Lineage of

Cowles Mead

Second Territorial Secretary of Mississippi

And First Acting Governor of the Mississippi Territory

1806-1807

 

 

mead_sig_light

 

Signature of Cowles Mead

From Mississippi Territory Papers, 1806-1807.

Mississippi Department of Archives and History

Record Group 2  Agency R169-B14-S1-00105

 

Richard Meade was born in 1490 in Soulbury, Buckinghamshire, England and died in n/a. He was the husband of Unknown Meade and father of Richard Meade of Brickill, William of Bragenham and James Mead of Stoke Hammond.

 

William Mead was born in 1515 in Bragenham, Soulbury, Buckinghamshire, England and died in 1558 in England.  He was the son of Richard and Unknown Meade and husband of Elizabeth Meade of Bragenham. He was the father of Richard Meade, I, Walter Meade, Henry Meade, Agnes Meade and Alice Meade. He was the brother of Richard Meade of Brickill and James Meade of Stoke Hammond. He was a Yeoman.

 

Richard Meade, I was born in 1540 in Soulbury, Buckinghamshire, England and died in n/a. He was the son of William Meade of Bragenham and Elizabeth Meade of Bragenham. His wife was also named Elizabeth Meade. He was the father of Richard Meade, II and brother of Walter Meade, Henry Meade, Agnes Meade and Alice Meade.

 

Richard Meade, II was born in 1580 in Soulbury, Buckinghamshire, England and died n/a. He was the son of Richard Meade, I and Elizabeth Meade.  His wife was also named Elizabeth Meade. He was the father of Richard Meade of Soulbury.

 

Richard Meade, III was also known as Richard Meade of Soulbury. He was born in 1605 in Bragenham, Soulbury, Buckinghamshire, England and died in 1643 in Bragenham, Soulbury, Buckinghamshire, England. He was the son of Richard Meade, II and Elizabeth Meade and was the husband of Joane Mead. He was the father of Elizabeth Meade, Richard Meade of Mursley, William Meade, Rev. Matthew Meade, John Meade, Thomas Meade, Samuel Meade, Rebecca Meade, Joane Mead and Sarah Meade.

 

Matthew Mead (a.k.a. Rev. Matthew Mead) was born in 1629 in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, England and died October 16, 1699 in Soulbury, Buckinghamshire, England. He is buried in the Stepney Churchyard, London, England. He was the husband of Elizabeth Meade and the father of Matthew Meade, Jr, Anna Mead, William “The Patriarch” Mead, St., Rebecca Shrimpton, Robert Mead, Sr., John Mead, Samuel Mead, Richard Mead MD1 DM2 FRCP3 FRS4, James Mead, Elizabeth Mead and Matthew Mead. He was the brother of Elizabeth Meade, Richard Meade of Mursley, William Meade, John Mead, Thomas Mead, Samuel Mead, Rebecca Mead, Joane Mead and Sarah Mead. He was a Minister.

 

1 Doctor of Medicine 2 Doctorate in Medicine 3 Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians 4 Fellow of the Royal Society

 

 

William “The Patriarch” Mead, Sr. was born March 18, 1658 in Stepney, London, Middlesex, England and died June 19, 1729 in London, Middlesex, England. He is buried in the Temple Courtyard, Middle Temple, London, Middlesex, England. He was the son of Rev. Matthew Mead and Elizabeth Mead and was the husband of Elizabeth Sarah Bead. He was the father of John Mead, Sr., William Mead, Rachel Wright, Robert Mead, Samuel Mead, Pleasant Satterthwaite and Saran van Blunk. He was the brother of Matthew Mead, Jr., Anna Mead, Rebecca Shrimpton, Robert Mead, Sr., John Mead, Samuel Mead, Richard Mead MD1 DM2 FRCP3 FRS4, James Mead, Elizabeth Mead and Mathew Mead.

