Cowles Mead (1776 - 1844)

Born 16 Oct 1776 in Bedford, Bedford, Virginia, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Mary Lilly (Green) Mead — married 2 Apr 1807 in Mississippi Territory, Rodney, Mississippi

Descendants

Died 17 May 1844 at age 67 in Greenwood, Hinds County, Mississippi

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Colonel Cowles Mead served for Mississippi Territory in the War of 1812
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Biography

Cowles Mead is Notable.

Cowles Crowder Mead

Origin

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. He was a son of William Mead and Martha Stith.

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) Vaiden (1781-1850) 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,

Family

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. They had no known children.

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 on September 17, 1835 (3) as her 2nd, to Mary Overacker Magruder, the daughter of Isaac Overaker, and the widow of James Trueman Magruder, Jr.^[1] Mary Magruder died December 25, 1879.^[1] Her date of birth and place of burial are unknown at this time. Cowles Mead is not known to have had any children by his third wife, Mary Overaker Magruder.

Children of Cowles Mead (all with his 1st wife, Mary (Green):^[1]

1. Mary Cowles Mead (Moffett) b May 22, 1815, d Aug 31, 1875
2. Cowles Green Mead b Nov 18, 1818, d Oct 25, 1849
3. Ann Elizabeth Eliza Mead b June 18, 1821, d Sept 2, 1824
4. Thomas Lafayette Mead d Dec 20, 1824, d Sept 1, 1827
5. Martha Ann Mead (Fisher) (Brennan) d Oct 14, 1826, d 1864

Offices and Profession

Cowles served as a Georgia Representative to the United States House in 1805.^[2] His election was successfully contested and won by Thomas Spalding.^[2] Cowles also served as Secretary for the Territory of Mississippi and as Acting Governor of Mississippi, both in 1806-07. He served as a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives, 1807 and again in 1822–23.^[2]

Meadvilla

In either 1803 or 1808, Cowles purchased for $400 the place previously known as the "Spread Eagle Tavern" on the Natchez Trace at Washington, Adams County, Mississippi (Adams County Deed Book H:3).^[3] Apparently the house he re-named "Meadvilla" was already on the property described as "land and building" in the 1789 Spanish land grant.^[4] Cowles added a secure two-story addition at the rear to serve as the Mississippi Territory Treasury. For some reason, Cowles did not stay very long. By April 13, 1813, Moses Richardson posted an advertisement in the Washington Republican announcing the opening of the Washington Hotel, "in the large and commodious house formerly occupied by Colonel Cowles Mead."^[3] In 1817, Cowles sold the house to Nathaniel Ware for $3000 (Deed Book Q:199).^[3]

Greenwood

The estate called "Greenwood," located a mile northwest of Clinton in Hinds County, Mississippi, with its 50-acre lawn and tree-lined carriage way, was known for its lavish hospitality. Greenwood became the final home of Cowles Mead.^[1] He died there on May 17, 1844 and was buried there with his second wife, Mary Lilly, and his son, Cowles Green Mead. It is rumored that Cowles Mead’s daughter, Mary C., is also buried there.^[1] However, there is no marker for her grave, if this is accurate. It is also thought that Mary Overaker Magruder Mead is buried in the Clinton Cemetery in an unmarked grave.^[5]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4} Collins, Ron, "Greenwood." accessed May 4, 2015
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Wikipedia contributors, Cowles Mead April 30, 2015, accessed may 4, 2015
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} "MDAH" Mississippi Historic Resources Inventory (HRI) Database, September 19, 2010 Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) website: http://www.apps.mdah.ms.gov/Public, accessed May 4, 2015.
4. ↑ McIntire, Carl, "A Place In History." originally published in The Weekender Edition, Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, MS, accessed May 4, 2015
5. ↑ Collins, Ron, Mary Overaker Magruder Mead Memorial# 134136798, August 10, 2014, accessed May 4, 2015

See also:

• This WikiTree profile is referenced from Wikidata: Item Q970707, en:Wikipedia

• Yates Publishing, U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900. Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2004. Original data - This unique collection of records was extracted from a variety of sources including family group sheets and electronic databases.

• Edmund West, comp., Family Data Collection - Individual Records. Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2000

• Ancestry Family Trees Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members

• http://www.vaiden.net/mead_lineage.html

• PHASE V --- The Aftermath of the War of 1812 in the South

Folder 131. Request by Maj. Charles Kavanaugh, [Tennessee Volunteeer Mounted] Gunmen, Washington, Mississippi Territory, to Maj. Genl. Andrew Jackson, Nashville, to pay rent to Dr. Cowles Mead for a house used as a hospital. 1815 May 1. Kavanaugh requests reimbursement to Mead for "one house, used as a hospital for the Tennessee detachment" and for damages to the house by fire. Signed: C. Kavanagh Major, T.V.M. Gunmen. On verso, payment has been endorsed by Jackson (signed: Andrew Jackson, Major Genl. Comdg., D. of the South) and receipted by Meade (signed: Cowles Mead). 2 pp. 1 item. Historic New Orleans Collection