Cowles
Mead
Fourth Territorial Secretary
of
And Third Acting Governor of
the
June 6, 1806 to January 28, 1807
Portrait of Cowles Mead
Resides at
Sustained water damage from Hurricane Katrina,
August 29, 2005
From:
Mississippi Dept. of Archives & History; PI/STA M43.4 Box 19, Folder
# 4.
Signature of Cowles Mead
From
Record Group
The territory
opened by the ceding of the Choctaw land in 1830 attracted new settlers from North and South
Carolina , Virginia , Georgia , and Alabama
Salliy Cowles (04/25/1781 –
05/11/1850), lived in
Sally Cowles Marker: Photo 1 Photo 2 Photo 3
Cowles Mead ran for the office
of United States Congressman from Georgia and was elected over his influential
opposition, Thomas Spalding.
When Mead went to
Contested Election of Cowles
Mead -- From: Library of
Congress,
Communication to Congress from President Thomas Jefferson Containing Letter From
Cowles Mead Concerning the Arrival of Aaron Burr in the Mississippi Territory –
February
Communication to Congress from President Thomas Jefferson Containing Letter From
Cowles Mead Concerning the Arrest and Surrender of Aaron Burr in the
Mississippi Territory – February
Burr had recently been
involved in the now-famous duel in
which he killed Alexander
Hamilton.
When Cowles Mead learned of Burr's presence in the territory, he ordered the militia to establish headquarters
at a nearby plantation. While he was a visitor at the home of a local judge,
Burr learned that his supposed friend, General James Wilkinson, had ordered his arrest. Burr voluntarily surrendered to Mississippi officials in exchange for
a guaranteed trial in the territory, rather than face extradition. Burr was
bound under a bond of $
Burr was given a trial in Washington,
Mississippi, in February,
Mead's namesake, Cowles Mead
Vaiden, was
educated in
Synopsis of Cowles Mead’s Political Career
Cowles
Mead (
Synopsis of Governor/Lieutenant Governor
Position during this time:
Walter Leake – Governor –
Gerard C. Brandon (Lt. Governor under Leake –
Gerard C. Brandon (Lt. Governor under Holmes)
assumed Office of Governor for remainder of Holmes’ term (
Gerard C. Brandon – elected Governor in
August
-------------
Mead, Cowles – From:
MISSISSIPPI: Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events,
Institutions, and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form. Planned and Edited by Dunbar Rowland, LL. D.,
Director, Mississippi Department of Archives and History. Volume II, L-Z. The Reprint Company, Publishers, Spartanburg,
South Carolina. 1976. pp.213-214.
Secretary of Mississippi Territory, and
acting governor from June 1806 to January 1807, was a Virginian by birth,
reared in Georgia, who was a candidate for congress when barely if required
age. His election was certified by the
governor of Georgia, on partial returns, but when his opponent made a showing
to congress that the missing returns were delayed beyond the legal limit by the
effects of a hurricane, Mead was unseated, whereupon President Jefferson
appointed him secretary of the Mississippi Territory. By virtue of his office he assumed the
functions of the Territorial governor, which were rather absolute in governing
power, immediately upon his arrival in Mississippi. A state of war, due to Spanish menaces on the
Louisiana boundary and at Mobile, and the Aaron Burr expedition, exalted his
powers in a high degree. It would
naturally be expected that upon the return of Governor Williams from his visit
to North Carolina, Mead would not pass into eclipse and become a mere secretary
without some pangs, and this was the case.
In fact, the governor was compelled to remove him in April 1807, that he
should attend the seat of government and perform his duties, or at least permit
the governor to have access to the records.
Mead thereupon sent a Mr. pope as his deputy, to which the governor
demurred that he doubted the authority of the secretary to appoint substitutes,
though he was delighted with Mr. Pope personally. McCaleb (“Aaron Burr Conspiracy”), suggests
that Mead’s suspicions of Wilkinson had something to do with his
retirement. Because of his distrust of
the general and confidence in the people, “he was accused of being in sympathy
with the conspirators by Wilkinson and Governor Williams of Mississippi, and
dismissed from office. Nevertheless, he was beyond question the most efficient
official in the West – and therefore could expect no better reward.” Whatever may be the authority for this, it is
true that Mead and his friends accused Governor Williams of being in sympathy
with Burr, in hope of defeating the governor for reappointment.
