John M Meador (1734-1824)

Birth

John M. Meador was born on 14 Jul 1734 in Goochland, Virginia, as the fifth child of Jonas Meador and Frances E. Anderson (or Hudgens). He had eight siblings, namely: Joel W., Jonas, Mary, Frances, Josiah, Jehu, Joab, and Jesse.

Marriage and Children

About 1753, when he was about 18, John married Jane Holloway, daughter of John Holloway and Hannah Spiers.

John M. Meador and Jane Holloway had the following children:

1. Joel Meador was born on 15 Jun 1756 in Virginia. He died after 1824.
2. Mary Meador was born on 05 Jul 1757 in Virginia.  She married Peter M Holland in 1777. She died on 02 Jun 1827 in Franklin, Virginia.
3. Sarah Meador was born on 06 Feb 1759 in Virginia. She married Barnes Holloway on 14 Aug 1780 in Bedford, Virginia.
4. John Meador was born on 17 Oct 1760 in Virginia.
5. Jonas Meador was born on 06 Dec 1761 in Virginia, USA. He died before 1824.
6. Jehu Meador was born on 18 Nov 1764. He married Nancy Wright on 02 Sep 1793 in Bedford, Virginia. He married Nancy Board on 13 Sep 1796 in Bedford, Virginia. He died in 1805 in Breckinridge, Kentucky.
7. Frances Meador was born on 19 Jan 1768. She married James Bell on 31 Jan 1798.
8. Ira Meador was born on 25 Sep 1769 in Virginia. He married Sarah Brown Winfrey on 01 Jun 1791 in Bedford, Virginia. He died on 25 Jul 1847 in Smith, Tennessee.
9. Rosannah Meador was born on 23 Nov 1771 in  Virginia. She died on 26 Jan 1852 in Macon, Tennessee.
10. Martha “Patty” Meador was born on 25 May 1777. She married Henry Frith on 16 Sep 1816 in Bedford, Virginia.

Land Owner

In May 1763, when John was 28 years old, he was granted 522 acres of land in Bedford County, Virginia. At the time, Virginia was ruled by King George the Third, of England. The cost of the land was 35 shillings of good and lawful money. The physical description of the land explained that it was on both sides of Molly Day’s Run, a small North Creek of the Staunton River. The detailed property lines were marked by oak trees.

Revolutionary War Support

John Meador is recognized as having given patriotic service to the American Revolution. He was not a soldier, but because he supported the Continental Army, he is considered a patriot and his descendants qualify for membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). John is credited with assisting in establishing American Independence by equipping a soldier for the Continental Army and giving beef for use of the Continental Army.

The troops needed to eat, so citizens had to provide willingly or unwillingly. The standard daily food ration for soldiers in 1775 included the following.

• one pound of bread
• half a pound of beef and half a pound of pork (but if pork couldn’t be had then a pound a 1/4 of beef); and one day a week they would have one pound and 1/4 of salt fish instead of meat
• one pint of milk (or if milk couldn’t be had, a 1/2 cup of rice)
• one quart of good spruce or malt beer
• 1/2 cup of peas or beans
• 6 ounces of good butter a week

Remarriage

Jane Holloway Meador died about 1818. When he was 84, John remarried to Jane Turner, daughter of John Turner, on 14 Sep 1818 in Bedford, Virginia. John M. Meador and Jane Turner had no children. She died before he made his will on 6 July 1824.

Death

John Meador died in January 1826 in Bedford County, Virginia, at the age of 91. His will was proven 23 January 1826. He requested that all of his property, not specifically gifted to an heir, be sold at a public sale and then divided equally among nine of his ten children. It provided for his children as follows:

I, John Meador of Bedford County and State of Virginia, do hereby make this my last will and testament in manner and form following, that is to say:

Item: I give and bequeath to my son Joel Negro woman Hannah, not be taken out of reasonable bounds of her companion against her will. I also give him one hundred dollars & one feather bed and furniture.

Item: I give to my daughter Sarah Holloway a Negro man Archa, not to be taken out of reasonable bounds of his companion against his will.

Item: I give to my son John Meador Negro man Beary, not to be taken out of reasonable bounds of his companion against his will.

Item: I give to the heirs of my son Jonas Meador Negro man Wittaba, not to be taken out of reasonable bounds of his companion against his will.

Item: I give to the heirs of Jehu Meador five hundred dollars to be equally divided amongst them.

Item I give my daughter Rosannah Meador Negro man James, one bed and furniture.

Tiller and her children, to be sold by my executor privately to go to which of my children she pleases.

All my land , stock of every kind, all my household and kitchen furniture not before given away, with all my plantation tools, to be sold at public sale; after the special legatees that is to draw money is paid of; an equal distribution as follows, that is to say;

to my son Joel Meador, one ninth part;

to my daughter Mary Holland, one ninth part;

to daughter Sarah Holloway, one ninth part;

to my son John Meador, one ninth part;

to the heirs of my son Jonas, one ninth part;

to my daughter Frances Bell one ninth part;

to my son Ira Meador, one ninth part,

to my daughter Rosannah Meador, one ninth part,

and to my daughter Patty Frith, one ninth part

and lastly I hereby constitute & appoint John Turner & Joel Meador, executors of this my last will and testament, hereby revoking all other or former wills or testaments by me heretofore made. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand & affixed my seal; This day sixth of July in the year of our Lord 1824

his John X Meador Seal Mark

Signed , sealed, published and delivered as and for the last will & testament of the above name John Meador in the presence of us . John Turner, Joseph D Meador and James Meador

At a court held for Bedford County at the courthouse Jan 23,1826, the preceding will of John Meador, dec’d.

 

 

We cannot escape history. — Abraham Lincoln

Where is he in the tree?

Sources:

Ancestry.com, Public Member Stories, transcription of will of John Meador.

Ancestry.com, Virginia, Marriages, 1740-1850 (Online publication – Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999.Original data – Dodd, Jordan R., et al.. Early American Marriages: Virginia to 1850. Bountiful, UT, USA: Precision Indexing Publishers.Original data: Dodd, Jordan R., et al.. Early Amer), Ancestry.com.

“Meader, John (Ancestor #: A076861),” DAR Daughters of the American Revolution, Ancestor Search, Web, 13 July 2016, DAR application cites:  Bedford Co., VA Public Services Claim #66-2976, dar.org.

Patents No. 35 1762-1764 (Vol. 1 & Vol. 2), Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants/Northern Neck Grants and Surveys, Library of Virginia, pages 128-9, Web, 13 July 2016, http://lva1.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/F/PFPXKKFBVQVM18XUB2PYPYLKNBMV23JUDNV9VDPAB489T39GJH-37209?func=file&file_name=find-b-lva01&local_base=LVA01.

Zlatich, Marko, “You asked, we answered: What did soldiers eat during the Revolutionary War?” Smithsonian, 16 May 2013, Web, 13 July 2016, http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/2013/05/what-did-soldiers-eat-during-the-revolutionary-war.html.