 

1 Doctor of Medicine 2 Doctorate in Medicine 3 Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians 4 Fellow of the Royal Society

 

John Mead, Sr. was born in 1700 or 1703 in Cecil Co., Province of Maryland, and died in 1754 in Bedford Co., Province of Virginia. He is buried at the Meade Family Cemetery, New London, Bedford Co., VA. He was the son of William “The Patriarch” Mead, Sr., and Elizabeth Sarah Mead and was the husband of Mary Abrell Mead. He married Mary Abrell March 2, 1725/26 in New Garden MM, Chester Co., Pennsylvania, daughter of Richard Abrell and Elizabeth Unknown. She was born in Cecil Co., Maryland, and died before 1764. He was the father of William Mead, Abrell Mead, Sr., Robert Mead and John Mead, Jr., and the brother of William Mead, Rachel Wright, Robert Mead, Samuel Mead, Pleasant Satterthwaite and Sarah van Blunk. He was a Carpenter.

 

Children of John Mead and Mary Abrell are:

                   1. Colonel William Mead, born October 10, 1727 in Bucks Co., Pennsylvania; died 1805 in Augusta, Georgia.

                   2. Abrell Mead, Sr., born 1728 - 1740.

                   3. Robert Mead, born about 1750 in Bedford Co., Virginia; died January 1825 in Floyd Co., Kentucky.

                   4. John Mead, Jr. born and died n/a

 

Colonel William Mead was born October 10, 1727 in either Bucks Co. or Bedford County, Province of Pennsylvania, and died December 30, 1805 in Augusta, Richmond Co., Georgia. He married (1) Ann Haile 1750 in Bucks Co., Pennsylvania, daughter of Nicholas Haile and Ann Long. She was born December 30, 1732 in Baltimore Co., Maryland, and died July 22, 1769 in Bedford Co., Virginia. Between two and three years after Ann Haile Mead’s death, he married (2) Mrs. Martha Stith, nee Cowles in Bedford Co., Virginia, widow of William Stith and daughter of Colonel William Cowles of Charles City County, Virginia. She was born November 2, 1749. Col. William Mead was the brother of Abrell Mead, Sr., Robert Mead and John Mead, Jr.

 

Children of William Mead and Ann Haile are:

1. Nicholas Mead, born February 16, 1752 in Royal Forest Place, Bedford Co., Virginia; died on 04/07/1831 in Bedford Co., Virginia.   He was the husband of Mary Jones Bates Mead (b. 09/28/1756 in n/a; d. 01/18/1779 in Bedford Co., VA) She is buried at Lowery Station,        Bedford Co., VA. She was the daughter of n/a and n/a.

2. John Haile Mead, born November 20, 1755 in Royal Forest Place, Bedford Co., Virginia; died 1798 in Augusta, Georgia. He was the husband of Elizabeth Crump Mead (b. circa 1754 in Bedford Co., VA; d. 03/1813 in Nanclause, Green Co., GA). She was the daughter of n/a and n/a.

3. Mahlon Mead, born March 26, 1757 in Bedford Co., Virginia and died n/a in Sullivan, TN. He married Elizabeth (Betty) Yolely (b. circa 1760 in TN; d. in n/a). She was the daughter of n/a and n/a.

4. Samuel Mead, born December 13, 1761 in Bedford Co., Virginia; died in Bedford Co., Virginia on 03/07/1793. No wife or issue known at this time.

5. Elizabeth “Betsey” Mead, born July 30, 1764 in Bedford Co., Virginia. She married Captain Ambrose Gordon (b. 06/28/1751 in Monmouth, NJ; d. 06/28/1804 in GA). He was the son of n/a and n/a. Ambrose was the president of the Central Railroad and Banking Company for many years. Elizabeth and Ambrose are buried at Colonial Park Cemetery, Savannah, Chatham County, GA.

6. Reverend Stith Mead, born September 25, 1767 in Bedford Co., Virginia; died 1834 in Amherst, VA. He was the husband of Prudence Watkins Blakeley Mead (b. 09/13/1788 near Richmond, Henrico Co., VA; d. 01/18/1865 near Lexington, MO). They were married on 10/07/1807. She was the daughter of Reuben Blakeley and Mary Blakeley of Henrico Co., VA.

7. Unnamed Infant Daughter Mead, born 1769 in Royal Forest Place, Bedford Co., Virginia; died 1769 in Royal Forest Place, Bedford Co., Virginia. She lived 1 day and was not named. The Mother, Ann Haile, died in confinement giving birth to this child.