On February 1, 1807, he fought a duel on
the Louisiana shore with Capt. Robert Sample, of Wilkinson county, and received
a wound in the right thigh which lamed him during the remainder of his
life. In the following April, he was
married to Mary, daughter of Abner Green.
Upon his retirement as secretary in the summer of 1807, he began the
practice of law and was elected to the house of representatives, where he led
the fight on the governor. Aaron Burr in
later years called him “a vain man, of very small mind,” and when told that he
never tired of relating the event of his capture, said, “I would have supposed
the episode to that affair would have restrained him from its narration.”
(Sparks, Memories.)
In his History of Texas, (1841), H.S.
Foote wrote, preliminary to quoting Mead’s famous war address of 1807: “The
gentleman who pronounced it is now eight miles distant from this writer,
rejoicing equally in the comforts of an ample fortune, and in the renown of
bygone days; and perhaps reciting, at this moment, to some delighted hearer,
the wondrous capture of Aaron Burr, the Conspirator.”
J.F.H. Claiborne (p. 276) describes him as
a man of such flowery speech that his real ability was obscured. When the regiment of volunteers was organized
at Baton Rouge in 1813, he received a commission as colonel, but he gave it up
to make a canvass for delegate to Congress; a mistake which caused his defeat
by Dr. Lattimore then, and by Christopher Rankin a few years afterward. He was an active member of the constitutional
convention of 1817, was a skilled parliamentarian, and speaker in the
legislature, 1821-25. His later home,
called “Greenwood,” was a mile northwest of Clinton in Hinds county, set in a
lawn of fifty acres of Bermuda grass, which, it is said, he introduced into the
United States. He was an enthusiastic
gardener, and often entertained distinguished guests in a favorite seat under a
cedar in the midst of flower beds. The
sword of Aaron Burr was one of the treasures of his home until carried to
Virginia in 1861 and lost at First Manassas.
The home was destroyed in 1863, by the ravages of war.
In an old neglected graveyard, near
Clinton, a prostrate shaft bears the inscription: “To the memory of Cowles
Mead, whose pure life exemplified the spirit of an honest man. Born, October 18, 1776, died May 17, 1844.” Beside him was buried his wife Mary Lilly,
born in 1797, died in 1834, and his son, Cowles G., born in Jefferson county in
1818, died in Yazoo county, 1849.
-------------
Mead’s Administration – pp. 214-215, ibid.
Cowles Mead, a Virginian of Georgia, was
commissioned as secretary of the Mississippi territory in March, 1806. He arrived at Natchez May 31, and soon after
assumed the duties of secretary, and, as Governor Williams was absent, the
powers of the governor also. It was a
period of great historical interest. On
account of the Spanish activity in the Sabine river country, he made an
agreement with Governor Claiborne for military operations, in August, and
ordered general militia muster. (See
Sabine Expedition.) Mead was gratified
by the response of the people to his own enthusiastic war spirit.
