Meade family genealogy

Of America

Arms: Gu. a chev. erm. betw. three trefoils slipped ar. Crest: A reindeer trippant vert.

According to Burke’s Landed Gentry, the Meade family would claim to be of ancient Irish extraction. At No. 116, p. 656, Vol. I. of this Edition, we give the Irish origin of the sirname, and the lineage of the family.

1. Robert Meade, b. in Ireland; m. in Barbadoes; died in Philadelphia, 1754. This family name is variously spelled Mead and Meade. Hotton’s[1] recent work, on the early emigrants to America, contains names of Meads, who, between A.D. 1600 and 1700, were transported as “rebels” to Barbadoes. Some writers are of opinion that those Meads were transported from Ireland, consequent on the unhappy Cromwellian settlement of that country; others think that those Meads or Meades were all English, and concerned in Monmouth’s Rebellion. But the time of their going to America was apparently about the period of the emigration of the Moylans, Fitzsimmons, Lynches, and other well-known Irish Catholic families, who made large acquisitions of land in Western Pennsylvania, and were ardent patriots during the American Revolutionary War. This Robert Meade left two sons and one daughter:

1. George,[2] born in Philadelphia, 29th Feb., 1741; of whom presently.
2. Garrett, of whom there is nothing known.
1. Catherine (d.s.p. 1810), mar. Thomas Fitzsimmons[3] (born in Ireland, in 1741).

2. George Meade, born in Philadelphia, 29th Feb., 1741; died in Philadelphia, 9th November, 1809; married 5th May, 1768, Henrietta-Constantia (died in England, 27th Aug., 1822), daughter of the Hon. Richard Worsam (b. in Barbadoes, 1701, and d. in Philadelphia, 1766), one of His Britannic Majesty’s Council of the Island of Barbadoes, and by her left ten children. This George Meade was one of the Founders of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, in Philadelphia. His children were five sons and five daus.:

1. Garrett, b. 1st Aug., 1772; d. 26th April, 1773.
2. George-Stritch, b. 26th Aug., 1774, in Philadelphia; d. 29th Aug., 1774.
3. Robert, b. 20th Sept., 1775; d. unm. 3rd May, 1796.
4. Richard-Worsam, born 23rd June, 1778; of whom presently.
5. George, b. 4th June, 1780; died at Port-au-Prince, West Indies, on 22nd July, 1804; m. and had one son who died in early manhood.
1. Catherine-Mary, b. 20th Feb., 1769; died unm. 1790, in London.
2. Elizabeth, b. 28th April, 1770, m. Thomas Ketland, of England (d. 8th Dec., 1834): both d. in, and are buried in, Philadelphia.
3. Henrietta-Constantia (died 27th June, 1801), m. John Ketland (d. in Philadelphia, 29th Aug., 1799), and had one child, Elizabeth, b. 1799, d. 1801.
4. Charlotte, b. 9th Sept., 1781; died at Barbadoes, 25th Dec., 1801; m. Thomas Hustler,[4] of Acklam Hall, Middlesboro’-on-Tees, co. York, England (who d. 1818), and had: 1. William, born 1st Aug., 1801, in Philadelphia; m. Charlotte Wells of Demarara; and d. in England, 30th June, 1874, leaving one son: William, of Acklam Hall; living in 1880.
5. Maria, b. 14th April, 1774; d. unm. at Philadelphia, 17th July, 1799.

3. Richard Worsam Meade: fourth son of George; born 23rd June, 1778; died at Washington, D.C., United States of America, 25th June, 1828, and was buried in St. Mary’s Church-yard, Philadelphia. This Richard m. Margaret Coates Butler (died 1852), and had three sons and seven daughters— besides a child who d. young:

1. Richard Worsam, born March, 1807; a Commodore United States Navy; m. Clara Forsythe Mugs, and had issue.
2. George Gordon, b. Dec., 1815; a Major-General, United States Army (this General Meade is the distinguished officer of the Union Army, who is so well known as the victor in the famous battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania); m. Margaretta, dau. of John Sergeant of Philadelphia, and had issue.
3. Robert, b. Nov., 1817; m. Elizabeth, adopted dau. of her paternal uncle, Capt. Ricketts of the British Army; d.s.p.
1. Henrietta-Constantia, b. Oct., 1801; d. 22nd July, 1831; m. Commodore Alexander-James Dallas, United States Navy, who d. in 1844, and had a son: A. J. Dallas, Lieut.-Colonel, United States Army, Retired; living in Florida, in 1887.
2. Charlotte Hustler, b. 1803; mar. Brigadier-General James Duncan Graham, Engineer Corps, U. S. Army, and had issue.
3. Elizabeth-Mary, born Sept., 1805: m. Alfred Ingraham, of Philadelphia, and had issue.
4. Margaret Gordon, born June, 1808; d. unm, in Aug., 1887.
5. Marie del Carmen, b. March, 1810; mar. Brigadier-General Hartman Bache, Engineer Corps, U. S. Army, and had issue.
6. Salvadora Flores de Strada, b. Dec., 1812. Married, first, Lieut.-Commanding John T. McLaughlin, U. S. Navy; and, secondly, Judge William Paterson, of Perth Amboy, New Jersey. She had issue.
7. Mariamne Williams, born 1822; m. Lieutenant Thomas Bee Huger, U. S. Navy (afterwards a Commander in the Confederate States Navy), and had issue.

It may interest members of this family to know, that in the Public Record Office, Four-Courts, Dublin, there are thirty-nine Wills recorded under the name Meade; and seven, under the name Mead.

Notes

[1] Hotton: In Hotton’s List of Emigrants to America, temp. 1600 to 1700, there is, at page 418, mention of “Samuel Meade and wife, 3 children, 9 slaves,” as inhabitants of the town of St. Michael’s, Barbadoes, West Indies.

[2] George: This George Meade, according to “A Brief Account of the Society of Friendly Sons of St. Patrick,” was a Catholic, a highly respectable and wealthy shipowner and merchant in Philadelphia, and many years partner in trade with Thomas Fittzsimmons.

Mr. Meade’s high character and integrity may be inferred from the following anecdote: “About the year 1790, he became embarrassed in his business and failed, owing to the insolvency of a house in France. His largest creditor was John Barclay, an extensive and liberal merchant in London. Immediately upon his failure, Mr. Meade wrote to Mr. Barclay, informing him of the condition of his affairs, but expressing a hope that he might yet be able to retrieve his losses. Mr. Barclay, in reply, requested Mr. Meade not to trouble his mind on account of the debt he already owed, and directed him to draw at sight, for £10,000 sterling more. With this generous assistance Mr. Meade was enabled to retrieve his fortune, and had the satisfaction, not only to repay Mr. Barclay, but to discharge all his former obligations in full. He was somewhat eccentric in his manners, but social, hospitable, and benevolent. He was one of the founders of the Hibernian Society, and subscribed £5,000 to supply the army with provisions in 1780.”

[3] Fitzsimmons: Of this Thomas (who d. 26th Aug., 1811) there is an interesting memoir published in the Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, No. 3, Vol. II., which states that this Mr. Fitzsimmons was born in Philadelphia, his father having been the emigrant (from Ireland). He was a Member of the Revolutionary Congress, and a Signer of the Constitution of the United States of America.

[4] Thomas Hustler: In the Landed Gentry, this Thomas is, by some mistake, entered as “William;” and his wife Charlotte as the dau. of William (instead of George) Meade.