The earliest traces of the Mead family are to be found in a history of "The Norman people and their existing descendants in the British Dominions and the United States of America," published in London, England, 1874. From that volume, it appears that the name Mead is the English form of the Norman "de Poato," which, translated into the English, is Mead, Meade, Mede and Meads. In 1635 there arrived in Massachusetts many ships from England, and among those arrivals is found the name of "Goodman" Mead (called Gabriel Mead). He is the ancestor of the Massachusetts branch. The most recent discoveries strongly indicate that he was accompanied by his brother, William Mead, ancestor of the Greenwich, Connecticut, Meads, from whom the family in Troy descend.
William and "Goodman" Mead sailed from Lydd county, Kent, England, in the ship "Elizabeth" in April, 1635. The Mead coat-of-arms, to which it is believed they were entitled, is thus described: Sable, a chevron between three pelicans, or vuln, gules crest; an eagle displayed; motto, "Semper peratus" — always ready. Goodman Mead remained in Massachusetts. William, however, followed the tide of emigration, which at that time was toward the Connecticut valley. The first English settlement was made at Windsor in 1633, and another settlement was made about the same time at Wethersfield, where William Mead settled first, and in 1641 he removed to Stamford with others from Wethersfield. December 7, 1641, "William Mayd (Mead) received from the town of Stamford a homelot and five acres of land." This William is the ancestor of the Fairfield county, Connecticut, family, although family tradition declares that John Mead was also one of those of eastern New York, western Vermont and Meadville, Pennsylvania. He was born about 1600. He married in 1625, and died in Stamford, Connecticut, about 1663. There is no record of his wife, but there is of his three children.
- Joseph, see forward.
- Martha, born 1632; married John Richardson, of Stamford.
- John, born about 1634; married Hannah Potter; died February 5, 1699.
(II) Joseph, son of William Mead, was born 1630, died May 3, 1690. He married Mary Brown, of Stamford; children:
- Zacharias, died in 1703, unmarried.
- Joseph (2), see forward.
- Daniel, born 1659; married Hannah ————.
- Elisha, born about 1661, died 1727; married, in 1683, and had issue.
- Richard, born 1664.
- Mary.
(III) Joseph (2), son of Joseph (1) and Mary (Brown) Mead, was born about 1657, died in 1714. He married Sarah Reynolds; children:
- Sarah, born November 3, 1695; married, August 14, 1718, Benjamin Stebbing; eight children.
- Joseph (3), born May 3, 1698.
- Theophilus, born July 3, 1700, died 1760; married Abigail Westcott, and settled in Norwalk, Connecticut; eight children.
- Jeremiah, born August 6, 1702, died 1742; married, 1725, Hannah St. John, his oldest son, Captain Thaddeus, was killed in the French and Indian war.
- Zachariah, born March 11, 1704, died 1761; married, but left no issue.
- Nehemiah, see forward.
- Israel, born March 14, 1708; married and left issue.
(IV) Nehemiah, son of Joseph (2), and Sarah (Reynolds) Mead, was born January 20, 1706, died 1784. He married Mehitable ————, and settled in Norwalk, Connecticut. Children: Joseph, David, Zachariah, Nehemiah, Deborah, Mary, Lydia and Abijah.
(V) David, son of Nehemiah and Mehitable Mead, married Isabella Knapp and had issue. He resided in Westchester county, New York.
(VI) David (2), son of David (1) and Isabella (Knapp) Mead, was born in 1762, died March 22, 1836. He was a soldier of the revolution, enlisting in the Fourth Regiment of the New York troops, under Colonel James Holmes; also served in the Second Regiment, Dutchess county militia, Colonel Abraham Brinkerhoff, and in the Fourth Westchester militia, Colonel Thaddeus Crane. After the war he settled in the town of Coeymans, Albany county, New York. He married, in 1787, Sarah Williams, born 1760, died June 2, 1849. She was a sister of David Williams, one of the captors of Major Andre, the British spy, so closely connected with Benedict Arnold and his treasure. Five children.