The troubles with Spanish authorities at
Baton Rouge and Mobile were quite as urgent as the Louisiana boundary
dispute. (See Florida Acquisition.) Mead wrote to the secretary of war in
September, 1806: “It is the general wish and inclination of the people of this
Territory to attack the Floridas; should one drop of blood be spilt by the
Spaniards on the southern borders of Louisiana it shall be immediately expiated
at Baton Rouge; unless I receive counter order from the executive of the United
States, with an eye to our predatory neighbors of the north and east, and our
internal security. I am disposed to act
decisively and promptly; that is, bring all the forces of the Territory into
immediate action and circumscribe our enemy in Mobile and Pensacola.” “Sir, can’t the Floridas be taken and then
paid for?” he inquired in another letter to Dearborn. Nothing but the solemn injunction of the
general government withheld his arm. “I
burn to deal back in blows upon the Floridas the insults of Louisiana.” Another muster was ordered in October. The commander of each militia regiment was
ordered to form a mounted company to be ready to move at a moment’s
notice. This was by the organization of
a battalion under Maj. Claiborne, which marched to Natchitoches and back in
October. (See Sabine Expedition.) The result was great indignation against Gen
Wilkinson, though that wonderful man continued to hold the loyalty of many
friends. After this Wilkinson and his
confidants were engaged in working up a tremendous excitement regarding the
advent of Aaron Burr, in which Mead was effectively employed, though he
professed enmity to the general. He has
written to the secretary of war September 7: “The people of this Territory are
impressed with a conviction in their own minds that General Wilkinson is a
Spanish officer. The old inhabitants all
know some facts which lead to this opinion and seem astonished when ignorance
of his extreme intimacy with several Spanish governors is acknowledged. . . . I
do not hesitate to express my fears of the result of a warfare waged by the
United States against Spain, and General Wilkinson the commandant. Think not sir, that I am the humble follower
of John Randolph. No, I believe the one
as much a Julius Caesar as the other a Cataline.” When he had sent the battalion into Louisiana
for the Sabine campaign, partly unarmed, because Wilkinson gave strict orders
that no arms should be issued from Fort Adams, Mead vowed the people would
never go into a war with Spain under the command of Wilkinson. In November Mead was asked by Wilkinson to
send a battalion of 300 men to New Orleans, which he refused to do.
December 2, 1806, Secretary Mead addressed
the legislature, at its regular session, and beginning with the words, “Called
by fortuitous circumstances to the performance of the executive functions of
the Territory,” he bestowed upon them such an oratorical effusion as no general
assembly of the Mississippi Territory had yet been permitted to enjoy. At the same time in a confidential
recognition of the Burr expedition, which agitated the Territory for several
months afterward, and during December kept the militia in expectancy of a call
to arms against the filibusters from the North.
Mead adjourned the legislature from December 12 to the 19, and gave all
his attention to hostile preparations.
In his message he said: “I now, gentlemen, bid adieu to my civil
character. Tomorrow I assume the
military prerogatives of my office and shall leave you at this time with the
fullest assurance of your patriotism, and in my revolutions through the
Territory I shall expect to find you at your respective posts performing the
duties which you may be required to execute in the general defence of our
country.” Col. Burr was in the hands of
the court and released on bail when Governor Williams returned, late in
January, 1807, and resumed the duties of his office.
-------------
Meadville – pp. 215-216, ibid.
Meadville, the county seat of Franklin
county, is situated at the geographical center of the county on Morgan’s Fork,
an affluent of the Homichitto river, and 10 miles east of Roxie, the nearest
railroad station. Gloster is the nearest
banking town. The town became the seat
of justice about 1820, the original county seat having been located located at
Franklin, about 2 ½ miles to the west.
It was named for Cowles Mead, second Secretary of the Territory. It ships cotton and molasses. The Franklin Advocate, a Democratic weekly,
was established here in 1891, and is edited and published by Butler &
Co. Population in 1900, 250.
From: The Official
and Statistical Register of the State of Mississippi, Centennial Edition. Parts 1 & 2. By: Dunbar Rowland, LL. D. Democrat Printing Company, Madison, Wis. 1917 pp. 40-46.
TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT
GOVERNORS OF MISSISSIPPI TERRITORY -- 1798
– 1817
Winthrop Sargent, of Northwest Ohio River.
Appointed on Confirmation, May 7,
1798.
Served from May 7, 1798 to May 25,
1801
Born at Gloucester, Mass. On May 1,
1755
Died in New Orleans, Louisiana on
June 3, 1820
Buried at Gloucester
Appointed by President John Adams
William C.C. Claiborne, of Tennessee.
Recess Appointment, May 25, 1801
Appointed on Confirmation,
January 26, 1802.
