Person:Thomas Meads (1)

Confusion of Thomas Meador and Thomas Meades

Thomas Meades and Thomas Meador, son of Ambrose Meador, have been confused and conflated by many persons posting information on the internet and elsewhere.^[6] An unfortunate consequences of the confusion is the assumption that Thomas Meades was a son of Ambrose Meador. He was not. Thomas Meades and Ambrose Meador were contemporaries. Their sons, Thomas Meador, son of Ambrose Meador, and Thomas “Orphan” Meador, son of Thomas Meades, were also contemporaries.

Separating Thomas Meador and Thomas Meades

Ambrose Meador had a son named Thomas Meador, born 1636. Thomas Meades had a son, Thomas “Orphan” Meador, about 1638, when the son of Ambrose was still a very young child. Thomas Meades could not be Thomas Meador the son of Ambrose Meador.

Thomas Meades died before August 1655. Thomas Meador, son of Ambrose Meador was still living in 1661 when he and his father shared the purchase of property.^[3] Again, Thomas Meador, son of Ambrose, and Thomas Meades cannot be the same person.

Biography

Thomas Meads^[7] was probably born sometime between about 1612 and 1618, based on his documented activities as an adult. He was probably, although not certainly, born in England.^[3]

The first documented record for Thomas Meades is a headright grant of 300 acres in 1636 to John Gater of Elizabeth City for the transportation of six men. One of those individuals was Thomas Meades. Based on the headright grant, Thomas came by himself, without a wife or children, and probably arrived in Virginia in the early 1630s, certainly before 1636 when the grant was recorded.^[3]

Thomas presumably married in Virginia, although there is no record of his marriage, and no record of his wife. Based on what little is known of his children’s birth dates, Thomas may have married sometime around 1635 or 1636.

Thomas does not appear in existing records again until 12 September 1653, at which time he purchased 700 acres of land in Lancaster County, Virginia from William Underwood. ^[3] The land is on the north side of the Rappahannock River. Thomas seems to have some standing in the community. He was sufficiently well-to-do to be able to sell two cows in 1653, and is also known to have an indentured servant at that time. On 6 April 1654, he was appointed constable. That fall he and John Phillips received a grant for 1000 acres of land on the south side of the Rappahannock River for the transport of 20 people. Thomas was also tithed (taxed) for three adult males. The following February his home served as the gathering point for the men who marched to a near-by Indian village in order to negotiate a peace treaty. ^[3]

Hardly had Thomas become established than he died. He wrote his will on 5 March 1654/5, and it was entered into probate on 6 June 1655. He was survived by his wife, who was named as his executor, and six children. Only two of his children, his son Thomas and his daughter Mary, continue to be found in existing records. ^[3]

The Last Will of Thomas Meads/Meador

”The last will and testament of Tho. Meads made the 5th. day of March (54.) Impnt. I do bequeath my body to the Earth & my soul to God that gave it. I do make my wife my sole & absolute Excr. I do give to my wife and Daughter Mary this planation that I now live upon and all the land on this side of the Creek, and the sd. plantation not to be my Daughter's 'till after my wife's decease. I do give to my two sons Thos. & John Meads all the land that is on the west side of the Creek provided that they pay unto my two Daughters Margaret & Joyce out of the s. land two thousand pounds of tob. & cash at their day of marriage, and in case either of the[m] die that the sd. tob. to belong to the survivor. I do give unto my wife & sons & my Daughters above mentioned all my goods and chattels after my debts are paid and that they shall be equally divided amongst them. I do give to my Daughter Anne all the cattle that belongeth to her which is about five head of cattle, and likewise I do give unto her one shilling in money. This is my last will and testament as witness my hand the day & year above written.
Thomas Mead
witness
Rawleigh Travers
John Richardson
Edward Bradshaw (by his mark)
pbat 6 da. Juny 1655”.^[3]

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Judy Leonard; Jatpul@@aol.com.

   Thomas Meador has also been shown as Thomas Meads and Thomas Meades.
   Thomas was born between 1612 and 1618 in England. He entered the United States as a single man, and came to Jamestown about 1634. Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement in America, and had been founded 27 years earlier, in 1607.
   Thomas married his wife sometime before 1635 - 1638, the time his first son was born in Virginia.
   The first record of Thomas Meads is found in a headright grant made by the Governor of the Jamestown Colony. He later surrendered this grant of 50 acres in 1636 to John Gator of Elizabeth City. Each immigrant to the Virginia Colony in the 17th century was granted 50 acres of land as a "headright" to get them started in the New World. Sometimes these grants were assigned to a benefactor who paid for their passage by ship from England to the Colony.
   Thomas was probably a member of the group of Puritans who settled Isle of Wright County in the early 1600's. He then settled on the upper Rappahannock, where most of the early settlers were felloe Puritans from Isle of Wright. The Puritan church passed severe ordinances against such moral offenses as card playing, swearing, and drinking, with fines of 100 pounds of tobacco for the mere observances of such conduct without reporting it to church authorities. In subsequent years, the younger generation of people in this ares (and possibly Thomas' own children) began searching for a faith that was less restrictive and demanding. Also, because of Prutian successes in England, fewer dissidents felt the call to emigrate, and the Puritan exodus tapered off and ceased altogether in 1650.
   In 1653, the records of Lancaster County, Virginia, show that Thomas Meads purchased 700 acres from William Underwood, of Underwood's 1400 acre grant on the northeast shore of the Rappahannock River between Milleck Creek and Bushwood Creek. The 1400 acres were divided roughly in half by the lower section and first branch of what is today called Juggs Creek. The portion purchased by Thomas was the lower half of this grant, next to Milleck Creek. The purchase of this land by Thomas was of such a magnitude that it would indicate a man of moderate wealth.
   He built his home on high ground behind the river landing, between Juggs Creek and Balls Creek. At that time, it was a general practice to give an estate a name. Neighbors of Thomas gave such names to their plantations as "Bushwood", "Cobham Park", and "Accokeek". No name for the plantation of Thomas Meads appear in the early records, but a hundred years later the name "Islington" was attached to the grounds. Today, this land lies at the river end of Route 632 in Richmond County, Virginia, and the river landing is known as "Islington Landing".

