Moses Mead and Rev. Samuel Mead Families from Walpole As It Was and As It Is (1880)

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Surname: MEAD
Source: Walpole As It Was and As It Is by George Aldrich, 
        The Claremont Manufacturing Co., Claremont, N.H., 1880, pages 326-328

MEAD, MOSES, was born in Waltham, Mass., in 1755, and married Lezee Viles, who was born in 
1789. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and came to this town in the last decade of the 
eighteenth century, and located first on the Stephen Johnson place, which he subsequently sold, and 
took his pay in notes of the Gloucester bank, which proved worthless, and reduced his pecuniary means 
to such an extent that it came well nigh ruining him. Fifty dollars of the notes are now in the possession 
of Mrs. Oliver Martin, of this town He subsequently purchased a plot of land--now owned by the 
Mead heirs--a little north of the village, and built a grist-mill, where grain was ground for many years for 
the towns-people. In connection with his milling business he manufactured rakes, which business was 
subsequently carried on by his son David. His rakes were of a superior manufacture and were in 
demand wherever known. He died Feb. 26, 1818; his wife, Oct. 11, 1841. They had twelve children, 
most of whom were born before he came to town. Ch.
I. Moses, b. March 7, 1778; d. in this town, suddenly, June 16, 1818.
II. David, b. Oct. 23, 1779; m. first, Esther, dau. of Asahel Bundy, May 8, 1803; m. second, 
Amy, dau. of Nehemiah Kidder, and widow of Joseph Frink, March 11, 1831; she d. April 23, 
1879, aged 90. He d. Aug., 1848, aged 69. His first wife d. in 1818, aged 35. Ch. by first wife: 
1st, Fidelia, b. Aug. 6, 1803. 2d, Mary, b. May 21, 1805. 3d, Joseph Bundy, b. Dec. 5, 1807, 
m. Alice Rust, of Alstead. He d. March 17, 1865; she d. Aug. 11, 1859, aged 50. Ch. (1) 
Sumner Rust, b. Sept. 21, 1885; he is married, lives in Boston, and is a successful merchant. (2) 
George, b. May22, 1838; lives in Boston also. 4th, Esther, b. April 10,1810 5th, Sophia, b. 
Oct. 13,1812. 6th, Francis Kittredge, b. May 20, 1816. 7th, Walton Viles, b. July 19, 1817. 
The two last live in Hingham, Mass.
III. Susannah, b. March 22, 1781.
IV. Elizabeth, b. Dec. 20,1783.
V. Jacob, b. Jan. 20,1795; was drowned at the age of 11 years.
VI. Abner, b. March 19, 1787.
VII. Nathan.
VIII. Sophia, b. Feb. 20, 1792.
IX. Walton, b. March 14,1794. He was a much-respected citizen of the town, and was for many 
years Justice of the Peace and town clerk, and was appointed postmaster under President 
Polk’s administration. He married, in advanced life, Elizabeth Parker, of Charlestown, N.H.; 
she died, and he subsequently married Louisa, the widow of the late Theron Adams, Jan. 2, 
1854. He d. Nov. 25, 1866, aged 72.
X. Fidelia, d. young.
XI. Clarissa, b. Aug. 27, 1796, d. Nov. 3, 1878. She had a daughter, Maria L., who, when young, 
was a successful schoolteacher. She married Noah R. Cook, of Keene, where she now resides, 
a widow. Mrs. Cook has a highly cultivated mind, and possesses some poetic genius. When 
living in Walpole she was highly esteemed for her gentleness of disposition and goodness of 
heart.

MEAD, SAMUEL, Rev., commonly known as parson Mead, was born at Harvard, Mass., in 1762, 
and graduated at Harvard in the class of 1787, and prepared for the ministry; after which he went to 
Alstead, N.H., and was settled over the Congregational church and society there, Jan. 15,1791. He 
preached there till April 28, 1797, and, during that time, he discovered that he was preaching to his 
people a doctrine he did not believe, which was the cause of his resignation. He embraced the tenets of 
Unitarianism, and was the first to promulgate that doctrine in this region. He preached occasionally 
afterwards, but was never again settled. Mr. John Crafts, of this town, a wealthy man for those days, 
died in 1791, aged 34, leaving two children and a widow. The parson (Mead), thinking that preaching 
was good for nothing without practice, made a very laudable endeavor to fulfill the injunction of 
Scripture, to "visit the widow and the fatherless," etc., and the consequence was that Mrs. Crafts 
offered her weeds and became Mrs. Samuel Mead, July 19, 1792. Mrs. Mead’s maiden name was 
Esther Sartwell, a descendant of Ensign Obadiah Sartwell, one of the first settlers of Charlestown, N.H. 
At the time of the marriage there was considerable talk about town in relation to the Parsons good luck 
in capturing the " rich widow." Mr. Mead took upon himself the guardianship of the children and the 
settlement of the estate, and in attempting to sell the "Crafts Tavern", without due legal proceedings, one 
David Stevens assailed him through the columns of the " Farmer’s Museum," which had just 
commenced being published. Mr. Mead replied through the same columns with so much vituperation 
that Stevens’ batteries were forever silenced. He lived in a house that once stood near the residence of 
Mrs. Ephraim Holland. Ch.
I. Caroline, b. 1793; never married.
II. Hannah W., b. 1795; m. Phinehas Handerson, Esq., of Keene, March 25, 1818. She had eight 
ch., seven daughters and one son.
III. Nancy, b. in Alstead, March 15, 1798; m. Ephraim Holland, July 23, 1820. (See Holland.)
IV. Orlando, b. 1800; m. Maria Dix Wellington. He was a broker, in Boston. Ch. 1st, William, m. 
Abby Nichols. 2d, Maria, m. Edward B. Grant. 3d, Esther, m. William Underwood. 4th, 
Orlando, m. widow of Elbridge Hosmer. 5th, Henry, d in Cuba. 6th, Isabella, m Henry Milliken, 
of Boston. 7th, Harriet, m. Lora B. Bacon, of Boston.
Mr. Mead’s stepson, John, went to Chicago in its early days, and lived and died there. Esther m. Dr. 
Ebenezer Morse. (See Morse.)