 

Children of William Mead and Martha Cowles are:

 

                   I. Martha Mead, born April 1, 1773 in Bedford Co., Virginia; died in Augusta, Georgia. She married Alexander McMillan. He was born n/a and died in 1834 in Richmond Co., GA and was the son of n/a and n/a.

II. Priscilla Mead, born January 7, 1775 in Bedford Co., Virginia; died in 1857 in Augusta, GA. She was the wife of Benjamin Sims (born n/a in Augusta, GA and died in 1840 in n/a.) He was the son of n/a and n/a.

                   III. Col. Cowles Crowder Mead, born October 18, 1776 in Bedford Co., Virginia.  Died May 17, 1844 in Clinton, Hinds Co., Mississippi. See information about Cowles Mead below.

                   IV. Marston Mead, born January 22, 1779 in Bedford Co., Virginia and died in 1858 near Blountsville, AL. He was the husband of Sarah Whitehead Meade (b. 01/22/1779 in TN; d. in n/a near Blountsville, AL.

                   V. Catherine Mead, born October 20, 1780 in Bedford Co., Virginia and died n/a. She married Thomas Jones (b. 1776 in Bedford Co., VA; d. n/a). He was the son of n/a and n/a.

                   VI. William C. Mead, born December 5, 1782 in Bedford Co., Virginia; died about 1850 in Texas. No wife or issue known at this time.

 

 

Col. Cowles Crowder Mead (pronounced “Coals”) was born October 18, 1776 in Bedford Co., Virginia, and died May 17, 1844 in Clinton, Hinds Co., Mississippi, aged 67 years, 6 months, and 29 days. Apparently it was Cowles father William who moved with his second wife (Martha) and children from this marriage to Georgia in about 1785.  Cowles Mead had been in love with his first cousin Sally Cowles while in Virginia, but, because of their relationship, they could not marry.  After leaving his true love in Virginia and, at the age of 30 years, 5 months, and 15 days, Mead married (1) Mary Green April 2, 1807. They were married by the Hon. Thomas Rodney, the Territorial Judge of the Mississippi Territory and namesake for the town of Rodney, Mississippi.  Mary died June 29, 1828 in Cincinnati, Ohio, after they had been married 21 years, 2 months, and 27 days. She was the daughter of Abner Green of Jefferson County, Mississippi.  Her place of burial is unknown at this time.  Unmarried for 4 years, 8 months, and 27 days after her death, Mead then married (2) Mary Lilly Mills on March 28, 1833 when he was 56 years, 5 months, and 10 days old. She died October 27, 1834. She was born on March 10, 1797 and was 37 years, 7 months, and 17 days old at her death.  They had been married only 1 year, 6 months, and 29 days.  Once again without wife for only 10 months and 21 days, Mead, now at the age of 58 years, 10 months, and 30 days, married (3) Mary Overacker Magruder September 17, 1835.  Mary Magruder’s date of birth and death and place of burial is unknown at this time. However, it is thought that Mary Overaker Magruder Mead is buried in the Clinton Cemetery in an unmarked grave. Overacker is her maiden name. James Trueman Magruder was her first husband. Cowles was her second husband. CLICK HERE to see the sparse wedding announcement of Cowles Mead and Mary Magruder. Source: The Mississippi Free Trader & Natchez Gazette - 10/06/1835 (found on MS Dept. of Archives Microfilm Roll # 28777).

 

NOTE:  Cowles Mead’s true love, Sally Cowles, married Joseph Vaiden from Virginia.  As a token of her love for Cowles Mead, she named her firstborn son Cowles Mead Vaiden, who later gave the land for the founding of Vaiden, Mississippi.

 

