Cowles
Mead
Fourth Territorial Secretary
of
And Third Acting Governor of
the
June 6, 1806 to January 28, 1807
Portrait of Cowles Mead
Resides at
Sustained water damage from Hurricane
Katrina, August 29, 2005
From:
Mississippi Dept. of Archives & History; PI/STA M43.4 Box 19, Folder
# 4.
Signature of Cowles Mead
From
Record Group
The territory
opened by the ceding of the Choctaw land in 1830 attracted new settlers from North and South
Carolina , Virginia , Georgia , and Alabama
Salliy Cowles (04/25/1781 –
05/11/1850), lived in
Sally Cowles Marker: Photo 1 Photo 2 Photo 3
Cowles Mead ran for the office
of United States Congressman from Georgia and was elected over his influential
opposition, Thomas Spalding. When Mead
went to
Contested Election of Cowles
Mead -- From: Library of
Congress,
Communication to Congress from President Thomas Jefferson Containing Letter From
Cowles Mead Concerning the Arrival of Aaron Burr in the Mississippi Territory –
February
Communication to Congress from President Thomas Jefferson Containing Letter From
Cowles Mead Concerning the Arrest and Surrender of Aaron Burr in the
Mississippi Territory – February
Burr had recently been
involved in the now-famous duel in
which he killed Alexander
Hamilton.
When Cowles Mead learned of Burr's presence in the territory, he ordered the militia to establish headquarters
at a nearby plantation. While he was a visitor at the home of a local judge,
Burr learned that his supposed friend, General James Wilkinson, had ordered his arrest. Burr voluntarily surrendered to Mississippi officials in exchange for
a guaranteed trial in the territory, rather than face extradition. Burr was
bound under a bond of $
Burr was given a trial in Washington,
Mississippi, in February,
Mead's namesake, Cowles Mead
Vaiden, was
educated in
Synopsis of Cowles Mead’s Political Career
Cowles
Mead (
Synopsis of Governor/Lieutenant Governor
Position during this time:
Walter Leake – Governor –
Gerard C. Brandon (Lt. Governor under Leake –
Gerard C. Brandon (Lt. Governor under Holmes)
assumed Office of Governor for remainder of Holmes’ term (
Gerard C. Brandon – elected Governor in
August
-------------
Mead, Cowles – From:
MISSISSIPPI: Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events,
Institutions, and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form. Planned and Edited by Dunbar Rowland, LL. D.,
Director, Mississippi Department of Archives and History. Volume II, L-Z. The Reprint Company, Publishers, Spartanburg,
South Carolina. 1976. pp.213-214.
Secretary of Mississippi Territory, and
acting governor from June 1806 to January 1807, was a Virginian by birth,
reared in Georgia, who was a candidate for congress when barely if required
age. His election was certified by the
governor of Georgia, on partial returns, but when his opponent made a showing
to congress that the missing returns were delayed beyond the legal limit by the
effects of a hurricane, Mead was unseated, whereupon President Jefferson
appointed him secretary of the Mississippi Territory. By virtue of his office he assumed the
functions of the Territorial governor, which were rather absolute in governing
power, immediately upon his arrival in Mississippi. A state of war, due to Spanish menaces on the
Louisiana boundary and at Mobile, and the Aaron Burr expedition, exalted his
powers in a high degree. It would
naturally be expected that upon the return of Governor Williams from his visit
to North Carolina, Mead would not pass into eclipse and become a mere secretary
without some pangs, and this was the case.
In fact, the governor was compelled to remove him in April 1807, that he
should attend the seat of government and perform his duties, or at least permit
the governor to have access to the records.
Mead thereupon sent a Mr. pope as his deputy, to which the governor
demurred that he doubted the authority of the secretary to appoint substitutes,
though he was delighted with Mr. Pope personally. McCaleb (“Aaron Burr Conspiracy”), suggests
that Mead’s suspicions of Wilkinson had something to do with his
retirement. Because of his distrust of
the general and confidence in the people, “he was accused of being in sympathy
with the conspirators by Wilkinson and Governor Williams of Mississippi, and
dismissed from office. Nevertheless, he was beyond question the most efficient
official in the West – and therefore could expect no better reward.” Whatever may be the authority for this, it is
true that Mead and his friends accused Governor Williams of being in sympathy
with Burr, in hope of defeating the governor for reappointment.
