Our Summer Drives (1894): by Ezekiel Lemondale, a.k.a, Judge Frederick Augustus Hubbard

 

"Lemondale" Describes A Six-Mile Ride Over A Shady, Rustic And Historic Road, And Tells Who Lives Along The Way.

Source: The Greenwich Graphic. Saturday, May 19, 1894. 

Featured on the October 17, 2023 Episode of Greenwich, A Town For All Seasons Show

The Post Road, as the main road from Port Chester to Stamford is called, is less attractive to me than other highways. The closer to the shore one keeps the more comfortable he will find it. Such roads are more free from stones, better shaded and less hilly than the Post Road.

When Mr. Parker took me to Cos Cob we followed Milbank Avenue from the Congregational Church, where we turned south, and, leaving the Union Cemetery on the right, we drove down a hill along Frederick Mead's woods to the railroad. 

On the left hand, by the waterside, the Bruce Memorial Home, a retreat for the aged, is conspicuous. Its architecture is old colonial and it seems exactly suited to the knoll upon which it stands. 

It is the wish of his fellow townsmen, as well as the numerous objects of his bounty, that Mr. Bruce made live many years to enjoy the pleasure of making others happy.

A few rods further south and we reach the former site of the old Davis Mill of which nothing remains but reminiscences. Crossing the creek above the tide gate we leave Davis Landing and the Held House in plain sight on the point below and plunge into the thick woods. 

The property on our left belongs to the estate of Isaac Howe Mead and the land on the right  is the property of Charles Mead. 

The owners of the Isaac Howe Mead farm, two or three years ago, had an offer of forty-five thousand dollars for the entire farm and declined it much to the astonishment of many. But the fact that they have since sold less than half of it for that amount, seems to justify their judgment of its value.

The Charles Mead farm is a beautiful shore property, which has yielded hay and grain for successive generations of Meads, who have been noted for their kindly dispositions and benevolent hearts. The ancestral home still stands -a mere wreck- in the rear of the new house, but its old Dutch doors and gray brick oven tell of prosperous and happy days to those who lived there a century ago.

In the keystone of the old arch which still supports the roof of an ancient potato cellar, Mr. Parker dug the moss from these words: "Noah Mead, 1812." The marks of the chisel revealed the hand of a boy, who, on some Saturday afternoon like the school boys of his day, left his name and the date for future generations to read. 

This same boy lived to honored manhood and died at the age of seventy-seven.

Turning north again through the woods, where the oaks are very old but very thrifty, and where the artists love to congregate, we shortly pass the old red brick farmhouse where Isaac Howe Mead lived and died. 

Cos Cob harbor and the broad Sound are in plain sight, and to the left ones looks across the fields to the village of Greenwich with its tall spire on the hill and here and there a house peeping through the foliage. 

A few rods beyond and we cross the new iron bridge over the railroad tracks. It was at this point in the awful blizzard of March 12, 1888, that a passenger train lay for many hours buried in a great snowdrift.

Lyman Mead House, Cos Cob.

The massive square white house in plain sight to the right is the home of Lyman Mead, an ex-member of the Legislature and the father of a numerous family. I have forgotten how many children and grand children rise up to call him blessed. 

A little further on and we again enter the Post Road at Cos Cob. Its identity is always certain from the numerous lines of the telegraph wires that run direct from New York to Boston over this road. 

There is only one Cos Cob in the world and that is our Cos Cob. The gazetteer tells of numerous Bayports – a Bayport in almost every state - but no other Cos Cob. 

A few years ago some one– perhaps more than one – conceived the idea of changing the name of Cos Cob to Bayport. 

An application was made to the post office department at Washington, and the name of the office was actually changed to the very much worn-out name of Bayport. 

But, fortunately, the railroad company declined to change the name of the station. 

The school authorities clung to the old name for the District, and poor little Bayport is to-day only a small room in a small building where the residents of Cos Cob gather for their daily mail.

There are two every old residences in the center of the Cos Cob. The old mill and the unpainted store across the way are at Cos Cob center. The mill is very old– one of the oldest buildings in town –and the two old residences that look like ancient sisters, stand on opposite sides of the street. 

The one at the right as you go south is a popular summer inn -the Holly Tree Inn- and I fancy that within its walls are many specimens of quaint furniture of generations past.  The shining brass knocker upon the broad front door, the diminutive window panes, the steep pitch of the rear roof and the massive chimney, all tell their story of the long ago. 

It is said that the artists enjoy this inn, and Mr. Hobart B. Jacobs has told me that he knows of no better opportunity for pencil or brush than amid the surroundings of Cos Cob. 

The old mill is a study in itself, and many a picture has been drawn of its open door, with the grist-ladder miller within and the foaming water that has just ground the grist and will never turn the wheel again.