Served from May 25, 1801 to March
1, 1805
Born in Sussex County, VA in 1775
Died Nobember 3, 1817 at age of
42
Buried in Metarie Cemetery, New
Orleans, LA
Robert Williams, of North Carolina
Appointed on confirmation, March
1, 1805
Appointed on Confirmation, March
14, 1808
Served from March 1, 1805 to
March 7, 1809
Born in Surrey County, North
Carolina on July 12, 1773
Died at Ouachita, Louisiana on
January 25, 1836
Buried on his plantation near
Monroe, Louisiana
David Holmes, of Virginia
Appointed on confirmation, March
7, 1809
Appointed on confirmation, March
31, 1812
Appointed on confirmation,
December 10, 1814
Served from March 7, 1809 to
October 7, 1817
Also was elected as the first
Governor of the state of Mississippi
Served twice as Mississippi’s first
Governor (Oct. 10, 1817 to Jan. 5, 1820) and fifth Governor (Jan. 7, 1826 to
July 25, 1826)
Born at Mary Ann Furnace, York
County, Pennsylvania on March 10, 1770
Died at Jordon’s Sulphur Springs,
Winchester, VA on Aug. 20, 1832
Buried at Winchester, VA
Never Married
TERRITORIAL JUDGES OF MISSISSIPPI -- 1798
– 1817
Daniel Tilton, of New Hampshire -- commissioned on May 7,
1798
Peter Bryan Bruin, of Mississippi -- commissioned on May 7,
1798
WilliamMcGuire, C.J., of Virginia – commissioned on June
28, 1798
Seth Lewis, C.J., of Tennessee – commissioned on May 13,
1800
David Ker, of Mississippi -- recess appointment on Nov. 2,
1802; appointed on confirmation on Jan. 25, 1803
Thomas Rodney, of Delaware -- recess appointment on July
12, 1803; Appointed on confirmation on Nov. 18, 1803
Ephraim Kirby, of Connecticut -- commissioned on April 6,
1804
Harry Toumlin, of Kentucky – commissioned on Nov. 22, 1804
Obediah Jones, of Georgia – commissioned on March 3, 1805
George Matthews, Jr., of Georgia – commissioned on July 1,
1805
Walter Leake, of Virginia – commissioned on March 2, 1807
Francis Xanvier Martin, of North Carolina – commissioned on
March 7, 1809
Obediah Jones, of Mississippi – commissioned on March 6,
1810
Oliver Fitz, of South Carolina – commissioned on April 18,
1810
David Campbell, of Tennessee – commissioned on March 3,
1811
Josiah Simpson, of New Jersey – commissioned on Feb. 18,
1812
George Poindexter, of Mississippi – commissioned on March
3, 1813
Josiah Simpson, of Mississippi – commissioned on Feb. 9, 1816
Stevenson Archer, of Maryland – commissioned on March 6,
1817
ATTORNEYS-GENERAL OF MISSISSIPPI TERRITORY
Lyman Harding
1799-1803
George Poindexter 1803-1807
Seth Lewis, West District 1807-1808
William B. Shields, West District 1808-1814
Christopher Rankin, West District 1814-1817
Nicolas Perkins, East District 1807-1809
Lemuel Henry, East District 1809-1812
Joseph Carson, East District 1802-1817
Louis Winston, Madison County 1809-1817
SECRETARIES OF MISSISSIPPI TERRITORY --
1798-1817
John Steele, of Virginia
Appointed
on confirmation, May 7, 1798
Acting
Governor, April 3, 1801 to November 23, 1801
Cato West, of Mississippi
Appointed
on confirmation, March 3, 1803
Acting
Governor, October 1, 1804 to May 10, 1805
Thomas H. Williams, of Mississippi
Recess
appointment, July 1, 1805
Cowles Mead, of Georgia
Appointed
on confirmation, January 21, 1806
Acting
Governor, June 6, 1806 to January 28, 1807
Thomas H. Williams, of Virginia
Recess
appointment, June 1, 1807
Appointed
