Joseph Mead

From Mead Family Ancestry by Jim German

http://www.mead-family.net/histories/Mead_Family_Ancestry.pdf

William’s oldest son Joseph was born in 1624, in Watford, England, and married Mary Brown in 1654 at Stamford, Connecticut. Joseph was a barrister, though not formally educated in law, he defended fellow townspeople, his brother John Mead, and his sister Martha Mead, on numerous occasions in the New Haven Courts. He was noted as being the first lawyer in Greenwich.

Joseph and Mary moved to Hempstead on Long Island and lived there for a few years. Joseph was the Assistant Justice of Hempstead, Long Island, New York, for the short time he lived there and was selected to procure a minister for Hempstead before returning to live in Connecticut. From 1669 to 1671, Joseph was a representative for Greenwich, Connecticut to the Colonial Assembly. In the Greenwich Town records, he with his brother John is listed as one of the first 27 proprietors of Horseneck (Greenwich) Conn.

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From the Sprague Project:

http://www.sprague-database.org/genealogy/getperson.php?personID=I8...

Joseph Mead: Male 1630 - 1690

• Born 1630 [1]
• Gender Male
• Died 3 May 1690 [1]
• Age 60 years
• Person ID I89629 Sprague Project
• Last Modified 19 Jun 2013
• Father William Mead, c. 1592, Watford, Hertfordshire, England, d. 19 Sep 1657, Stamford, Fairfield Co., CT, USA – Age: ~ 65 years
• Mother Martha Davis, b. 1604, Lydd, , Kent, England, d. 19 Sep 1657, Stamford, Fairfield Co., CT, USA – Age: 53 years
• Married Abt 1625
• Family ID F33477 Family Group Sheet

Family / Spouse Mary Brown,

• d. Yes, date unknown
• Married 4 Dec 1654 [1]
• Children
  • 1. Zachariah Mead, d. Yes, date unknown
  • 2. Joseph Mead, d. Yes, date unknown
  • 3. Daniel Mead, d. Yes, date unknown
  • 4. Elisha Mead, d. Yes, date unknown
  • 5. Richard Mead, d. Yes, date unknown
  • 6. Mary Mead, d. Yes, date unknown
• Family ID F33478 Family Group Sheet

Sources:

• 1. [S407] Book: Mead Genealogy, Mead, Spencer P., LL.B., (New York: The Knickerbocker Press, 1901), page 125..

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From Descendants of William Mead: Working file of Mary Lou Cook, updated 4 June 2011:

http://collectornuts.com/mead.pdf

Asserts that Joseph was baptized on Apr. 25, 1624 in Watford, Hertfordshire, England, which contradicts the 1990 gravestone that asserts this date as 1630, erected in honor of him and his family members who settled Stamford and Greenwich in New Haven Colony. Birth place asserted as Greenwich in Kent, England.

Asserts marriage to Mary Brown on Dec. 4, 1654 in Stamford. Asserts in error that she was born in Stamford in 1634 (Stamford wasn't settled until after 1640, when Capt. Turner signed a deed with Chief Ponus for the location). Further asserts that she died on May 6, 1708, in Greenwich, Fairfield County, Connecticut Colony.

Identifies him as having served as the Assistant Justice of Hempstead on Long Island, where he was on a list of public debts in 1659. Records show him procuring the services of a Fairfield minister for Stamford, and carrying letters from Hempstead to Rev. Wakeman around this time period, this secondary source asserts.

Identifies him as a representative in the Connecticut Colonial Assembly in 1669-1671 (mistakenly asserts that he represented Connecticut in a non-existent multi-colonial assembly - the first such assembly might have existed under Andrus during the Dominion of New England days, of which Connecticut was forced to be part of in 1688 and 1689).

Identifies him as an original patentee of Greenwich in New Haven Colony, and as being the first lawyer to take up residence there. A record with his name on it identifies him as having received a grant of the lowermost meadows south of the Westchester Path on Dec. 30, 1670.

Asserts that he was the ancestor of the Mead family of Norwalk, Ridgefield, and northern Fairfield County, Connecticut.

Children asserted as:

• 1. Zachariah Mead (c1655-1703, born in Stamford in the New Haven Colony, died in Greenwich in Fairfield County, Connecticut Colony, goods inventoried by Thomas Marshall and Jonathan Reynolds following his death on July 6, 1703)
• 2. Joseph Mead (May 2, 1656 - Sept. 9, 1714, born in Stamford, died in Greenwich)
• 3. Daniel Mead (c1659 - 1734, born in Stamford)
• 4. Richard Mead (c1660-c1703, born in Greenwich)
• 5. Elisha Mead (1661 - Nov. 7, 1727, born and died in Greenwich, New Haven/Connecticut Colony)
• 6. Mary or Mercy Mead (b. c1663)

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References

1. Remington, Gordon L., (1998) "The English Origin of William 1 Mead of Stamford, Connecticut." The American Genealogist, NEHGS (Vol 73, Pages 1-10). < AmericanAncestors >. Page 7-9 (attached).