An odd kind of a mill is a tide mill, for it will not serve you except at the ebb of the tide, and to take it at the ebb the miller must ofttimes work at the midnight hour. I suppose the boarders across the street when they hear the low rumbling of the mill wheel in the still summer nigh, fancy in their sweet drowsiness that they hear again the turmoil from the streets of their own New York. What a happy disillusion it must be when they finally are awakened by the song of the robins or the click of the carpenter's hammer in the shipyard beyond. 

Palmer & Duff's Ship Yard, Cob Cob. 

Its a great place to loiter in -Palmer & Duff's ship yard -where the "ways" are ways of pleasantness, and all the paths are peace. From there one looks down the harbor to the railroad bridge, across which the moving trains appear but half supported upon the iron trestle. 

Cedar Cliff, Edwin Booth's home. 

At the right is Cedar Cliff, once the home of Edwin Booth, and across the harbor, but further down, is the Riverside Yacht Club house, and George I. Tyson's summer residence– a large square house with the tower.

Far down, at the harbor's mouth, is Old Indian, a high promontory covered with trees, through which now and then appears it evidences have a beautiful house, the summer home of George Lowther. The shores are bold about Old Indian and the rocks are covered with a prolific growth of seaweed. The tall trees grow in native luxuriance and the turf beneath them, free from underbrush, is as soft and fine as money and patience can make them.

Leaving Palmer & Duff's ship yards and turning north, we soon reach the Post Road again. 

The large, old-fashioned mansion near the enormous stump of the old oak is Mrs. Beecher's boarding school. 

This tree, only recently blown down, it said to be a relic of the primeval forest. When it stood in all its glory, its beauty and symmetry it attracted universal aberration. 

Lenox House -Future site of the Pickwick Arms Hotel. 

We may retrace the way to the Lennox House the way by the same road or we may follow the Post Road. There is but little difference in the distance, but the latter way is harder for the team. 

We are back at the hotel in ninety minutes, having traversed a full six miles and seen one of the prettiest of our summer drives.

Mead Burying Ground at North Greenwich: May, 2023

 

1884 Auction: 'The Great Oak Tree Place' (Port Chester Journal, September 4, 1884, Page 2)

 

Summer is Here! Update on the Mead Cemetery at the Cos Cob Mill Pond

 

Now that the 4th of July Independence Day holiday has passed, summer is now in full swing in Greenwich. The transformation of the family cemetery property off Relay Place in Cos Cob continues! 

There is much to celebrate -and more to come. 

The images below were captured on Friday, July 8, 2022. The new perennial flower beds have blossomed into an attractive border between the cemetery access way and the neighboring residences. 

We have witnessed the proliferation of black-eyed susans, asters, lavender, Queen Anne's Lace, cone flowers and more. We expect this to continue. 

Caroline Mills Smith Mead, died 1910, was Greenwich's first
female real estate developer. The perennial gardens that now
constitute the access way to the cemetery where
she is interred will be dedicated to her legacy. 

The entrance at the terminus of Relay Place, Cos Cob. Tree work is being planned
remove intruding tree branches in the upper-left of the image, as well as cleaning up and
widening the entrance way. 

Upon entering, a grass pathway divides the perennial flowering beds from
each other. The beds on the right have been planted with a variety of mostly summer 
perennials. Mulch provided by Mike Helupka's tree service continue to hold weed's down.
The black walnut tree on the embankment -originally scheduled to be removed- will be pruned up and retained. In the future, the grass and lawn mowing will be eliminated,
with mulch and fieldstone path stones in place.  

Just beyond the black walnut tree are these pollinator gardens. The Cos Cob Mill Pond
is to the left side of the image. In the distance are residences located off
Strickland Road and Loughlin Avenue. 

Black-eyed susans, cone flowers and other perennials are flourishing. All of the
perennials were raised from seeds and roots. They were chosen based
on their ability to withstand hot, direct sun conditions. 

This is a look-back from the halfway point of the access way towards
the black walnut tree (center) and the entrance at the terminus of
Relay Place, Cos Cob. The Mill Pond is on the right side. 

A view looking south at the Cos Cob Mill Pond. 

Another view looking south at the Cos Cob Mill Pond from the access way,
with yuca plants flowering and in full bloom.

The wall of the cemetery is seen in the distance. The grass path leads visitors to the
graves. The Mill Pond is on the left side of the pathway and pollinators. An
apple tree will be pruned back. A large, dead sumac tree will be cut down and 
removed in the coming months. 