on confirmation, November 18, 1807
Acting Governor, March 3, 1809 to
July 1, 1809
Henry Dangerfield, of Mississippi
Recess appointment, June 30, 1810
Appointed on confirmation,
January 10, 1811
Appointed on confirmation,
December 10, 1814
Acting Governor, October 6, 1811
to June 15, 1812
Nathaniel A. Ware, of Mississippi
Recess
appointment, June 7, 1815
Appointed
on confirmation, January 10, 1816
Acting
Governor, April, 1815 to May 1816
SPEAKERS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OF MISSISSIPPI TERRITORY -- 1800-1817
Henry Hunter – 1800 to 1803
William Gordon Forman – 1803
William Connor – 1803
Nicholas Perkins – 1803
William Dunbar – 1803
Philander Smith – 1804 to 1805
John Steele – 1805 to 1806
John Ellis – 1806 to 1808
William Snodgrass – November 1809
Ferdinand L. Claiborne – February 1809
Ferdinand L. Claiborne – 1809 to 1810
Thomas Hinds (pro. Tem.) – 1810
Ralph Rogers (pro. Tem.) – 1810
Cowles Mead – 1811 to 1813
Daniel Burnet – 1813 to 1815
Gabriel Moore – 1815 to 1817
AUDITORS OF MISSISSIPPI TERRITORY
Charles B. Howell
Beverly R. Grayson
Park Walton
TREASURERS OF MISSISSIPPI TERRITORY
Abner Green
Samuel Brooks
PRESIDENTS OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL OF
MISSISSIPPI TERRITORY
1801-1817
John Stampley – 1801 to 1802
John Ellis – 1802 to 1807
Joshua Baker – 1807 to 1809
Daniel Burnet – 1809
James Lea – 1809
Alexander Montgomery – 1809
Thomas Barnes – 1809 to 1810
Alexander Montgomery – 1810 to 1812
Thomas Barnes – 1812 to 1815
James Titus – 1816 to 1817
MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL OF
MISSISSIPPI TERRITORY -- 1800-1817
Robert Bailey – commissioned Feb, 4, 1815
Thomas Barnes – commissioned Sept. 1, 1809
Appointed
on confirmation – Dec. 26, 1809
Re-appointed
– Feb. 15, 1814
MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF
MISSISSIPPI TERRITORY
Name County Session
William D. Baker Adams 1815
Benjamin Baldwin Baldwin
(Alabama) 1813
H.J. Balch Jefferson 1811,
1813
Sutton Banks Adams 1800
Allan Barnes Claiborne 1811
Daniel Beasley Jefferson 1809,
1811
John Bond, Jr. Marion,
Lawrence 1815
Joseph Bowman Adams 1811
James W. Branham ------- 1807
Gerard Brandon Wilkinson 1815
Theodore Brightwell Washington
(Alabama) 1809
Wilborn Briscoe Claiborne 1813,
1815
Samuel Bridges Jefferson 1806,
1807
John Brooks Jefferson 1802,
1803
Ervin Brown ------- 1815
Stephen Bullock ------- 1807
John Burnet Pickering 1802
Daniel Burnet Claiborne 1807,
1813
James Caller Washington
(Alabama) 1807,
1811
John Caller Washington
(Alabama) 1804
Thomas Calvit Pickering 1800,
1802
Anthony Campbell Adams 1815
Henry Cassells ------- 1808
Bailey E. Chaney Franklin 1809,1813,
1814
George Clark ------- 1807
F.L. Claiborne Adams 1804
Samuel Cook ------- 1807
William Connor Adams 1802
William Crawford Mobile
(Alabama), Jackson 1813
Micajah Davis Adams 1807
Abram Defrance Adams 1809
Roger Dixon Jefferson 1802
Henry D. Downs Jefferson 1807
Henry D. Downs Warren 1813,
1815
William Dunbar Adams 1802
Joseph Dunbar Jefferson 1805
John Ellis Adams 1806
Thomas Fitzpatrick Jefferson 1806,
1807
William Gordon Forman ------- 1803
James Foster ------- 1809
John Girault Jefferson 1802
Thomas M. Green Pickering 1800
David Greenleaf Adams 1813
John Hanes Adams 1809
Henry Hanna Amite 1813,
1815
Lyman Harding Adams 1804