On February 1, 1807, he fought a duel on
the Louisiana shore with Capt. Robert Sample, of Wilkinson county, and received
a wound in the right thigh which lamed him during the remainder of his
life. In the following April, he was
married to Mary, daughter of Abner Green.
Upon his retirement as secretary in the summer of 1807, he began the practice
of law and was elected to the house of representatives, where he led the fight
on the governor. Aaron Burr in later
years called him “a vain man, of very small mind,” and when told that he never
tired of relating the event of his capture, said, “I would have supposed the
episode to that affair would have restrained him from its narration.” (Sparks,
Memories.)
In his History of Texas, (1841), H.S.
Foote wrote, preliminary to quoting Mead’s famous war address of 1807: “The gentleman
who pronounced it is now eight miles distant from this writer, rejoicing
equally in the comforts of an ample fortune, and in the renown of bygone days;
and perhaps reciting, at this moment, to some delighted hearer, the wondrous
capture of Aaron Burr, the Conspirator.”
J.F.H. Claiborne (p. 276) describes him as
a man of such flowery speech that his real ability was obscured. When the regiment of volunteers was organized
at Baton Rouge in 1813, he received a commission as colonel, but he gave it up
to make a canvass for delegate to Congress; a mistake which caused his defeat
by Dr. Lattimore then, and by Christopher Rankin a few years afterward. He was an active member of the constitutional
convention of 1817, was a skilled parliamentarian, and speaker in the
legislature, 1821-25. His later home,
called “Greenwood,” was a mile northwest of Clinton in Hinds county, set in a
lawn of fifty acres of Bermuda grass, which, it is said, he introduced into the
United States. He was an enthusiastic
gardener, and often entertained distinguished guests in a favorite seat under a
cedar in the midst of flower beds. The
sword of Aaron Burr was one of the treasures of his home until carried to
Virginia in 1861 and lost at First Manassas.
The home was destroyed in 1863, by the ravages of war.
In an old neglected graveyard, near
Clinton, a prostrate shaft bears the inscription: “To the memory of Cowles
Mead, whose pure life exemplified the spirit of an honest man. Born, October 18, 1776, died May 17, 1844.” Beside him was buried his wife Mary Lilly,
born in 1797, died in 1834, and his son, Cowles G., born in Jefferson county in
1818, died in Yazoo county, 1849.
-------------
Mead’s Administration – pp. 214-215, ibid.
Cowles Mead, a Virginian of Georgia, was commissioned
as secretary of the Mississippi territory in March, 1806. He arrived at Natchez May 31, and soon after
assumed the duties of secretary, and, as Governor Williams was absent, the
powers of the governor also. It was a
period of great historical interest. On
account of the Spanish activity in the Sabine river country, he made an
agreement with Governor Claiborne for military operations, in August, and
ordered general militia muster. (See
Sabine Expedition.) Mead was gratified
by the response of the people to his own enthusiastic war spirit.