The Mead Family Cemetery is covered with mulch. Most of the small and medium-sized
trees will be removed. The two large oak trees will be pruned. Based on feedback
from Peter F. Alexander of Site Design Associates, a concerted effort will be made to
plant ground covers, such as periwinkle, rather than grass. Indeed, 
eventually all grass will be permanently removed. 

1908: Lamp Presented to Capt. Seaman M. Mead

 

Source: Greenwich News. March 13, 1908. Page 5. 

Captain H. D. Remsem, First Lieutenant J. Randolph Reynolds and Second Lieutenant Charles Marshall, of the harry Howard Hook and Ladder company of Port Chester came to Greenwich last Tuesday evening and presented Captain Seaman M. Mead, of the Twelfth Company Coast Artillery with a beautiful antique bronze electric desk lamp. The gift was a token of the appreciation of the company for Captain Mead's services in drilling them for the big Port Chester fire parade. 

Gravestone Vandalism Reported: Laura Davis Mead (Feb. 9, 1791-Nov. 23, 1853)

 

This is in the cemetery next to the Second Congregational Church in Greenwich, Connecticut known as the New Burial Grounds Association.

Some time between February 5 and February 24 the marble gravestone on the left (second image) was vandalized. It is in three pieces, and found it lying flat on the ground. The inscribed side was facing down.

The gravestone marks the burial place of Laura Davis Mead (Feb. 9, 1791-Nov. 23, 1853). 

Her 'Davis' family was long associated with the Davis Mill that once stood on the mill pond in today's Bruce Park.

The gravestone on the right had been vandalized years ago. It marks the burial place of her husband, Jabez Mead (Nov. 7, 1785-Dec. 4, 1871).

Vandalizing a cemetery -including its gravestones- is a Class C Felony punishable by possibly one year in prison.

If anyone has information about who perpetrated this crime please contact the Association at meadburyinggrounds@gmail.com. 

Thank you.

Obituary: Deacon Silas Hervey Mead (1879)

 

 

Source: Greenwich Observer. January 2, 1879. Page 3.

Deacon Silas Hervey Mead died at North Greenwich, Conn., on the evening of Dec. 14th, 1878, aged 82 years and two days. He was buried on the following Wednesday from the church, and his funeral was attended by a large concourse of friends and acquaintances of early days. Few men have lived who did more faithfully the work given for them to do than did he. He united with the Congregational church at Horseneack (as Second church in Greenwich was the called) when about 26 years of age, and from that time till his death he was always busy doing good. 

In 1827, the Congregational church at North Greenwich was organized with 18 members, of which Silas H. Mead was one, and the same day, Dec. 25th, he was chosen deacon, which office he held at the time of his death, the time being 11 days less than 51 years. During all these years he was absent from only one Communion. From the time of accepting the diaconate of the church, the welfare of the church was the object of his chief thought and care, and no effort on his part was neglected that its numbers might be increased and the orderly walk of its members secured. 

In the prime of his life he went far and near to hold meetings, that sinners might be saved, and in his latter days, was uniformly at the church before the Sunday and mid-week meetings that he might have personal conversation with such as might come early, or with those with whom he had made arrangements to be present. He kept a record of all the members of the church, and knew their place of residence when they moved away; and once, to the knowledge of the writer, went to New York city to look up an absent brother, and once, when journeying West, left the train and walked six miles to see another, who had left without a letter and persuaded him to change his relation. He kept also a record of the attendance of the Communion seasons of the church, and at its annual meetings reported the names of those who had been present or absent during the year. 

From 1850, when he became convinced that unfermented wine only should be used at the Lord's Supper, he made the wine himself, that he might be sure of what he had, and used his influence among the churches to have them follow in his paths. His temperance principles he carried to such lengths that he would not use alcoholic stimulants as a medicine.

In "anti-slavery times" he was a radical on the question of human rights as on that of alcoholic drinks, and all in these parts who knew an Abolitionist, knew Deacon Silas H. Mead, of Quaker Ridge. But special among all the reforms which he sought to advance was that of practical honesty, which came in as an item in almost all his public addresses, and which in his life was a prominent as in his speech. Having such a man and example before them, and such doctrine to feed upon, it is no wonder that the church should be singular. Before the church was organized, they who were to be organized, and some others who sympathized, had built at their own expense a commodious church building and parsonage, and on the organization of the church, assumed the support of the pastor, and for 51 years have sought no help of others, while they have given from year to year something to spread the Gospel into the regions beyond. 

The church, now numbers about 170 members, and its contributions to benevolent objects the past year is one of the best monuments of his wisdom and zeal of any that can be addressed. Though not all of him, he was in it all. His activity continued nearly to the last. He was confined to bed but three days, and most of that time partly unconscious, so that his desire not to be a trouble to anybody was granted. A life of service for Christ is the best evidence we have that he died the Christian's death.