Lemuel Henry Washington
(Alabama) 1807
Thomas Harris ------- 1807
James Hoggatt Adams 1800,
1802
Philip Hoggatt Adams 1811,
1813
John Hopkins Jefferson 1815
George W. Humphreys Jefferson 1806
Henry Hunter Adams 1800,
1806, 1809
Anthony Hutchins Adams 1800
Joseph P. Kennedy ------- -------
Richard King ------- 1809
Josiah D. Lister Washington
(Alabama) 1815
John Lowry Amite 1811
David McCaleb Claiborne 1809
James McCartney Madison 1813
George W. McConnell Franklin 1811
William McGrew Washington
(Alabama) 1811
Hugh McVay Madison
(Alabama) 1811,
1813, 1815
Cowles Mead Jefferson 1807,
1811
Alexander Montgomery Adams 1806,
1807
Samuel Montgomery Adams 1813
Gabriel Moore Madison
(Alabama) 1811,
1813, 1815
George Newman Adams 1815
John Nugent Adams 1809
Thomas Orme ------- 1807
Audly L. Osborne ------- 1809
James Patterson Wayne 1811,
1813
Peter Perkins Madison
(Alabama) 1811
Nicholas Perkins Washington 1802
Lewis Perkins Amite 1811
George Poindexter Adams 1806
William Pool ------- 1809
Samuel Postlethwaite Adams 1811
John B. Posey Wilkinson 1813
Christopher Rankin Amite 1813
Ralph Reagan Claiborne 1809,
1813
Joseph Roberts ------- 1809
Harmon Runnels Marion,
Hancock 1813
Reuben Saffold Clarke
(Alabama) 1813,
1815
Joseph Sessions Adams 1807,
1811, 1813
John Shaw Jefferson 1804
John Shaw Franklin 1815
William B. Shields Adams 1807,
1808, 1813
Philander Smith Adams 1804,
1811
Samuel Smith Washington
(Alabama) 1813,
1814
William Snodgrass Jefferson 1806,
1807, 1808, 1809
Theodore Stark Adams 1807
John Steele Adams 1804
Duncan Stewart Wilkinson 1813
Minor Sturgis ------- 1807
Nathan Swayze Adams 1815
John Taylor Adams 1813
James Titus Madison
(Alabama) 1812
Berinett Truly Jefferson 1807
Edward Turner Warren 1811
Edward Turner Adams 1815
White Turpin Adams 1809
Edward Ward ------- 1810
Nathaniel A. Ware Adams 1813
Josiah Watts Greene,
Wayne 1815
Cato West Pickering 1800,
1802
James C. Wilkins Adams 1815
John B. Willis ------- 1809
Jesse Winborne Amite 1815
William H. Winston Madison 1815
William O. Winston Madison 1810
James Wood Claiborne 1815
For a complete listing of the Executive Branch , CLICK HERE.
Mississippi Territorial Secretary Cowles Mead's Home “Meadvilla”
in Washington, Mississippi
Meadvilla is located behind the Washington United Methodist
Church on Highway 61 North in Washington, Mississippi, and was added to the
National Register of Historical Places in 1982 as Building Number
82000570. It is described by the
National Register as Federal/Greek Revival Style.
Library of
Congress Photo Description # 1 -- Library of Congress Photo Description # 2
Library of
Congress Photo 1 -- April 29, 2002 Photo 1 -- April 29, 2002 Photo 1a (right wing is visible in this photo)
Library of
Congress Photo 2 -- April 29, 2002 Photo 2
Library of
Congress Photo 3 -- April 29, 2002 Photo 3
Library of
Congress Photo 4 -- April 29, 2002 Photo 4
Library of
Congress Photo 5 -- April 29, 2002 Photo 5
May 03, 2002
Photo of Kitchen (separate from house)
Washington United
Methodist Church – May 3, 2002
Meadvilla is
behind Washington United Methodist Church
Meadvilla Update – 2007
Meadvilla has finally been
bought and is being restored to its former grandeur. More details and photos will be
forthcoming. The photo below shows its
progress, as of September 2007.
