Hannah (Browne) Mead (1634 - abt. 1700)

Born 8 Sep 1634 in Watertown, Massachusetts

Descendants

Died about 13 Nov 1700 at about age 66 in Greenwich, Fairfield County, Connecticut

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Biography

Hannah Potter aka Hannah Browne

Origin Theory

Hannah Browne/Brown was born on September 9, 1634 at Watertown, then part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.^[1][2] Her biological parents were John Browne and his wife, Dorothy Unknown.^[1] John Browne died and was buried on June 20, 1636 at Watertown - at only 36 years of age.^[1] Dorothy probably remarried to William Potter, who would have been the only father Hannah knew. She very likely took his name, as "Hannah Potter."

Dorothy Brown was named in the birth records of both her daughters at Watertown, Hannah and her sister Mary.^[1] There is no further record of either daughter, and there is no actual record of Dorothy's marriage to William Potter.^[1] However, Anderson calls the circumstantial evidence "highly suggestive."^[1] Six acres of homestall and the Remote Meadows grant, which were originally John Brown's Watertown land grants, ended up in the hands of William Potter.^[1] This was commonly seen when a widow remarried.

Anderson and Remington both suppose that Hannah took her step-father's name, as Hannah Potter. According to Anderson, this was "probably" the identical William Potter of Watertown, who moved in 1645 to Stamford. He was "probably" the step-father of Hannah.^[1] Remington calls him either the father or the step-father of Hannah.^[3]

Early Years

William Potter's family was one of a group of families which migrated from Watertown to Stamford in 1645 and 1646. The others' names were John Ellet, Nicholas Knapp, Nicholas Theale, Robert Lockwood, John Waterbury, Richard Ambler, and Gregory Taylor. Some of these names are familiar as later marriages to the Mead family : Knapp, Lockwood, and Waterbury.^[1]

Marriage and Children

Hannah was "possibly," according to Anderson, the Hannah Potter who married about 1656 to John Mead,^[1] or was married to John Mead about 1655, according to Remington.^[3] John Mead was living at Stamford, Fairfield County, Connecticut at the time. We know John briefly went to Hempstead, Long Island and by 1660, he had returned to Horse Neck (Greenwich), Connecticut, where he purchased land in 1660 (dated Oct 26, 1660).^[4]

According to Mead, Hannah's father owned Shippan Point at Stamford, and she and her husband John inherited a large amount of property from him.^[5]

Hannah and John had eleven children (from John Mead's will). Mead and Doherty do not report the same birth order:^[6][7]

1. John Mead, b c. 1658; mar Ruth Hardy
2. Joseph Mead, b May 2, 1660
3. Hannah Mead, b c. 1661; mar July 12, 1677 Joseph Scofield
4. Ebenezer Mead, b 1663; mar 1691 Sarah Knapp
5. Jonathan Mead, b c. 1665; mar c. 1688 Martha Finch
6. David Mead, b c. 1665; mar Dec 16, 1707 Abigail Leane
7. Benjamin Mead, b 7 May 1667; mar 1) Sarah Waterbury, 2) Rachel Brown
8. Nathaniel Mead, b c. 1669; mar Rachel Unknown
9. Samuel Mead, b 8 June 1678; mar Hannah Unknown
10. Abigail Mead b c. 1675
11. Mary Mead (also called Mary Elizabeth), b c. 1678

Death and Legacy

Hannah is assumed to have died about 1700 at Greenwich, Fairfield, Connecticut, but her death was not recorded in Greenwich Vital Records.^[8] She is assumed to have been buried at the First Congregational Church Cemetery - Greenwich, Fairfield County, Connecticut. According to the Find a Grave memorial, "this burial is unmarked."^[9]

Hannah and John were the ancestors of the Horse Neck Meads.^[6]

Note: Profile reported a death date of November 13, 1700 at Greenwich, without evidence or citation.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9} Anderson, Robert C., "John Brown" Featured name. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England 1620-1633, Volumes I-III. (Online database accessed 9 May 2016: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2010), Vol 1, Pages 255-57.
2. ↑ Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850. (Online Database accessed 18 May 2016: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2010) Watertown, Page 3.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Remington, Gordon L., 1998 The English Origin of William 1 Mead of Stamford, Connecticut. The American Genealogist. New England Historic Genealogical Society, American Ancestors accessed 9 May 2016, Vol. 73 : Pages.1-9.
4. ↑ Weaver, Lucius E. Genealogy of a branch of the Mead family with a history of the family in England and in America and appendixes of Rogers and Denton families. Rochester, New York: 1911, accessed online 3/11/14.
5. ↑ Mead, Daniel M., 1857 A history of the town of Greenwich, Fairfield county, Conn., with many important statistics. New York : Baker & Godwin, 1857, accessed 9 May 2016, Page 62
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Mead, Spencer P., (1901) "History and Genealogy of the Mead Family of Fairfield ..." New York: Knickerbocker, Archive.org accessed 5 Oct 2016 (Pages 23-24, 125).
7. ↑ Doherty, Frank J., (1990) The Settlers of the Beekman Patent, V.1-8, "The Mead Family." NEHGS AmericanAncestors.org accessed 16 June 2016 (Vol 8, Pages 697-738, citing p 698).
8. ↑ Brown, Coralynn, transcriber, Greenwich, Fairfield Co., CT Vital Records from Barbour 1640-1848. "Greenwich M." CTGenWeb accessed 24 Oct 2016 Maureen Mead, manager.
9. ↑ Velde, Bill, Hannah Potter. Find A Grave Memorial# 70380079, Record added: May 25, 2011.

See also:

• Bond, Henry, (1855) Genealogies of the Families and Descendants of the Early Settlers of Watertown, Massachusetts, Little, Brown and Company, Boston, Massachusetts
• Mead, Daniel M. A history of the town of Greenwich, Fairfield county, Conn., with many important statistics. New York : Baker & Godwin, 1857.

• History and genealogy of the Mead family, Chapter III, The Family in Greenwich: https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/11005/dvm_GenMono000278b-00015-1?pid=22&backurl=https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/168169165/person/412184190832/gallery&usePUB=true&_phsrc=EgE4160&usePUBJs=true

• A personal narrative of some branches of the Lake family in America, Part II: https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/13588/dvm_GenMono000236-00126-0?pid=209&backurl=https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/168169165/person/412184190832/gallery&usePUB=true&_phsrc=EgE4161&usePUBJs=true

• Descendants of John Page (1614-1687): https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/21469/dvm_GenMono005152-00010-0?pid=10&backurl=https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/168169165/person/412184190832/gallery&usePUB=true&_phsrc=EgE4162&usePUBJs=true

• Genealogical and Family History of Central New York, Vol II: https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/48314/FHCentralNYII-006367-651?pid=287341&backurl=https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/168169165/person/412184190832/gallery&usePUB=true&_phsrc=EgE4164&usePUBJs=true

• Ancestors of Evelyn Wood Keeler, wife of Willard Underhill Taylor: https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/11741/dvm_GenMono001365-00050-1?pid=94&backurl=https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/168169165/person/412184190832/gallery&usePUB=true&_phsrc=EgE4165&usePUBJs=true

• Colonial Families of the USA, 1607-1775: https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/61175/colonialfamiliesv-003712_385?pid=65849&backurl=https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/168169165/person/412184190832/gallery&usePUB=true&_phsrc=EgE4166&usePUBJs=true

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