(VII) David (3), son of David (2) and Sarah (Williams) Mead, was born in Coeymans, Albany county, New York, January 17, 1795, died February 18, 1857. He was buried in the Mead burying ground, but afterward was removed to Onesquetha cemetery, as was his father David (2). He was a farmer of Coeymans. He married in that town Elizabeth Norris, born there July 13, 1797, died May 12, 1873, and had issue.
(VIII) Zachariah, son of David (3) and Elizabeth (Norris) Mead, was born in the town of Coeymans, Albany county, New York January 26, 1823, died in Troy, New York, January 6, 1898. He was a farmer and merchant in Coeymans and Troy, removing to the latter city in 1880. He was a Democrat in politics until the last few years of his life. He was an active and useful member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He married, January 23, 1846, Mary Townsend, born March 9, 1824, died January 6, 1898. Children:
- Charles Edward, born January 9, 1847; married Mary White; resides at Pattens Mills, Washington county, New York; two children, Mabel and Myrtle (twins).
- Frank P., born July 29, 1852; married Elizabeth Allen; children: Henry, Felter, Mary, married Frank Van Zile.
- Gurdon Crippen, born August 10, 1859, died July 11, 1889; one son, Gurdon Ira, a resident of Boston, Massachusetts.
- Zachariah (2), see forward.
(IX) Zachariah (2), youngest son of Zachariah (1) and Mary (Townsend) Mead, was born in the town of Coeymans, Albany county, New York, May 5, 1863. He was educated in the public schools and New Baltimore Academy. He resided in New Baltimore between ages nine and seventeen years, and at the latter age went to Troy, New York, where he has since been engaged in the collar business, having been connected with several of the leading factories of the city. He was foreman of the cutting department of the William Barker Company for twenty-three years. On February 15, 1909, he engaged with Hall, Hartwell & Company, where he occupies the position of superintendent of the collar department. He is a Republican in politics, and a member of the Holy Cross Episcopal Church. He is a member of the Masonic order, is past master of Evening Star Lodge, and a Royal Arch Mason of Hudson River Chapter. His clubs are the Masonic of Watervliet and the East Side of Troy. His patriotic ancestry has gained him admission to the Sons of the American Revolution. He married, April 30, 1883, Charlotte, daughter of George H. Coon, printer and publisher of the Troy Whig, and his wife, Charlotte (Vosburgh) Coon (see Coon). They have one daughter, Edna Louise Mead, married Horace E. Baxter, a native of Troy, New York.
(The Coon Line)
Through her mother, Charlotte (Vosburgh) Coon, Mrs. Charlotte (Coon) Mead descends from Abel Camp, of Barre, Vermont, born January 21, 1729, died April 20, 1820, aged ninety-one years. Abel Camp enlisted in the colonial army in the war of the revolution as a private, and was credited to the town of Cornwall, Connecticut. He joined the army August 27, 1781, in Captain James Stoddard's company of General David Waterbury's brigade. This brigade was raised for the purpose of defending a portion of the Connecticut coast. Later he joined Washington at Phillipsburg, and was also for some time under Heath's orders on the Westchester line. Three of his sons, Abel, Joel and Gould Camp, served as soldiers in the Connecticut militia throughout the same campaign.
(II) William, son of Abel Camp, was born April 9, 1764, died July 6, 1860. He married, November 9, 1785, Abigail Raymond, born December 1, 1767.
(III) John Raymond, son of William and Abigail (Raymond) Camp, was born September 29, 1793, died July 19, 1864. He married, February 28, 1816, Lucy Drew Camp, born November 21, 1791, died May 27, 1862.
(IV) Angeline, daughter of John Raymond and Lucy Drew (Camp) Camp, was born November 7, 1816, died March 6, 1842. She married Abram Vosburgh, of Glenville, New York, who died July, 1882.
(V) Charlotte, daughter of Abram and Angeline (Camp) Vosburgh, was born September 3, 1837, died September 23, 1903. She married, January 1, 1857, George H. Coon, of Troy, New York, born October 29, 1835, died June 23, 1899. Children:
- Angeline, born October 13, 1857;
- Charlotte, see forward;
- Raymond Schuyler, born November 27, 1863;
- Joseph Mulford, born April 2, 1874.
(VI) Charlotte, daughter of George H. and Charlotte (Vosburgh) Coon, born April 26, 1860, married Zachariah Mead (see Mead IX).