Photo Courtesy of Cheryl Munyer, Director
at Historic
MEADVILLA LATER USED AS HOTEL
FROM: Antebellum
Natchez, by D. Clayton James. L.S.U.
Press, Baton Rouge, LA. 1968. pp.
188-89.
That the Trace carried most if the road traffic is evident
from the number of taverns strung along it.
The most thriving inns of Natchez before the war of 1812 were those
located on the narrow, meandering road to Nashville. They included Connelly’s Tavern, King’s
Tavern, and the White Horse Tavern. Most
tavern keepers dwelt at the rear of their inns, but George Overaker, who owned
the White Horse Tavern, grew wealthy enough to purchase “Hope Farm” as a town
house and “Hawthorne” in the countryside nearby. The only sizable inn of territorial Natchez
that was not located on the Trace was Michie’s Tavern, which was situated on
Main Street. Although affluent enough to
be able to buy “Cherokee” mansion, David Michie did not achieve the fine
reputation that his father and brothers gained in Virginia as tavern
keepers. Possibly the oldest tavern on
the south end of the Trace was “Mount Locust,” built about 1780 by British
rebel John Blommart and operated later by James Chamberlain. Washington’s principal inn was the Washington
Hotel, formerly the home of Cowles Mead
which Moses Richardson converted in 1813 into a successful hostelry,
advertising it as “the large and commodious house under the sign of the spread
eagle.” Some Trace innkeepers as far as
a hundred miles to the north advertised in Natchez papers, such as Turner
Brashears, who in 1806 announced the opening of his “house of entertainment” in
“the Wilderness. . .about 40 miles from William Smith’s at the Indian line
The flourishing inns along the south end of the Trace
suffered seriously from the advent of upriver steamboating, and by the 1830’s
the most successful and spacious Natchez hotels were those which catered to
river travelers. The better inns were
clustered in the western section of the upper town, usually one to three blocks
from the bluff, so that travelers reaching the top of the landing-road could
readily locate them. William Parker’s
three-story Mississippi Hotel, according to one authority, offered “probably
the best accommodations to be had” in Mississippi in the 1830’s. But the structure was damaged by fire in 1839
and was completely destroyed the next year by a tornado. When the City Hotel was constructed in 1837
on the site of a previous inn that had been gutted by fire, a local journalist
boasted that the 120-room building “may vie with the Astor House, New York.”
Click on the thumbnail below for more on
Meadvilla and Benjamin L.C. Wailes 
Information in this link Courtesy of
History of Cowles Mead
Article 1 -- Article 2 -- Map to Cowles Mead's Grave -- Mead Land Holdings
Mead Burial Plot, Clinton, MS -- Cowles Mead’s
Grave --
10/18/1776 - 05/17/1844
Mary Mead Grave (Wife)
-- 03/10/1797 - 10/27/1834 -- Cowles G. Mead
Grave (Son) -- 11/28/1818 - 10/25/1849
Cowles Mead History from Mississippi
Department of Archives and History Subject Files (.pdf document )
Newspaper Article About Mead’s Life # 1 from Mississippi Department of Archives
Subject Files
Newspaper Article About Mead’s Life # 2 from Mississippi Department of Archives
Subject Files
More Mead History (.pdf document)
Cowles Mead Lineage
Future Natchez Trace Exhibit of Cowles Mead's Gravesite -- June
26, 2001
To visit the Cowles Mead family gravesite, take Interstate 20 west toward
Vicksburg, Mississippi from Jackson. About
2 miles west of Clinton, take exit 34 onto the Natchez Trace north. After traveling approximately 8/10 of a mile,
the rest area for the gravesite will be on the right. This portion of the Natchez Trace is
incomplete as of 10/20/2004, but should be opened in 2005.
