 1635 there arrived in Massachusetts many ships with passengers from England, and among those arrivals is found the name of Gabriel Mead (called Goodman Mead,) who was born in 1587, and died March 12, 1666, aged 79 years. He was probably married twice, his second wife being Johanna, the daughter of James Bates. He was born in 1528, died 1655, and sailed England in the ship "Elizabeth," Captain Stagg, April 1635, and it is supposed his son-in-law, Goodman Mead, was in the same vessel. Richard Bates (son) lived at Lydd, in County Kent, England, from whence the family is supposed to have come.

Gabriel Mead left him surviving his widow, Johanna, and the following children: Israel, born 1637, David, Lydia, Experience, Sarah, and Patience. 

Recent researches seem to show that William Mead, the ancestor of all Fairfield County, and the Horseneck Meads, was a brother of Gabriel Mead, and that they both came from England on the ship "Elizabeth," April, 1635; furthermore, the 'Coats of Arms' of the two are identical. 

Gabriel Mead remained in Massachusetts and is the ancestor of the Massachusetts Mead family. William, however, followed the tide of emigration, which at that time was toward the Connecticut Valley. The first English settlement of Connecticut was made at Windsor in October, 1633, and another at Wethersfield soon after, where William probably first settled.  Andrew Ward and Robert Coe, representatives of about twenty-two families of Wethersfield, on the 4th day of November, 1640, purchased from the New Haven Colony a large tract of land lying in Stamford, which in the spring of 1641, was settled by the Wethersfield families, and among the first forty-two land proprietors of Stamford, we find the name of William Mead. The following is a copy from the Stamford town records:

Dec. 7, 1641, William Mayd (Mead) received from the Town of Stamford, a homelot and five acres of land. This William was the ancestor of the Mead family of all Fairfield County Meads. We have record of three children, but there probably were four, a son who died in 1658. They were as follows: 

Joseph, born in 1630, married December 4, 1654, Mary Brown of Stamford, died May 3, 1690. He was the ancestor of the Ridgefield and North Fairfield County Meads, and had Zachariah, Joseph, Daniel, Elisha, Richard, and Mary. 

Martha, b. about 1632, who married John Richardson of Stamford. 

John, born about 1634, who married Hannah Potter, of Stamford, probably in 1657, died February 5, 1699. He was the ancestor of the Greenwich Meads, and had John, Joseph, Hannah, Ebenezer, Jonathan, David, Benjamin, Nathaniel, Samuel, Abigail, and Mary. 

Tradition in the family had declared that Joseph died young, or if he lived, went south, and became the progenitor of the Virginia "Meade Family." Researches, however, prove the facts to be different. The Virginia Meade family are in no wise connected with the Connecticut Meads, but are descended from Andrew Meade, born in County Kerry, Ireland, in the latter part of the seventeenth century. He came to this country about 1728 and settled in Nansemond County, Virginia, where he died in 1745. Colonel Richard Kidder Meade, Revolutionary soldier, served on General Washington's staff; Rt. Rev. William Meade, D.D., late Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church of Virginia, and Richard Meade (2), of Petersburg, Va., Member of Congress, 1847 to 1853, are of this line. 

The following record of some of the proceedings of the Court of Magistrates held at New Haven, further shows that both William  and Joseph, were early settlers here;

1654, October 18. Joseph Mead, of Stamford, testifies on behalf of his sister Martha, the wife of John Richardson.

1656, May 26. John Mead, of Stamford, enters an action of ye case against Richard Law, of Stamford. 

1656, May 26. Richard Law, of Stamford, complained of John Mead, of Stamford. 

1656, May 26. Jno. Waterbury complained of John Mead. 


1657, March 25. Joseph Mead, of Stamford, again a witness. 


1657, March 27. A Petition from John Mead was presented desiring the Court to remitt the fine of ten 
pounds laide upon him last year. 

Also a  Petition from William Mead, on behalf of John Richardson (his son-in-law), that a fine of ten pounds 
laide upon him be abated. 

The two sons, Joseph and John, migrated to Hempstead, L. I., and following records further substantiate the statement that Joseph did not die young or go south. 

1658. Joseph Mead, 3 milch cows, taxes 41 proportion. 

1658. John Mead, 2 milch cows, taxes 19 1/2 proportion. 

1659, February 3. The Town of Hempstead paid Joseph Mead nine shillings for a voyage from Stamford to Fairfield to see about procuring a minister, with letters from Hempstead to the Rev. Mr. Wakeman. 