DILEMMA: There is an ongoing debate about which of Mead’s Marys is Mary Lilly, the wife whose marker is at the Mead Cemetery in Clinton, MS.  The ongoing belief is that the Mary Lilly on the marker is Mary Lilly Green, Mead’s first wife. I have seen the information at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, that states, to wit: From the Mississippi Messenger (Natchez, Miss.), Vol. III, Number 136, Page 3, Col. 2., Tuesday, April 7, 1807 -- Married on Thursday evening last [04/02/1807], by the Hon. Thomas Rodney, the Honorable Cowles Mead, Secretary of this Territory, to the amiable Miss Mary Green, daughter of Abner Green, Esquire. The marker at the Mead Cemetery in Clinton, MS lists Mary Lilly’s d.o.b. as 03/10/1797. Has ANYONE noticed that, if this marker is for Mary Green, she was married to Mead at the age of 10 years and 23 days old ? This is preposterous. Mead was 30 years 5 months 15 days old on 04/02/1807. The given dates for Mead’s 3rd wife, Mary Overaker Magruder, are 1804-1879. Mary Overaker Magruder would have been 3 years old if she was the Mary that married Cowles Mead on 04/02/1807 !!! Yet, the most viable and overlooked conclusion is that the marker is for Mary Mills.  Since no middle name has yet been discovered for ANY of the three Marys, logic dictates that the woman whose marker stands at the Mead Cemetery in Clinton is Mead’s 2nd wife, Mary LILLY Mills, whom he married on 03/28/1833.  Mary Mills Mead died on 10/27/1834, after being married to Mead only 1 year, 6 months and 29 days. The only thing that is strange about this is that the marker stands for the wife that was married to Mead the least amount of time.  Mary Magruder died in 1879 – surviving Cowles by around 35 years. His first wife, Mary Green is said to have died in Cincinnati, OH on 06/29/1828. There is no known burial location found to date for Mary Green or Mary Magruder. However, it is thought that Mary Overaker Magruder Mead is buried in the Clinton Cemetery in an unmarked grave. Mary Mills married Cowles Mead on 03/28/1833 when she was 36 years 0 months 18 days old and Cowles was 56 years 5 months 10 days old.

 

DILEMMA SOLVED 08/30/2014 (so far):

On a trip to the Mississippi Department of Archives on Saturday, 08/30/2014 I found a transcript of the Last Will and Testament of Abner Green, the Mississippi Territorial Secretary and father to Cowles Mead’s first wife.  In the Will, dated 07/19/1809, Abner names his heirs from oldest to youngest, with the youngest being Maria Green.  However in the distribution of gifts and assets, he lists Maria first and uses her FULL NAME: Mary Ann Martha Mead.  Cowles and Mary Green married in April 1807, so this substantiates the Mississippi Messenger newspaper article previously listed. There is NO ONE in the list of Abner’s children names Mary Lilly, so, unless the name of Mary Lilly was a pet name or nickname given to Mary Ann Martha Green Mead, the Mary Lilly is not the wife that is buried at the Cowles Mead Cemetery in Clinton, MS.  With that said, the MARY LILLY on the marker is not Mary Green (1st wife). The transcript of Abner Green’s LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT can be found HERE.

 

It is also known that Cowles Mead’s third wife, Mary Magruder, outlived Cowles by 35+ years.  Cowles died in 1844.  Mary Magruder died in 1879. Therefore the Mary on the marker at the Cowles Mead Cemetery in Clinton, MS cannot be Mary Magruder Mead.  The d.o.d. for Mary Lilly on the marker is 10/27/1834. Therefore, the MARY LILLY on the marker is not Mary Magruder (3rd wife).

 

This leaves only Mary Mills as the Mary Lilly on the marker.  However, NOTHING WHATSOEVER has been found (so far) about Mary Mills.  Of course, Mary Mills Mead only lived 1 year and 10 months after she and Cowles married, so any information is scarce, if it exists at all.

 

 

Children of Cowles Mead and Mary Green are:

 

1.    Mary Cowles Mead, born May 22, 1815 in Mississippi.  At the age of 17 years, 2 months, and 2 days she married UlyssesW. Moffett July 24, 1832.

 

Children of Mary Mead and Ulysses W. Moffett are:

1.    Cowles Moffett

2.    Mary Moffett

3.    Ulysses Williams Moffett

4.    Thomas Gale Moffett

5.    Craven Peyton Moffett

6.    Ellen Moffett

7.    James Moffett

8.    Henry Moffett

9.    Robert Moffett

10. John Moffett

 

DEATH NOTICES FOR MARY COWLES MEAD MOFFETT AND ULYSSES W. MOFFETT

 

