Proposed: An American Revolution Memorial Stone for Obadiah Mead of North Greenwich

This family home at 23 Cliffdale Road was built circa 1728. It was here that a major tragedy took place during the American revolutionary war conflict in which a Mead ancestor was killed. 

One of the most famous stories associated with this Mead family home in North Greenwich was written by Historian Spencer P. Mead in the family genealogy book:

“The old house was raided by a party of British and Tories. Obadiah, a son of Benjamin III, was then quite a lad. His sisters, Anna and Phebe, who were younger, hid with their mother in the cellar of the old house as the Redcoats marched up the road, and their father and the older girls, Mary and Theodosia, barricaded the doors and windows, while Obadiah, the only son, solicitous for the cattle without, drove them into the yard, then beat a hasty retreat to a neighbor’s barn. 

“An unfriendly Tory, Knowing the fact, informed the British soldiers, who surrounded the barn, threatened to set fire to it unless he came out. He, too brave to surrender, jumped from the barn and ran across the orchard towards the rocks above Dyspepsia Lane (Cliffdale) but the British followed. 

“Seeing that escape was impossible, Obadiah surrendered, only to be immediately fired at and instantly killed. The ball passed through his left arm and entered his side. After killing the son, the Redcoats forced their way into the house, but unable to find the father, they departed, taking with them the horse and the geese.”

The family cemetery at 23 Cliffdale Road is where Obadiah Mead is buried. There is no formal monument stone. His grave is marked by one of the anonymous fieldstones that dot this site. 

It has been long known that young Obadiah Mead is among those interred at this family plot on what was the Mead Farm in North Greenwich. Many graves are marked with plain fieldstone markers. Which one is his? We do not know.

A proper memorial stone for this young casualty of the American Revolutionary War conflict is long overdue. That needs to change. 

We will be planning on placing a stone in his honor. If you wish to be a part of this contact us at our email address here.