| Notes |
- ROBERT MEAD, in the records of Benford County, Virginia, was called the "o
rphan of John Mead" in 1764, which indicates that he was then under twenty-one years of age. As his father died in 1754, he was certainly past ten years of age in 1764, so that his birth must have occurred close to 1750. As his oldest child, app arently, was born about 1772, his marriage likely occurred about 1770 or 1771. He must have been twenty-one years of age in September, 1772, when he served as a juror in Bedford County. On the 27 July, 1779, he served again as a juror in the cas e of Campbell v. Branch. This establishes his patriotism, and renders his descendants eligible for membership in the various revolutionary societies. He dealt considerably in Bedford County real estate from 1785 to 1801, when he moved to the hea d waters of the Big Sandy River in Floyd County, Kentucky, where he settled on the waters of Mud Creek which empties into the Levisa Fork just a little below the Town of Harold. He acquired 1600 acres of land on Goose Creek from his brother, Wil liam Mead, for 16,000 pounds of tobacCounty His residence on Goose Creek in Bedford County is described in a deed of the 20 Sept. 1800 as containing 350 acres of land beginning where Mead's line joins George Cundiff, and along his line as it run s to James Ayres line, thence along said Ayres line to Azariah Doss line, thence along his line to a dividing line that is to be run between said land and land formerly sold by said Mead to John Claytor, thence along said dividing line to a divi ding line between said Mead and John Newlon, thence with said Newlon's line to the beginning. By deed of 4 July 1786 Robert Mead and Hannah, his wife, conveyed unto Joseph Rhodes of Bed-ford County, 636 acres of land on the branches of Rock Cast le Creek, a branch of Goose Creek.
It is believed that Hannah Mead, wife of Robert Mead, was a sister of Joseph Rhodes to whom the last conveyance was made, and daughter of Mary Mead Rhodes, No. 8, who certainly had a son named Joseph and a daughter named Hannah. William Mead, Jr ., No. 7, uncle of Joseph and Hannah Rhodes, resided in Bedford County, on Goose Creek, a few miles above the mouth of Rock Castle Creek. Robert Mead named one of his children, Moses, and another, Rhodes.
Floyd County, Kentucky, was formed in 1799 from parts of the counties of Fleming, Montgomery, and Mason. In 1808 its court house burned; and, with it, were destroyed all the court records prior to that date. The first court order book of Floyd C ounty now available, covering the period from the 4 Oct. 1808 to the 27 Dec. 1813, at page 87 shows the appointment of Robert Mead, in May 1810, as surveyor of the road from Graham's Shoal to the Gap of Mud; and the following persons, living i n the vicinity, were ordered to help him, viz : Ishabod McBrayer, Robert Mead, Jacob Slusher, Rhodes Mead, Christopher Toler, Robert Toler, and John Casebolt. In 1810, Robert Mead, the road surveyor, could not have been more than sixty-five year s of age. Robert Mead and Rhodes Mead, his helpers, must have been his sons. The western fork of Mud Creek is called Toler's Creek, and it is certain that Robert Mead's daughter, Edy, married Christopher Toler. Destruction of court records has m ade it impossible to speak with perfect assurance in every respect, but the foregoing conclusions are believed to be certain, and the following evidence is pertinent.
Mary E. Mead, daughter of Albert G. Mead and grand-daughter of Benjamin Mead, No. 11, writing to her cousin, Mrs. Geo. P. Clancy, on the 19 Feb. 1915, stated that she was 81 years old in January 1915, and that she had heard her father mention hi s "unkle Moses Mead and his unkle Rhodes Mead." When this was stated to Henry A. Mead, Jr., No. 51, a brother of Mrs. Clancy, he was quite certain that there was another uncle named Eli Mead. In 1917 John P. Mead of Printer, Ky., without being a dvised of the foregoing, wrote as follows: "My great grandfather, whose name was Robert Mead, lived in Bedford County, Va.; and in that county my grandfather Samuel Mead about 1784 (?) married Katy Goodbread and moved to this part of the countr y in 1794.-There was another family of Meads, who was cousins to my father, who came to this part of the country from Bedford County, Va., about 1790. They was all brothers, there names was Rhodes, Moses, William and Eli, their descendants inter -married with the Hatchers, Weddingtons, Stones, Fergusons, Laynes, O'Wines and Ratcliffs and Howells."
John P. Mead is probably wrong in his dates. W. G. Mead of Harold, Ky., on the 1 May 1932, wrote that "The Robert Mead you mention came from Bedford county, Va., and settled on Big Mud Creek, was my Great grandfather. I am a grandson of his so n Moses. He came here in 1801." This last date is probably correct, as Robert Mead made final disposition of the remainder of his land in Bedford County in 1801.
Robert Mead probably died intestate early in the year 1825; because, at the February Court in that year, Jonathan Akers qualified as his administrator with Thomas Owens and Solomon (Akers), as sureties.
NOTE. The following certificate has been received from the clerk of Bedford County, Virginia:
"At a Court held for Bedford County, July 27, 1779. Campbell vs. Branch-a Jury sworn to try the Issue Joind to wit William Ewing, Jesse Tate, Michael Gash, Senr., Robert Mead, Samuel Claytor, Michael Gash, Junr., Thomas Sturman, Edmund Tate, Tho mas Creasey."
(Source: A. M. Pritchard, Mead Relations, (Staunton, VA: [s.n.], 1933), pp. 23-25.)
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Carl & Elaine (Grove) Rhodes' Genealogy Pages
Abt 1750 - 1825 (~ 75 years)