Cowles Green Mead, born November 18, 1818; died October 25, 1849.  He married Sarah (Sallie) Frances Woolfolk on December 1846.  She was the daughter of Joseph Harris Woolfolk and Martha Woolfolk. Click HERE and HERE for a photo (Courtesy of Frank and Fran Graves) of a brooch that was owned by Sallie Frances Woolfolk Mead. Sallie Frances Woolfolk Mead is apparently the daughter-in-law of Cowles Mead that is mentioned HERE. Cowles Green Mead graduated Oakland College in Lorman, Mississippi with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1838, as printed in the Liberty Advocate. (Liberty, Miss.), 18 Nov. 1843, P.1, C.1. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. NOTE: Oakland College was in operation from 1930 to 1871.  After it closed in 1871, it was reopened and renamed Alcorn State University after Mississippi Governor James Lusk Alcorn and became an all-Black university.  It remains so to this day (04/29/2015).

2.     

 

Children of Cowles Green Mead and Sallie Woolfolk are:

 

                                      I. Ada Cowles Meade Saffarrans, b. 02/06/1848, d. 08/24/1938 – Apparently, Ada was an actress and had a theater named for her in Lexington, KY – CLICK HERE for a message board concerning this.

                                     

3.    Ann Elizabeth (Eliza) Mead, born June 18, 1821; died September 2, 1824, at the age of 3 years, 2 months, and 15 days. 

 

4.    Thomas Lafayette Mead, born December 20, 1824; died September 1, 1827 at the age of 2 years 8 months 23 days

 

5.    Martha Ann Mead, born October 14, 1826.  The day she turned 14 (10/14/1840), she married (1) Samuel Fisher October 14, 1840. He died 1842. When she was 18, she married (2) Dermot I. Brennan 1844 or 1846. He died 1850.

Child of Martha Mead and Samuel Fisher is:

 

1.    Mary S. Fisher, born August 1841

 

Child of Martha Mead and Dermot Brennan is:

 

    1.  Dermot I. Jr. Brennan, born 1844 or 1846

 

6.    [Ed. Note: In a newspaper article at http://vaiden.net/mead_article4.jpg, there is mention that Cowles Mead and Mary Green had a daughter named Sarah, born in 1821.  The same article also states that (at Mead’s gravesite in Clinton, Mississippi) “[a] monument to Mead’s daughter, thought to have been a Mrs. Shearer, who died in 1840 at the age of 29, was described. . .in 1903 to be ‘broken into countless fragments.’  Nothing of it remains today.”  THIS IS INCORRECT !!! Based on this information, the daughter would have been born in 1811.  Any information on this daughter, if she existed, is unavailable.  To disprove that, there is an obituary that follows, to wit: The Southern Star (Gallatin, Miss.), Page unknown: August 8, 1840 – Died near Clinton, Hinds Co., on the 29th ult., at the residence of Gen. Mead, Miss Sarah B. Mead, aged 29 years. Another article from The Raymond Times (Raymond, Miss.), page unknown states: July 31, 1840 -- Died of consumption on 29th, near Clinton, at residence of her uncle, Gen. Cowles Mead, Miss Sarah B. Mead, aged 29 years and 9 months. Therefore, this was not a daughter, but a niece of Cowles Mead. No information has been found, so far, on Sarah B. Mead or Sarah Shearer, or as to which brother or sister of Cowles Crowder Mead she belongs. If her age (29 years and 9 months) and her date of death (07/29/1840) is correct, her d.o.b. would have been 10/29/1810). However, the newspaper states that it is Miss Sarah, B. Mead, not Mrs. Sarah Shearer.

No issue is listed from the marriages of Cowles Mead and Mary Mills or Cowles Mead and Mary Overacker Magruder.

 

COWLES MEAD FACTS, RUMORS, TRIVIA, AND VARIATIONS IN-BETWEEN

 

 

All three of Mead’s wives were named Mary; Mary Green, Mary Mills and Mary Magruder.

 

Mead’s first mother-in-law was also named Mary (Mary Hutchins Green).

 

According to the newspaper article at http://vaiden.net/mead_article4.jpg, “on Feb. 1, 1807, Mead fought a duel with Capt. Robert Sample of Wilkinson County; it was fought on the Louisiana side of the river.  Mead suffered a wound in his right thigh and was lame the rest of his life.”  This writer has searched every available newspaper at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, and has found no printed indication that the duel ever took place.  However, news of duels, etc., were seldom reported, but one would think that a person of rank, as Mead was, would have been mentioned…unless, it would have threatened his position as Acting Territorial Governor.  Please note that this might be the case, since the duel “supposedly” took place after Aaron Burr had landed at Bruinsburg and Mead had officially taken charge of the Mississippi government.