The troubles with Spanish authorities at
Baton Rouge and Mobile were quite as urgent as the Louisiana boundary
dispute. (See Florida Acquisition.) Mead wrote to the secretary of war in
September, 1806: “It is the general wish and inclination of the people of this
Territory to attack the Floridas; should one drop of blood be spilt by the
Spaniards on the southern borders of Louisiana it shall be immediately expiated
at Baton Rouge; unless I receive counter order from the executive of the United
States, with an eye to our predatory neighbors of the north and east, and our
internal security. I am disposed to act
decisively and promptly; that is, bring all the forces of the Territory into
immediate action and circumscribe our enemy in Mobile and Pensacola.” “Sir, can’t the Floridas be taken and then
paid for?” he inquired in another letter to Dearborn. Nothing but the solemn injunction of the
general government withheld his arm. “I
burn to deal back in blows upon the Floridas the insults of Louisiana.” Another muster was ordered in October. The commander of each militia regiment was
ordered to form a mounted company to be ready to move at a moment’s
notice. This was by the organization of
a battalion under Maj. Claiborne, which marched to Natchitoches and back in
October. (See Sabine Expedition.) The result was great indignation against Gen
Wilkinson, though that wonderful man continued to hold the loyalty of many
friends. After this Wilkinson and his confidants
were engaged in working up a tremendous excitement regarding the advent of
Aaron Burr, in which Mead was effectively employed, though he professed enmity
to the general. He has written to the
secretary of war September 7: “The people of this Territory are impressed with
a conviction in their own minds that General Wilkinson is a Spanish
officer. The old inhabitants all know
some facts which lead to this opinion and seem astonished when ignorance of his
extreme intimacy with several Spanish governors is acknowledged. . . . I do not
hesitate to express my fears of the result of a warfare waged by the United
States against Spain, and General Wilkinson the commandant. Think not sir, that I am the humble follower
of John Randolph. No, I believe the one
as much a Julius Caesar as the other a Cataline.” When he had sent the battalion into Louisiana
for the Sabine campaign, partly unarmed, because Wilkinson gave strict orders
that no arms should be issued from Fort Adams, Mead vowed the people would never
go into a war with Spain under the command of Wilkinson. In November Mead was asked by Wilkinson to
send a battalion of 300 men to New Orleans, which he refused to do.
December 2, 1806, Secretary Mead addressed
the legislature, at its regular session, and beginning with the words, “Called
by fortuitous circumstances to the performance of the executive functions of
the Territory,” he bestowed upon them such an oratorical effusion as no general
assembly of the Mississippi Territory had yet been permitted to enjoy. At the same time in a confidential
recognition of the Burr expedition, which agitated the Territory for several
months afterward, and during December kept the militia in expectancy of a call
to arms against the filibusters from the North.
Mead adjourned the legislature from December 12 to the 19, and gave all
his attention to hostile preparations.
In his message he said: “I now, gentlemen, bid adieu to my civil
character. Tomorrow I assume the
military prerogatives of my office and shall leave you at this time with the
fullest assurance of your patriotism, and in my revolutions through the
Territory I shall expect to find you at your respective posts performing the
duties which you may be required to execute in the general defence of our country.” Col. Burr was in the hands of the court and
released on bail when Governor Williams returned, late in January, 1807, and
resumed the duties of his office.
-------------
Meadville – pp. 215-216, ibid.
Meadville, the county seat of Franklin
county, is situated at the geographical center of the county on Morgan’s Fork,
an affluent of the Homichitto river, and 10 miles east of Roxie, the nearest
railroad station. Gloster is the nearest
banking town. The town became the seat
of justice about 1820, the original county seat having been located located at
Franklin, about 2 ½ miles to the west.
It was named for Cowles Mead, second Secretary of the Territory. It ships cotton and molasses. The Franklin Advocate, a Democratic weekly,
was established here in 1891, and is edited and published by Butler &
Co. Population in 1900, 250.
From: The Official
and Statistical Register of the State of Mississippi, Centennial Edition. Parts 1 & 2. By: Dunbar Rowland, LL. D. Democrat Printing Company, Madison, Wis. 1917 pp. 40-46.
TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT
GOVERNORS OF MISSISSIPPI TERRITORY -- 1798
– 1817
Winthrop Sargent, of Northwest Ohio River.
Appointed on Confirmation, May 7,
1798.
Served from May 7, 1798 to May 25,
1801
Born at Gloucester, Mass. On May 1, 1755
Died in New Orleans, Louisiana on
June 3, 1820
Buried at Gloucester
Appointed by President John Adams
William C.C. Claiborne, of Tennessee.
Recess Appointment, May 25, 1801
Appointed on Confirmation,
January 26, 1802.