   {Original Sources not given, but at least some material -- including the will -- seems to be taken from the work of Victor Meador, Meador Families of Virginia : And Points West.

2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} Meador, Victor P. (Victor Paul). Meador families of Virginia : and points west. (Independence, Missouri: V.P. Meador, c1989).

   - Thomas Meades/Meader/Meador came to the Jamestown Colony in Virginia in the early 1630's. His origin
   in England is still unknown . . . .
   - Thomas and a possible brother, Ambrose Meador, had their passages paid by others, to whom they surrendered their "headright grants" of 50 acres of land each in 1636.
   - Thomas (like Ambrose) may have settled in Isle of Wight County on the south side of the Pagan River. [emphasis added], an of area of Puritan settlement. Ambrose, at least, lived nearby when St. Luke's Church (the oldest church of the colonies still remaining) was constructed in 1632.
   - A general migration from the Isle of Wight to the northwest shore of the Rappahannock River (in present Richmond Co.) occurred about 1650, about the time the royal governor promoted an edict against the Puritan teachings.
   Here Thomas bought 750 acres from a grant to William Underwood. Ambrose purchased 1000 acres from a grant to James Williamson.
   The two plantations were only a couple of miles apart. Ambrose called his lands "Accokeek,"; about a hundred years later we find the name "Islington" applied to the plantation once owned by Thomas Meador, but it is uncertain if this is the name given by Thomas.
   - Thomas died in 1655, left a will listing his widow (not named), two sons, and four daughters. Of these six children, only the families of son Thomas and daughter Mary have been traced. Mary married Richard Hobbs and her descendants have been traced to the 6th. generation. The lineage of the younger Thomas is now extend to the 16th generation.
   - Ambrose Meador left no know descendants beyond the 4th generation [his great-grandson John, who died young [i.e., Ambrose is not the father of Thomas]

3. ↑ ^{3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13} Meador, Victor P. (Victor Paul), and Bernal M. Meador. Our Meador families in colonial America: as found in the records of Isle of Wight, Lancaster, (old) Rappahannock, Richmond, Essex and Caroline Counties, Virginia. (Independence, Missouri: V.P. Meador, 1983)
   pp. 25 & ff.

   - The first record of Thomas Meads is his surrender of the headright grant of 50 acres to John Gater of Elizabeth City [now Hampton] recorded in 1636.
   - In 1653 a Thomas Meads purchased 700 acres of land in Lancaster County, VA from William Underwood [one of the Puritans who emigrated from Warrisquicke County] on the northeast shore of the Rappahannock River, just above what is now known as Ball's Creek. Thomas Meads built his home behind an excellent river landing which still exists and is now known as "Islington Landing". The land is also adjacent to the land purchased by Ambrose Meador in 1656.
   - Although Thomas Meador son of Ambrose Meador was in the area at about the same time, an analysis of the records indicates that this Thomas Meads is a different individual. The size of this land transaction suggests a man of moderate wealth and status.
   - Similarly, in 1653, Thomas Meads had an indentured servant named Bour Harrison, who ran away and was returned. Another indication of relative wealth was Thomas Meads' sale of two cows in 1653. Since cows were initially imported from England, they were at that time a valuable commodity.
   - On 6 April 1654, Thomas Meads was appointed constable. In September of that year, Thomas Meads tithed for 3 adult males, at 60 pounds of tobacco per poll. A few months later (February 1654) Thomas Meads plantation served as a rallying point for a small army of volunteers organized to impose a peace treaty on a village of Rappahannock Indians.
   - Thomas Meads will was written 5 March 1654/5, and entered into probate 3 months later,6 Jun 1655.
   - Appraisal of Thomas Meads estate was done by four men, including Ambrose Meader and Francis Gower, who established its value at 17,502 pounds of tobacco, equivalent to about 109 pounds sterling, "a respectable, thought not huge, sum for the times." - All Thomas Meads children were underage at the time of his death, and the estate was in the hands of George Bryer. In August 1655, Thomas Meads, orphan, petitioned the court that William Underwood be appointed his guardian, and the court also ordered that the estate be delivered to Underwood.

4. ↑ According to Victor Meador, Meador was the preferred family name, at least beginning with Thomas' son Thomas. However, Thomas apparently used the name Meads or variations.
5. ↑ According to Victor Meador, Thomas Mead's 1653 purchase of land "could not have been made by Thomas, the son of Ambrose Meador, as that son was no more than 16 to 18 years old, too young for such a deed."
6. ↑ There 80 such entries in Ancestral File, submitted IGI records, and Pedigree Resource File records at Family Search, as 27 February 2016; Ancestry.com has thousands of such Family Trees, as of 27 February 2016. Needless to say, documentation is sparse or lacking for most.
7. ↑ Existing documents for Thomas give his last name as Meads, Mead, or Meades. His son, Thomas “Orphan” Meador changed his name from Meades to Meador.