The same article mentions Mead’s first wife as the Mary Lilly Green Mead that is buried with Cowles in Clinton, MS.  This is incorrect. The second wife is buried with Cowles (Mary Lilly Mills Mead). The first wife is not known to have a middle name of Lilly. Mead’s third wife Mary Overacker Magruder Mead (1804-1879) survived Cowles and lived until the age of 75. Her other husband was James Truman Magruder.  It is not known if James was her husband before or after her marriage to Cowles. If this is true, her name would be more correctly listed as Mary Overacker Mead Magruder.  It is known, however that her maiden name was Overacker. She is thought to have been from Clinton, MS.

 

Mead was in love with is first cousin, Sarah Cowles, while in Virginia. They could not marry because of their close kinship.

 

Sarah Cowles (after marrying Joseph Vaiden) named her son Cowles Mead Vaiden, the namesake of Vaiden, Mississippi.

 

Mead’s mother’s maiden name was Martha Cowles.

 

Mead probably named his home in Clinton, Mississippi “Greenwood” after his first wife’s family (Green).

 

Mead named his son Cowles Green (after his wife’s maiden name).

 

No known photo of Mead exists except the portrait in the Old Mississippi Capitol Museum.

 

This writer has been unable to find any type of detailed obituary for Cowles Mead, including any resolution or memoriam by the Mississippi Legislature.  Only two mention of his death have been found, so far.  They are as follows:

 

          From the Vicksburg Daily Whig (Vicksburg, Miss.), Page unknown:

 

May 27, 1844 – Died on the 17th, near Clinton, Miss., of disease of the heart, General Cowles Mead.  He was born in Bedford county, Virginia the 18th of October, 1776.  In 1806 he came to Mississippi as Secretary of the territory, under the appointment of Mr. Jefferson.

 

 

From the Jeffersonian Democrat (Macon, Miss.), Page unknown:

 

June 1, 1844 -- Died near Clinton, May 17th, General Cowles Mead, aged 88 [sic] years.

 

 

Mead’s home in Washington, Mississippi, (Adams County) which is still standing as of 05/02/2002 – see pictures at cowles_mead.html) was named “Meadvilla.”  Plans are currently underway for its renovation/restoration in the near future (possibly beginning in 2002).

 

Mead’s home at/near Fayette, Mississippi, (Jefferson County -- burned around 1998 by an arsonist), was named “The Pines,” which later became the home for Mississippi Governor Charles Clark.

 

Mead’s home at Clinton, Mississippi (Hinds County -- burned in 1863 by Yankee soldiers), was named “Greenwood.”  No indication is given as to how this name was chosen.

 

Cowles Mead was a Colonel.  Some sources indicate that he later became (or was nicknamed) “General” Cowles Mead.

 

Cowles Mead’s father, William Mead, was also a Colonel.

 

Cowles Mead’s mother’s father (Mead’s maternal grandfather) was also a Colonel.

 

Cowles Mead is said to have introduced Bermuda Grass into the United States.  His Clinton, Mississippi home “Greenwood” had a fifty-acre “front yard” that was covered with Bermuda Grass.  Mead purchased his first land in the Clinton, MS area on 10/07/1828. The land for “Greenwood” was most likely included in that purchase.  Although records indicate that Mead had at least 1820 acres in and around Clinton at one time, it had dwindled to a “mere” 640 acres shortly before his death.

 

In January 1807, while in the capacity of acting Territorial Governor, in the absence of Territorial Governor Robert Williams, Mead had Aaron Burr arrested and tried for treason when Burr and his party landed at Bruinsburg, Mississippi.  Burr was already famous, as he had killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel on July 11, 1804.

 

There were four governors of the Mississippi Territory: Winthrop Sargent, 1798-1801; William C. C. Claiborne, 1802-1803; Robert Williams, 1805-1809; and David Holmes, 1809-1817. David Holmes was also the first governor of the state of Mississippi, 1817-1820.  Cowles Mead served as Territorial Secretary and as Acting Governor of the Mississippi Territory under Robert Williams.

