"8. 3Nathaniel (Mead), b. abt 1669, m. ____, d. in 1703; he married Rachel _____, and had no children. His widow Rachel, before the year 1709, married James Ferris, Jr. There is no foundation whatever for the assertion that this Nathaniel was the father of thirteen children, as maintained by some genealogists, and copied by others without any investigation or reason whatsoever. The thirteen children, of whom he has had the credit of being the father for such a long time belong in the John (2), Ebenezer, David, and Benjamin branches."