From the last entry taken from the Records of the Town of Hempstead, it will be seen that Joseph returned to Stamford; moreover we find in the court records of the New Haven Colony that in: 

1659, May 25. Joseph Mead, of Stamford, was a witness. 

1660, Oct. 15. Joseph Mead, of Stamford, a witness, and from Testimony given by him in Court, it appears 
that he was born in 1630. 

1660, October 17. Joseph Mead, of Stamford, appeared as Attorney for Abraham Frost. 

1662. Joseph Mead, Richard Hardey, who was the father-in-law of John Mead (2), and others, declared to be freemen of the Colony of Connecticut by the Assembly, and Mr. Gould was authorized "to guie them ye oath of freedom, at ye next Court in Fairfield." 

Joseph, however, finally located permanently in Horseneck soon after his brother John bought land there in 1660. He was representative from Greenwich in the Colonial  Assembly, 1669, 1671 and in the year 1672, we find among the list (Greenwich Town Records) of the first twenty-seven proprietors of Horseneck (Greenwich) the name of Joseph Mead. He died in Greenwich on the 3rd day of May, 1690, 60 years of age, as appears from "Petition of ye widow and children of Joseph Mead, of Greenwich, who died without will May 3, 1690. Said petition is made by ye advise of our louving Unckle, John Mead, Sr." 

Of William, the ancestor of all the Fairfield County Meads, very little concerning him, except that already mentioned, can be found. His wife died in Stamford, September 16, 1657. No record of his death has, as yet, been found.

SPENCER P. MEAD

Mr. Mead is a member of the New York bar, Sons of the Revolution, and Society of Colonial Wars. 

This is Spencer P. Mead's gravestone in Putnam Cemetery in Greenwich. 

That Road to Byram (1899)

Source: November 25, 1899. Page 1.

Mr. Milo Mead Replies to Some Statements-Tresspassing on Private Property. 

NEW LEBANON, CONN., Nov. 7. 

It seems rather strange that Dr. Jones should oppose the opening of a public road from Mr. John Voorhis' quarry to the Byram Road. There are three gates that are, sometimes open and sometimes shut and sometimes locked, out in front of the quarry, one near Mr. Thomas Ritch's blacksmith shop, and another near the house of John Tief.

It is reported that Dr. Jones said in an address to the adjourned town meeting, that the proposed road began at Talbot's lane and ended in Mr. Voorhis' barnyard, which is a misstatement, not to say a prevarication. It begins far enough from the end of Talbot's lane to admit of a public road of thirty feet to come between, namely the Byram Road which leads south to Byram Point, and Port Chester and north to Byram Ridge and Glenville and further on to the village of Greenwich.

The path that the public has occupied is between two barnyards, fenced on each side and the public have for years, passed between them. Dr. Jones would hardly say that his carriage wheels have ever been badly besmeared by the manure in the path. Dr. Jones said __ace at my house that he wishes that there was a road through there referring to a route a few runs further east, near where Sylvester Hills has a quarry, a number of years since, which surface of about forty feet, where the path is now traveled comes within fifteen or twenty feet of it. It is propose to avert the risk of driving off this quarry by adopting a route further west and having it free to the public. Perhaps it would be pertinent to the case, to inquire of Dr. Jones how many years since, he began to drive through Mr. Voorhis' "barnyard" if he has paid him anything for the privilege, or even thanked him. A boy writing in a Port Chester paper states that Belle Haven Avenue ends at a tree. Well there is a big willow tree near the proposed end of it, but the Selectmen have authority to remove it if necessary. This is what the Statute says:

SECTION 2699: The Selectmen of each town may lay out necessary highways therein.

The public have for years trespassed on the property of individuals in respect to crossing the land of Underhill Lyon and Thomas Ritch in gong from Mr. J. Voorhis' quarry to the Byram Road. There is no question about the right of the public to travel on what is called John Grigg's road ___ Mr. Voorhis' bridge and under the railroad to K_eville, it has been traveled without let_ or hindrance for more than twenty-five years in the same track excepting when it was moved by the railroad company, but from the bridge to the willow tree about ten rods there might be a question whether the public could rightfully travel it without the action of the Selectmen which can be done according to Section 2699 of the Statutes of Connecticut.

If there are any misstatements in this article, anyone is invited to correct them, through the columns of the GRAPHIC.

MILO MEAD