 

Cowles Mead was the first Acting Governor in the history of the Mississippi Territory (served under Robert Williams).  The other two Acting Governors both served under David Holmes.  They were Henry Daingerfield and Nathaniel A. Ware.

As the only wife that survived him, Cowles Mead’s third wife, Mary Overacker Magruder Mead (1796-1879) was in charge of the disposal of the Estate assets (Source: The Weekly Clarion. (Jackson, Miss.), March 28, 1867.

 

Click on the text below to see the actual writing of Cowles Mead.

Petition of William Tyrrell

The power of pardoning

or relieving from a sentence

of a court of law, is not

conceded by the Ordinances

of the General Government

or the Statutes of the Territory

therefore the Executive

is precluded from action

in favor of the petition.

Cowles Mead

June 22nd 1816

 

 

Historic Jefferson College, circa 1802, was the first preparatory school established in the Mississippi Territory.  Named after President Thomas Jefferson, it is located in Washington, Mississippi, which is also the site where tradition holds that Aaron Burr was arraigned for treason in 1807 beneath what came to be known as the “Burr Oaks,” also seen in this photo.  Ironically, Jefferson College is directly across the road from Mead’s home “Meadvilla” in Washington, Mississippi.  However, there is a genus of oak tree called a “burr oak,” or, more specifically, “bur oak,” which is an oak tree (Quercus macrocarpa) of eastern North America, having pinnately lobed leaves, acorns enclosed within a deep fringed cup, and hard durable wood.”  A monument has been erected at the Jefferson College entrance dedicated to the members of the Mississippi’s First Constitutional Convention in 1817.  Cowles Mead is listed among those from Jefferson County.

 

Mead’s first wife, Mary Green Mead’s place of burial is unknown. She is said to have died in Cincinatti, Ohio, on June 29, 1828, according to information found at http://www.stanley-mead.com/lineage/mead/gen3.htm#10.   Mead’s second wife, Mary Lilly, is buried with him in Clinton, Mississippi.  Information on the tombstone at the Mead cemetery in Clinton, Mississippi states: “To the Memory of Mary Lilly, Wife of Cowles Mead, Born March 10, 1797; Died October 27, 1834.”  Another article indicates that it is Mead’s third wife, Mary Magruder that is buried at the Clinton location, but the date on the tombstone speaks for itself.  Still another article states that Mary Macgruder was Mead’s second wife and that she (Magruder) died in 1879.  There is no indication as to where his third wife (Magruder) is buried. Mary Magruder did die in 1879 at the age of 75.  She was born in 1804.  Due to the date of Mary Mills Mead’s death, this disproved that Mary Magruder was the second wife.  She was Mead’s third wife, after all.

 

Meadville, Mississippi (Franklin County) is named after Cowles Mead.

 

At the “creation” of the state of Mississippi from the Mississippi Territory in 1817, Mead voted to name the state “Washington,” but “Mississippi” was selected instead, by a vote of 23 to 17.

 

Mead’s daughter, Martha Ann Mead (b. 10/14/1826) was probably named for her grandmother, Martha Cowles.

 

One newspaper article states that Mead had only one child, a son, which is incorrect.

 

Mead was elected to the Mississippi College Board of Trustees in 1833, and was selected as the Mississippi College Board of Trustees President in 1842.

 

Mead was one of the founders of the original Bank of Mississippi at Natchez.

 

Mead kept Aaron Burr’s surrendered sword many years after the event.  It is said to have been taken to Virginia in 1861 and lost at the First Manassas battle.

 

 

Abner Green, father to Mead’s first wife Mary Green, was Treasurer of the Mississippi Territory.  Information indicates that Abner Green (01/21/1762 to 02/21/1816) and his wife Mary Hutchins Green (02/04/1768 to 02/04/1825) are buried at Grove Plantation Cemetery in Adams County, Mississippi (Highway 61 South in Natchez).  A short (incomplete) lineage chart for Abner Green  is as follows:

 

Thomas I Green #1442 married Martha ____ #1443. Thomas settled near Petersburg, VA 1635/36.  

