Obituaries: Edgar T. Mead Died at Home Here Yesterday (1932)

Funeral Services Are Being Held at Christ Church This Afternoon

Edgar Thorn Mead, of North Street, an old and respected citizen of Greenwich and one of the generation of Meads who played an important role in the history of Greenwich, died at his home early yesterday morning, in the house were he and several of his progenitors were born.

A vestryman of Christ Church here for many years, and president of the North Street Association, Mr. Mead had always been active in town affairs. He was ill for three months before his death. The funeral service is to be held at 3 o'clock this afternoon at Christ Church, burial be made in Christ Church Cemetery.

Mr. Mead's ancestors came to this country from England in 1742. In a little old farmhouse built between 1725 and 1730 that stood back of Mr. Mead's late home was born Caleb Mead. Caleb's son, born in the old farmhouse, was Lieut. Caleb Mead, who fought in the Colonial or French and Indian War, and the Revolutionary War. The Mead family today has the original commission which Lieut. Caleb received from King George II of England.

Jonah, son of Lieut. Caleb, was born in the old farmhouse, and his son, Col. Drake Mead, was born in the late home of Edgar T. Mead, which was constructed in 1796. The old farmhouse, torn down in 1875, had housed the Mead family since it was first occupied by them in 1742.

Col. Drake Mead headed a regiment of the state militia, and his commission, received from Governor Oliver Wolcott of Connecticut, is still preserved by the family. Col. Mead's regiment was well known in this locality after the War of 1812.

Col. Drake Mead was the father of Cornelius Mead, born in the same house, who was a farmer and sat in the Connecticut Legislature for about 14 years. Cornelius was the father of Edgar T. Mead, also a son, Walter C. Mead, of Denver Colo., and a daughter, Mrs. William R. Talbot, of 123 Maple Avenue, who survive their brother.

Born in the old Mead homestead February 4, 1868, Mr. Edgar Mead received his schooling in Greenwich and lived here all his life. His brother Walter has been a resident of Denver for the past 50 years, making several trips east to his birthplace Greenwich, each year.

During a trip west 28 years ago, Mr. Edgar Mead met Gertrude Hayward, while visiting his brother, and married her. They leave a young son, Edgar T. Mead, Jr. Hearing of his brothers illness Mr. Walter Mead came west and was with his brother a week before he died.

Honorary pall bearers at the funeral will be wardens and vestrymen of Christ Church and the following: Joseph F. Abbott, John P. Adams, Roger S. Baldwin, Max B. Berking, H. Ernest Buermeyer, T. B. Conklin, Julian W. Curtiss, Edward C. Dean, William F Decker.

Caleb Mead House, North Street and Taconic Road

Everett Mead: The First Car in Greenwich, Connecticut

Pictured here is Everett Mead, circa 1901, driving the first automobile in the history of the Town of Greenwich. Enjoy!

Steeped in Town History: Descendant Goes High-tech to Tell Family's Story

Greenwich Time, Greenwich, Connecticut USA
August 7, 2001
by Martin B. Cassidy, Staff Writer

Historian Spencer Mead published the original history of Greenwich in 1857. (*Correction: It was actually Daniel Merritt Mead who wrote that history. Ye Historie of Ye Town of Greenwich would be published by Spencer P. Mead in 1911. JBM). 

Hester Bush Mead, an African American and painter, was the daughter of Candice Bush, a slave owned by David Bush. She acquired the Mead name after marrying a freed slave who was once owned by the Mead family.

Oliver Deliverance Mead, a prosperous farmer, sold his 120 acres of land at Field Point as homesites in the area now known as Belle Haven. He lived to the age of 96 and was president of the Greenwich National Bank.

From the early days of Greenwich, the Mead clan- which appeared in town before 1700- has had a powerful formative influence on the town of Greenwich, a legacy which is still evidenced by the scattered 18th and 19th century houses they built and several graveyards around town.

Now, a family member has created a Web site at www.meadburyinggrounds.org in hopes of garnering the attention of family descendants.

The Web site maintained by Jeffrey Bingham Mead, a 12th-generation descendant of the Mead family and Greenwich native, centers around three Mead burial plots -one in Cos Cob on the Mill Pond, one in North Greenwich and one on North Street at the intersection of Taconic Road-and a twice yearly newsletter he writes about the family's history.

"We felt our family descendants and friends would benefit from having a forum in which the history of these sites and the family could be explored and published without traveling far to acquire it," Mead said, who now lives on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, and is a social science professor for the University of Phoenix, which has a branch on the island.

