Person:Joel Meador (7)

Name	Joel Meador
Alt Name	Joshua Joel Meadows, For Joshua, see Joshua Meador
Gender	Male
Birth[4]	Bet 1710 and 1715	Essex, Virginia, United States  Speculative Father?: Richard Meadows (3)  ,  Speculative Father?: John Meador (22)
Marriage	abt 1735 to 1738	Virginia, United Statesto Judith Green
Property[4]	6 May 1736	Amelia, Virginia, United Statesreceived grant of 344 acres
Property[4]	19 Mar 1741	Amelia, Virginia, United Statespurchased 200 acres of land
Property[4]	20 Jul 1742	Amelia, Virginia, United Statesreceived patent for 242 acres of land
Property[4]	20 Oct 1743	Amelia, Virginia, United Statessold, with wife Judith, 242 acres
Property[4]	15 Mar 1744	Amelia, Virginia, United Statessold, with wife Judith, 200 acres
Property[4]	23 Jan 1755	Amelia, Virginia, United Statessold 50 acres
Property[4]	25 Aug 1763	Amelia, Virginia, United Statessold 25 acres
Property[4]	6 Jul 1767	Amelia, Virginia, United Statessold 100 acres to Benjamin Meador
Marriage	Bef 1768	Amelia, Virginia, United Statesto Agnes _____
Property[4]	23 Sep 1768	Amelia, Virginia, United Statessold, with wife Agnes, 300 acres
Will[4]	23 Sep 1774	Amelia, Virginia, United States
Death?	Abt 1777	Amelia, Virginia, United States
Probate[4]	May 1777	Amelia, Virginia, United States

Joel or Joshua Joel?

In Victor Meador's Meador Families of Virginia, published in 1989, he suggested that Joel Meador, of Amelia County, Virginia, might be the same person as Joshua Meador, son of John Meadows and his second wife of Essex County, Virginia. He did so with extreme caution, stating:

"Yet I know that the moment I use the word "guess" that the suggested lineages will soon appear without the qualifications carefully given here, and will be quoted as "fact." Let me reiterate that these connections have been deduced from all available data and tempered with years of research, but still must be viewed as "preliminary" until (and if) they can be verified by additional documentation."

Victor Meador was certainly right about the ensuing reportage of "Joshua Joel" as accepted fact, without any supporting documentation, and continues to be widespread today.

Joshua Joel as Speculation

Meador notes (Vol. 3, p. 1612) that Joel Meador, of Amelia County, Virginia

• had “numerous interrelationships with other members of the family" [of John Meador of Essex County], and therefore was of that lineage.
• Was of legal age in 1736. Based on his age, Joel's potential father was either John's oldest son, Richard, or John himself.
• Meador discounted Richard as Joel's father, as he had found no supporting documentation, and Richard's will mentioned only two sons, “oldest son William” and “younger son Richard”.
• Meador noted that Joel was not mentioned in John's will, but that, like all the other sons of John's second marriage, Joel's name began with a "J", and then suggested that Joshua might have chosen to use the name Joel rather than Joshua on reaching adulthood.

Debate and Confusion

In the years following Meador's publication, debate over Joel's parentage, name, and marriage have dominated discusstion (for example^[1][2]), without resolution by reference to documentation. More commonly, information on "Joshua Joel" is simply copied and reported without documentation, most often with either John or Richard as his father. Other suggested parents have included Hope (although he is said to have died without heirs); Thomas and Elizabeth Wood; and Jacob. A few individuals acknowledge that they don't know the father of "Joshua Joel".^[5]

Resolution?

Since Victor Meador's publication, it appears that Richard, oldest son of John, did not name all of his potential heirs in his will. In particular, he appears to have been father of Francis Meadows, born about the time of or shortly after Richard's death, although documentation for the relationship did not appear until after Francis's death. It has also been suggested that Joshua Meador died in or about 1723, although there is no documentation or evidence to support that assertion.^[3] If Joshua's death were documented, then he and Joel would clearly be two separate people, and Joel's most likely father would be Joshua's much older brother Richard.

Will

In the name of God, Amen; I, Joel Meador of the County of Amelia in the Parish of Raleigh, being very weak and ancient, doth make this my last will and testament.

First, I give my soul to Almighty God who first gave it to me, and my body to be buried decently at the discretion of my executors, and my worldly estate which the Almighty bestowed on me I give and bequeath unto my beloved wife and her two sons, Archer Meador and Anderson Meador. If that my wife shall abide by this, my last will and testament. If she shall refuse to do so and object to same, the land I assigned to my wife and children, Archer and Anderson, bounded as follows:

Beginning at Joshua Rucker's line at a beach and running up to the mouth of John Harris's spring branch, then up Henry Meador branch to a black gum and long said Henry's line to Jonas line along said line to a spanish oak; then along a new line to a poplar, then along a dividing line I have already made to John Gill's line to a red oak; then along the said Gill's line to Samuel Cobb's line to Joshua Rucker's line, and along said line to the beginning.

