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Lance and Lore, members of the Mead Research Group, a far-flung organization studying early American Mead/Meade relationships
on website http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Meadresearchers/, met for the first time at the Galway event. They shared the Mead family story with others in the group.
They also discussed a DNA program (noelcaro@aol.com) being used to sort facts from fiction in the family stories that have been passed from generation to generation. There have
been more than the inconsistant usage of the "e" in the Mead(e) family stories and through the DNA program some of this is
getting sorted out.
The major effort that had been expended in restoring and researching the history of the Galway house by the present owners,
Nancy and Bob Goslin (www.thegooseslark.com) had laid the groundwork for the public recognition of the significance of the property. The Goslin's attention to the detail
of the original craftsmanship of the house and the amount of restoration they have accomplished has been well appreciated
by the local community. At the same time, many in the Mead family are glad to see some of the early Mead history documented
and acknowledged.
The house had been the center of family activity for Jesse and Aurora Mead when they raised their four daughters: Francis,
Sarah, Harriet and Martha. Jesse's father and mother, Jasper and Elizabeth (Benedict) Mead, moved into a small, attached apartment
in the house just before Jasper died in 1830.
Jasper had served with Heath's Wing on the east side of the Hudson during the early days of the Revolutionary War. He became
quartermaster and wintered in Valley Forge during the terrible winter of 1776-1777 and the Redding Connecticut encampment
(www.ctssar.org/articles/redding_site.htm) and during the equally brutal winter of 1777-1778.
As quartermaster, he was responsible for obtaining supplies for the troops. It was during his trips to the surrounding
communities, soliciting food and supplies, that he met Elizabeth. After completing his service in 1780, Jasper had had enough
of army life and he and Elizabeth moved with their first born, Jesse, to Rensselaer County in New York.
Jasper's father, Thaddeus Mead, had served with the Connecticut Continental Militia during the French and Indian War and
hjad been part of the group that built the fort at what is now the nearby town of Fort Edward, N.Y.
It was the stories of the beautiful lands in this region of the U.S. that motivated many of the Connecticut families to
relocate to the area after the war. The cemeteries in Galway and surrounding towns has many monuments to these families.
(Information and photos included in this article
provided by Lee Meade, Lance Mead, Lore Mead and The Daily Gazette of Schenectady, N.Y.) | 