Mead, an expert on Greenwich's burial grounds, also undertook a project to restore the three family burial plots in the early 1990s as part of Greenwich's 350th anniversary celebration.

He has also written a book on the freeing of slaves in Greenwich titled Chains Unbound: Slave Emancipations in Greenwich, Connecticut. 

The online site includes details about the local burying grounds and who is buried there, as well as articles and essays on the Meads and other aspects of town history.

In the spring online newsletter, Mead writes about Hester Bush Mead and a painting she may have made of the house of Jabez Mead. Hester Bush Mead's other artwork and the fact she was a free employee of Jabez Mead's family lead him to believe she is the artist of the unsigned painting.

"She could be the mystery artist of this painting," he said. "It's quite an amazing example of early American folk art." 

Several Mead homes are still in existence in town including the home of Oliver D. Mead on Pear Lane, Susan Richardson, an archivist for the Historical Society of the Town of Greenwich said. A handful of Mead descendants also remain in the area, and the historical society has amassed a large collection of documents, artifacts and clothing from the Mead family, Richardson said, but she had not seen the Web site.

"The Mead's were great savers, and they love to write history," she said. "They intermarried quite a lot so there genealogy is very challenging."

The Mead family was unusually large and made up of local farmers, merchants, business people and lawyers, Richardson said.

Jeffrey Mead expressed disappointment about the impending demolition of the Benjamin Mead Homestead on Cliffdale Road. The land was bought by Benjamin Mead in 1707 and contains one of the burial plots that Mead restored. The new owner of the house has permits to level six colonial-era buildings to make way for a new residence.

"There are a lot of Mead houses left in Greenwich but it's sad to see that one go," he said.

I've been back in Greenwich for the past several weeks. Sadly, I will be departing in a few days. I stopped by Tomac Cemetery and captured this image on the family memorial stone from 25 years ago.

Jeffrey Bingham Mead

The Edward Mead House (1832)

The Edward Mead House dates from 1832. This Federalist gem is at the top of Indian Field Road and East Putnam Avenue.

Both he and his wife Susan A.E. Mead are interred in the New Burial Grounds Association Cemetery. This is the cemetery next to the Second Congregational Church in Greenwich.

Edward was the son of Robert Mead (Nov. 22, 1768-Apr. 30, 1836) and Prudence, daughter of Joshua Mead (May 15, 1775 and died Sept. 23, 1849). 

He was born June 22, 1809 and died October 28, 1885. On December 24, 1832, Edward married Susan A.E. Merritt, daughter of Capt. Daniel Merritt (February 6, 1814-Aug. 26, 1884). 

Since the house dates from 1832 and Edward and Susan A(melia E(lizabeth) were married on Christmas Eve that year the house was probably a wedding present of sorts. 

Greenwich To The Orient (January, 1924)

Source: Greenwich News and Graphic. Greenwich, Connecticut: Friday, January 4, 1924.

Seventeen Sailing with Dr. Huckel on January 13.

Seventeen persons will be included in the Greenwich group sailing around the world on the great Cunarder "Laconia" on January 13, for a four months cruise.

Those from Greenwich are as follows: Dr. and Mrs. Oliver Huckel, Mr. Charles N. Mead, Miss Julia Mead, Mrs. E.L. Holley, Miss Almira Tubby, Miss Mildred Mead, Miss Anna Stabler, Mrs. Elbert S. Mills, Miss Harriett L. Reynolds, Miss Marion Mead, and these friends are also to be associated with the group: Miss Edith Johnson, of Montclair; Miss Ruth Sackett, of New York; Miss Ruth Renolds, of Colorado; and three former parishioners of Dr. Huckel's at Amherst, Mass., Mr. William A. Burnett, Mr. M.S. Mosman, and Dr. George W. Rawson. Miss Marion Mead will join the cruise at Shanghai, where she has been living for some time.

The route will be New York to Cuba, Panama Canal, California, Hawaii, Japan, China, the Philippines, Java, Singapore, Burma, India, Egypt, the Holy Land, Greece, Italy, France and England. The longest stay will be eighteen days in Japan and China, and eighteen days in India.

Mission fields will be visited by Dr. Huckel and others in Hawaii, Japan, Corea, China, India, and Egypt. The party will celebrate the Greek easter in Jerusalem on April 27. Several of the party will remain in Europe for further travel during the summer. Dr. and Mrs. Huckel expect to return to Greenwich May 23.