The Clay Family by Zachary Smith and Mary Rogers Clay, 1899 Filsom Club # 14


 
Children:
i daughter Green #1444 born Holland ?, Md. ____ Blocksom.
ii daughter Green #1445 born Holland ?, Md. ____ Eaton.
iii Thomas "the Seagull" II Green #407 born 1635.

 

Thomas "the Seagull" II Green #407 born 1635, at sea coming from Holland, married Martha (Elizabeth?) Filmer #408, born 1640, East Sutton, Kent, Eng.?, (daughter of Major Henry Filmer, (COLONIAL DAMES) #409 and Elizabeth ____ #410) died VA, buried: VA, 6 children ?. Thomas died ca 1714, VA, buried: Va.
Martha Filmer is descended from King Olaf III of Sweden, King Harold II of Norway, King Louis VII of France, Emperor Otto II of Germany, and 6 Magna Charta barons: Roger Bigod, Hugh Bigod, John deLacie, Saher de Quincy, Richard de Clare, Gilbert de Clare.
Colonial Families in the U.S. vol 4 p. 174; Lynn G. Tyler "Encyclopedia of VA Biog. 1915 vol 1 p. 234; Genealogies of VA Families vol II p. 815-819; lived near Petersburg, VA; The Clay Family p 219-200 addenda; Hening's Statutes Vol I (VA)


Children:
3. i John Green #1239.
4. ii Thomas III Green #405 born ca 1689 (1665?).
5. iii Elizabeth Green #1240.
6. iv Rebecca Green #1241.
7. v Mary Green #1242.
8. vi Col. Abram Green #1243.
9. vii Filmer Green #1244.
10. viii William Green #1245.
ix Hannah Green #1246 married James Turner #2651. They had two sons who died young

 

Thomas III Green #405 born ca 1689 (1665?), VA, married Elizabeth Marston #406, born 25 Nov 1692(72), of Henrico Co., VA, (daughter of Thomas Marston #1247 and Elizabeth (Marvell) Marvel #1248) died 11 Aug 1759, Nottoway parish, Amelia co., VA. Thomas died 1730, VA, buried: Va. Elizabeth made out her will on 12 Nov 1758; probated 24 Jan 1760
Tyler's Quarterlies vol V p 135-138; Living Descendants of the Blood Royal vol 5 p 265; The Clay Family p 220 addenda; will of Eliz. in Nottoway Parish, Amelia Co., VA 12 Nov 1758, probate court 24 Jan 1760


Children:
11. i Lucy Green #1249 born 1717.
12. ii Martha (Patsy) Green #404 born 25 Nov 1719.
13. iii daughter Green #1250.
14. iv Elizabeth Green #1251.
v William Green #1252 died pre 1758, no issue.
15. vi Thomas Marston Green #1253 born 19 Nov 1723.
vii Rebecca Green #1254 married Francis Jones #2612. Rebecca died ?South Carolina
viii Marston Green #1255 born ca 1726, married Eliza Aperson #2652. Marston died Amelia Co., VA

 

Thomas Marston Green #1253 born 19 Nov 1723, James City co., VA, married Martha Wills #2605. Thomas died June 25, 1805, in Natchez, Mississippi;  Married Martha Wills 21 Nov 1752. Martha: daughter of Filmer and Ann Harwood Wills. Ann Harwood was daughter of William Harwood, member of the VA convention in 1776 from Warwick Co.; Green is perhaps most famous for the marrying of Andrew Jackson to Rachel Donelson sometime in 1791 at the Green Family Springfield Plantation. Green as one of the Magistrates of the Mississippi Territory married the couple.


Children:
i Elizabeth Green #2606 born 21 Oct 1753, Va.
ii Henry Filmer Green #2607 born 11 Nov 1755.
iii Thomas Marston Green II #2608 born 6 Feb 1758.
iv Anthony Green #2609 born 1 Jan 1760.
v Abner Green #2610 born 21 Jan 1762.  – Married Mary Hutchins (b. 02/04/1768; d. 02/04/1825) – Parents of Mary Green, the 1st wife of Cowles Crowder Mead
vi Grief Green #2611 born ca 1765.

 

 

 

 

Click HERE for information on Cowles Mead and the Vaidens

Click HERE and HERE for more information on Abner Green