Served from May 25, 1801 to March
1, 1805
Born in Sussex County, VA in 1775
Died Nobember 3, 1817 at age of
42
Buried in Metarie Cemetery, New
Orleans, LA
Robert Williams, of North Carolina
Appointed on confirmation, March
1, 1805
Appointed on Confirmation, March
14, 1808
Served from March 1, 1805 to
March 7, 1809
Born in Surrey County, North
Carolina on July 12, 1773
Died at Ouachita, Louisiana on
January 25, 1836
Buried on his plantation near
Monroe, Louisiana
David Holmes, of Virginia
Appointed on confirmation, March
7, 1809
Appointed on confirmation, March
31, 1812
Appointed on confirmation,
December 10, 1814
Served from March 7, 1809 to
October 7, 1817
Also was elected as the first
Governor of the state of Mississippi
Served twice as Mississippi’s first Governor
(Oct. 10, 1817 to Jan. 5, 1820) and fifth Governor (Jan. 7, 1826 to July 25,
1826)
Born at Mary Ann Furnace, York
County, Pennsylvania on March 10, 1770
Died at Jordon’s Sulphur Springs,
Winchester, VA on Aug. 20, 1832
Buried at Winchester, VA
Never Married
TERRITORIAL JUDGES OF MISSISSIPPI -- 1798
– 1817
Daniel Tilton, of New Hampshire -- commissioned on May 7,
1798
Peter Bryan Bruin, of Mississippi -- commissioned on May 7,
1798
WilliamMcGuire, C.J., of Virginia – commissioned on June
28, 1798
Seth Lewis, C.J., of Tennessee – commissioned on May 13,
1800
David Ker, of Mississippi -- recess appointment on Nov. 2,
1802; appointed on confirmation on Jan. 25, 1803
Thomas Rodney, of Delaware -- recess appointment on July
12, 1803; Appointed on confirmation on Nov. 18, 1803
Ephraim Kirby, of Connecticut -- commissioned on April 6,
1804
Harry Toumlin, of Kentucky – commissioned on Nov. 22, 1804
Obediah Jones, of Georgia – commissioned on March 3, 1805
George Matthews, Jr., of Georgia – commissioned on July 1,
1805
Walter Leake, of Virginia – commissioned on March 2, 1807
Francis Xanvier Martin, of North Carolina – commissioned on
March 7, 1809
Obediah Jones, of Mississippi – commissioned on March 6,
1810
Oliver Fitz, of South Carolina – commissioned on April 18,
1810
David Campbell, of Tennessee – commissioned on March 3,
1811
Josiah Simpson, of New Jersey – commissioned on Feb. 18,
1812
George Poindexter, of Mississippi – commissioned on March
3, 1813
Josiah Simpson, of Mississippi – commissioned on Feb. 9,
1816
Stevenson Archer, of Maryland – commissioned on March 6,
1817
ATTORNEYS-GENERAL OF MISSISSIPPI TERRITORY
Lyman Harding
1799-1803
George Poindexter 1803-1807
Seth Lewis, West District 1807-1808
William B. Shields, West District 1808-1814
Christopher Rankin, West District 1814-1817
Nicolas Perkins, East District 1807-1809
Lemuel Henry, East District 1809-1812
Joseph Carson, East District 1802-1817
Louis Winston, Madison County 1809-1817
SECRETARIES OF MISSISSIPPI TERRITORY --
1798-1817
John Steele, of Virginia
Appointed
on confirmation, May 7, 1798
Acting
Governor, April 3, 1801 to November 23, 1801
Cato West, of Mississippi
Appointed
on confirmation, March 3, 1803
Acting
Governor, October 1, 1804 to May 10, 1805
Thomas H. Williams, of Mississippi
Recess
appointment, July 1, 1805
Cowles Mead, of Georgia
Appointed
on confirmation, January 21, 1806
Acting
Governor, June 6, 1806 to January 28, 1807