I give and bequeath unto Joel Meador the above land mentioned if my wife refuseth to stand by this my will and testament and all my land I do not sell I give and bequeath unto my son Joel to him and his heirs forever.

Itiem: I give and bequeath unto the children I had by my first wife five shillings each. My will and desire is that my wife Agness shall enjoy the rest of my estate during her natural life or widowhood, and if that she shall marry, it is my will and desire that my said estate already lent to my beloved wife be equally divided amongst my wife and the four children I had by her, Archer, Anderson Patty, and Nancy, and for my sons Archer and Anderson to have two years schooling each.

I constitute and appoint my friend Francis Anderson and my son Joel Meador executors of this my last will and testament, revoking al,l former wills by me already made.

Witness my hand and seal this 23rd day of September, 1774 Joel Meador

Published and declared before us:
William Ford
Thomas Ellis
William Ford Jr.

1. ↑ Re: More Joel s and Joshua's...., Iamamom2u2, 19 Aug 2005, in RootsWeb Archiver, MEADOWS > 2005-08 > 1124502276
   accessed 16 Sep 2014.

   Richard has a brother by the name of Joshua (not Joel) who married Judith Green. . . .

2. ↑ Re: Joel, Joel & More Joels, JEANMEAD, 19 Aug 2005, in RootsWeb Archiver,MEADOWS > 2005-08 > 1124503990
   accessed 16 Sep 2014.

   Richard had a half-brother named Joel (s/o of John MEADOWS and Mary AWBREY). Richard did not have a son named Joel.
   
   I have the son of John MEADOWS & Mary AWBREY listed as:
   Joshua Joel Meadows, b Mar 1702 Essex Co VA, d 17 May 1777 Raleigh Parish, Amelia Co, VA; m Judith GREEN in 1737 (siblings - Jonas, Job & Jason).

3. ↑ Re: Mary Ann Meadows VA mid 1700's by Ruth Meador, Shirley Seal Breeden, 7 Nov 1999, Message No. 3102, Meadows Family Genealogy Forum, in GenForum
   accessed 16 Sep 2014.

   [ Mary Ann was the daughter of] OLD JOEL MEDDERS OF AMEILA CO.,VA. I THINK
   [He] WAS A SON OF RICHARD MEADOWS AND ANNE MOSS MEADOWS OF ESSEX CO.,VA. RICHARD HAD A BROTHER JOSHUA MEADORS DEC'D 1723

4. ↑ ^{4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11} Meador, Victor P. (Victor Paul). Meador families of Virginia : and points west. (Independence, Missouri: V.P. Meador, c1989).

   p. 1609
   Joel Meador, b. abt 1710-1715, Essex County, VA; m1 abt 1735-38, Judith (d. bef 1768, Amelia Co., VA); m2 by 1768, Agnes (b. 1745-48, VA, d. 1818 Amelia Co., VA)
   p. 1614
   - on 16 May 1736 received a grant of 344 acres upon the ridge between Stock and Sandy Creeks in western Amelia, County (Grant Book 16, p. 257)
   - on 19 Mar 1741 purchased 200 acres from Adam Loving of Goodland County for £21 sterling (DB 1, p. 376/263)
   - on 20 Jul 1742 received a grant of 242 acres in Raleigh Parish (Patent Book 21, p.97)
   - on 20 Oct 1743 sold the 242 acre grant to John Ray of King and Queen County for £10, 10 shillings with agreement of wife Judith (DB1, p. 501/329)
   - on 15 Mar 1744 sold the 200 acre grant to Thomas Green for £5, with agreement of wife Judith
   - on 23 Jan 1755 sold 50 acres to William Loving for £12 (DB 5, p. 249/127)
   - on 25 Aug 1763 sold 25 acres to John Wright for £25 (DB 8, p. 185)
   - on 6 Jul 1767 sold 100 acres to Benjamin Meador for £40, Jeremiah Meador witness (DB 9, p. 93/187)
   - on 23 Sep 1768 sold 300 acres to Abraham Whitworth, with agreement of wife Agnes (DB 10, p. 184)
   p. 1616
   Will recorded in Amelia County, Virginia Will Book 2, p. 221. Signed 23 Sep 1774, probated May 1777

5. ↑ Based on Family Trees found on Ancestry.com as of 15 Sep 2014