George Mead Civil War Papers
Scope and Contents
Eighty-one documents from the Mead and Chandler family. The majority of the documents are handwritten letters, but there are also postmarked envelopes, indentures, payment records, marriage certificates, telegraphs, envelopes, poetry, photographs, and newspaper clippings spanning from 1824-1968. The majority of the documents pertain to the Civil War, however, the California Gold Rush and World War I are also mentioned. The letters date from 1824-1871, involving the Chandler and Mead family, connected by the marriage of George Mead to Susan Chandler. Documents concerning the descendents of the Meads are also included, until the year 1968. Wisconsin and New York are the primary locations involved.
Dates
- 1824-1968
Creator
- Mead, George, 1837- (Person)
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Biographical Note
George Mead, the primary author of these letters, was born in Vermont in 1837, but spent most of his life in Reedsburg, Racine County, Wisconsin. George had a brother, Abram Mead, and a sister, Polly Mead. George married his wife, Susan Chandler Mead, on 20 November 1859 in Oak Grove, Wisconsin. Susan was born in New York in 1839. Susan had a brother, Charles Chandler. The Meads had three sons, Walter, Lester, and Fred and a daughter, Mary. Fred died in 1862 from pneumonia. George enlisted into the 19th Regiment Infantry, Company A, of the Union Forces on 13 January 1862 and was discharged from service on 7 September 1862 on account of a disability. Following his discharge, George traveled, ultimately settling in Weston, Platte County, Missouri.
Alonzo Chandler and his wife Joanna, maiden name of Pierce, were the parents of Susan Chandler, later Susan Mead. They spent most of their lives in various cities of New York, but later bought land in Texas. George appears to be the son of Alonzo and Joanna. Harriet Chamber and Sarah Ashworth appear to be the sisters of Joanna, and Charles appears to be the brother. Joseph, Richard, Melinda, Pliny, and Sukey all bear some relation to the Chandlers, but the extent of which is unknown.
Extent
0.4 linear feet
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
This collection is organized into 9 series.
- Series 0: Administrative/biographical 1860-1946 [?]
- Series I: Authored by Alonzo Chandler, 1824-1836
- Series II: Authored by Chandler family, 1825-1829
- Series III: Documents of payments and indentures, 1835-1840
- Series IV: Authored by George Mead, 1858-1871
- Series V: Authored by Susan Mead, 1852-1871
- Series VI: Authored by Mead family, 1850-1860
- Series VII: Miscellaneous Mead documents, undated and 1859
- Series VIII: Miscellaneous documents, 1910s-1968.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This collection was purchased in November 2015.
Processing Information
Arrangement scheme for the collection was imposed during processing in the absence of a usable original order. Organized by author.
Creator
- Mead, George, 1837- (Person)
- Title
- George Mead Civil War Papers, 1824-1968
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by April Kannady.
- Date
- 2018
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Truman State University, Pickler Memorial Library, Special Collections Manuscripts Repository