Thomas H. Williams, of Virginia
Recess
appointment, June 1, 1807
Appointed
on confirmation, November 18, 1807
Acting Governor, March 3, 1809 to
July 1, 1809
Henry Dangerfield, of Mississippi
Recess appointment, June 30, 1810
Appointed on confirmation,
January 10, 1811
Appointed on confirmation,
December 10, 1814
Acting Governor, October 6, 1811
to June 15, 1812
Nathaniel A. Ware, of Mississippi
Recess
appointment, June 7, 1815
Appointed
on confirmation, January 10, 1816
Acting
Governor, April, 1815 to May 1816
SPEAKERS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OF MISSISSIPPI TERRITORY -- 1800-1817
Henry Hunter – 1800 to 1803
William Gordon Forman – 1803
William Connor – 1803
Nicholas Perkins – 1803
William Dunbar – 1803
Philander Smith – 1804 to 1805
John Steele – 1805 to 1806
John Ellis – 1806 to 1808
William Snodgrass – November 1809
Ferdinand L. Claiborne – February 1809
Ferdinand L. Claiborne – 1809 to 1810
Thomas Hinds (pro. Tem.) – 1810
Ralph Rogers (pro. Tem.) – 1810
Cowles Mead – 1811 to 1813
Daniel Burnet – 1813 to 1815
Gabriel Moore – 1815 to 1817
AUDITORS OF MISSISSIPPI TERRITORY
Charles B. Howell
Beverly R. Grayson
Park Walton
TREASURERS OF MISSISSIPPI TERRITORY
Abner Green
Samuel Brooks
PRESIDENTS OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL OF
MISSISSIPPI TERRITORY
1801-1817
John Stampley – 1801 to 1802
John Ellis – 1802 to 1807
Joshua Baker – 1807 to 1809
Daniel Burnet – 1809
James Lea – 1809
Alexander Montgomery – 1809
Thomas Barnes – 1809 to 1810
Alexander Montgomery – 1810 to 1812
Thomas Barnes – 1812 to 1815
James Titus – 1816 to 1817
MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL OF
MISSISSIPPI TERRITORY -- 1800-1817
Robert Bailey – commissioned Feb, 4, 1815
Thomas Barnes – commissioned Sept. 1, 1809
Appointed
on confirmation – Dec. 26, 1809
Re-appointed
– Feb. 15, 1814
MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF
MISSISSIPPI TERRITORY
Name County Session
William D. Baker Adams 1815
Benjamin Baldwin Baldwin
(Alabama) 1813
H.J. Balch Jefferson 1811,
1813
Sutton Banks Adams 1800
Allan Barnes Claiborne 1811
Daniel Beasley Jefferson 1809,
1811
John Bond, Jr. Marion,
Lawrence 1815
Joseph Bowman Adams 1811
James W. Branham ------- 1807
Gerard Brandon Wilkinson 1815
Theodore Brightwell Washington
(Alabama) 1809
Wilborn Briscoe Claiborne 1813,
1815
Samuel Bridges Jefferson 1806,
1807
John Brooks Jefferson 1802,
1803
Ervin Brown ------- 1815
Stephen Bullock ------- 1807
John Burnet Pickering 1802
Daniel Burnet Claiborne 1807,
1813
James Caller Washington
(Alabama) 1807,
1811
John Caller Washington
(Alabama) 1804
Thomas Calvit Pickering 1800,
1802
Anthony Campbell Adams 1815
Henry Cassells ------- 1808
Bailey E. Chaney Franklin 1809,1813,
1814
George Clark ------- 1807
F.L. Claiborne Adams 1804
Samuel Cook ------- 1807
William Connor Adams 1802
William Crawford Mobile
(Alabama), Jackson 1813
Micajah Davis Adams 1807
Abram Defrance Adams 1809
Roger Dixon Jefferson 1802
Henry D. Downs Jefferson 1807
Henry D. Downs Warren 1813,
1815
William Dunbar Adams 1802
Joseph Dunbar Jefferson 1805
John Ellis Adams 1806
Thomas Fitzpatrick Jefferson 1806,
1807
William Gordon Forman ------- 1803
James Foster ------- 1809
John Girault Jefferson 1802
Thomas M. Green Pickering 1800
David Greenleaf Adams 1813
John Hanes Adams 1809
Henry Hanna Amite 1813,
1815
Lyman Harding Adams 1804
Lemuel Henry Washington
(Alabama) 1807
Thomas Harris ------- 1807
James Hoggatt Adams 1800,
1802
Philip Hoggatt Adams 1811,
1813
John Hopkins Jefferson 1815
George W. Humphreys Jefferson 1806
Henry Hunter Adams 1800,
1806, 1809
Anthony Hutchins Adams 1800
Joseph P. Kennedy ------- -------
Richard King ------- 1809
Josiah D. Lister Washington
(Alabama) 1815
John Lowry Amite 1811
David McCaleb Claiborne 1809
James McCartney Madison 1813
George W. McConnell Franklin 1811
William McGrew Washington
(Alabama) 1811
Hugh McVay Madison
(Alabama) 1811,
1813, 1815
Cowles Mead Jefferson 1807,
1811
Alexander Montgomery Adams 1806,
1807
Samuel Montgomery Adams 1813
Gabriel Moore Madison
(Alabama) 1811,
1813, 1815
George Newman Adams 1815
John Nugent Adams 1809
Thomas Orme ------- 1807
Audly L. Osborne ------- 1809
James Patterson Wayne 1811,
1813
Peter Perkins Madison
(Alabama) 1811
Nicholas Perkins Washington 1802
Lewis Perkins Amite 1811
George Poindexter Adams 1806
William Pool ------- 1809
Samuel Postlethwaite Adams 1811
John B. Posey Wilkinson 1813
Christopher Rankin Amite 1813
Ralph Reagan Claiborne 1809,
1813
Joseph Roberts ------- 1809
Harmon Runnels Marion,
Hancock 1813
Reuben Saffold Clarke
(Alabama) 1813,
1815
Joseph Sessions Adams 1807,
1811, 1813
John Shaw Jefferson 1804
John Shaw Franklin 1815
William B. Shields Adams 1807,
1808, 1813
Philander Smith Adams 1804,
1811
Samuel Smith Washington
(Alabama) 1813,
1814
William Snodgrass Jefferson 1806,
1807, 1808, 1809
Theodore Stark Adams 1807
John Steele Adams 1804
Duncan Stewart Wilkinson 1813
Minor Sturgis ------- 1807
Nathan Swayze Adams 1815
John Taylor Adams 1813
James Titus Madison
(Alabama) 1812
Berinett Truly Jefferson 1807
Edward Turner Warren 1811
Edward Turner Adams 1815
White Turpin Adams 1809
Edward Ward ------- 1810
Nathaniel A. Ware Adams 1813
Josiah Watts Greene,
Wayne 1815
Cato West Pickering 1800,
1802
James C. Wilkins Adams 1815
John B. Willis ------- 1809
Jesse Winborne Amite 1815
William H. Winston Madison 1815
William O. Winston Madison 1810
James Wood Claiborne 1815
For a complete listing of the Executive Branch , CLICK HERE.
Mississippi Territorial Secretary Cowles Mead's Home “Meadvilla”
in Washington, Mississippi
Meadvilla is located behind the Washington United Methodist
Church on Highway 61 North in Washington, Mississippi, and was added to the
National Register of Historical Places in 1982 as Building Number
82000570. It is described by the
National Register as Federal/Greek Revival Style.
Library of
Congress Photo Description # 1 -- Library of Congress Photo Description # 2
Library of
Congress Photo 1 -- April 29, 2002 Photo 1 -- April 29, 2002 Photo 1a (right wing is visible in this photo)
Library of
Congress Photo 2 -- April 29, 2002 Photo 2
Library of
Congress Photo 3 -- April 29, 2002 Photo 3
Library of
Congress Photo 4 -- April 29, 2002 Photo 4
Library of
Congress Photo 5 -- April 29, 2002 Photo 5
May 03, 2002
Photo of Kitchen (separate from house)
Washington United
Methodist Church – May 3, 2002
Meadvilla is
behind Washington United Methodist Church