Photo 1 -- Photo 2
Photo 3 -- Photo 4
Photo 5 -- Photo 6
Photo 7 -- Photo 8
Current Photos of the Gravesite
Photos Courtesy of Linda Chandler Towns
Note: The grave markers were cleaned approx. 09/15/2004. Click below.
Photo 1 Photo 2 Photo 3
Photo 4 Photo 5
UPDATE: The last
remaining segment of the 444-mile Natchez Trace was completed in the spring of
2005. The official opening ceremony for
the 13.5 mile section was conducted on May 21, 2005. Read about it HERE (.pdf file).
Newspaper Article About Gravesite from Mississippi
Department of Archives Subject Files
Another Newspaper Article About Gravesite from Mississippi Department of Archives Subject Files
Cemetery Information (.pdf document) from Mississippi
The
Location of the Cowles Mead Cemetery is 322102N and 0902029W – Source: USGS Map
Search
Update Photo – February 28, 2002
Cowles Mead and Mississippi College
(Excerpts from
McLemore’s History of Mississippi College; Clinton, Mississippi)
In
1833 the legislature amended the board of trustees to give the legislature the
power of filling vacancies on the board of trustees--hence, Mead would be a
logical choice. However, the state no
longer gave the college money!! In 1834 the Clinton-Vicksburg Railroad Co was
incorporated. There were nine directors,
of whom a majority were from Clinton.
Cowles Mead was named president of the railroad, and he was to become
president of the board of trustees of MC.
Apparently he was not on the board in 1836.
"The
Presbyterians were the oldest and largest denominational group in Clinton. They had a church house standing on the
approximate site of Mississippi College's Alumni Hall. The Presbyterian church included within its
membership many of the most prominent citizens of Clinton. Among them were Cowles Mead, Daniel Comfort,
G. P. Strong, and Ulysses W. Moffett. ........When the Methodists definitely
determined in October, 1841, that Centenary College was to be located in
Brandon Springs, and the Mississippi College property was to be returned to the
citizens of Clinton, there began a reorganization of the board of trustees that
eventually placed the institution under the control of the Presbyterian
church. On April 11, 1842, the board
consisted of Cowles Mead, President. . . . . .
Mead....were
present at the meeting on April 11, 1842, when the board formally adopted a
resolution that "the trustees of the Mississippi College tender the
college to the Clinton Presbytery to be exclusively under the control of that
Presbytery."
.....In
February, 1843, Cowles Mead called the board into session. He invited the board to meet in his beautiful
home, Greenwood, located on the outskirts of Clinton. Here in this magnificent antebellum mansion
Mead, ........., met to review the recent developments in the college's history
and to plan for the future.
Mississippi
College had been taken over by the "New School" Clinton
Presbytery. This Presbytery included the
three presbyteries of Clinton, Brandon, and Lexington. The "New School" Presbyterian
Church in Clinton was organized by a group of devout members who withdrew from
the "Old School" church on July 23, 1842. Among those who were granted letters of
dismissal were Cowles Mead, Mary Mead, ......
The appeal of the 'New School" church
proved to be very successful. The
complete disruption of the "Old School" church became a possibility
when the division reduced the membership to 34.
The "Old School" church sought to stem the tide by refusing
letters of dismissal to those who wished to follow their friends into the
"New School" church. The
differences between the members was three hotly debated issues:
First
--- Doctrine of Original Sin. The
"New School" supported the teaching of "impartial, disinterested
good-will, love or benevolence to all beings capable of happiness...a
benevolent complacency in the moral excellence of all who possess this essential
qualification for happiness--The evidence seems to indicate a very small
percentage of Presbyterians accepted this viewpoint.
Second
--- Rivalry over means of conducting benevolent enterprises. This conflict extended to missionary and
educational enterprises. In Mississippi
a particularly bitter controversy developed over the support by the
Presbyterian church for the Mississippi Colonization Society. This organization supported the return of
Negroes to Africa and the establishment of a democratic state there that became
known as Liberia.
Third
--- A very important cause of the division of the Presbyterian church
throughout the United States and in Clinton was the attitude toward
slavery. The "Old School"
defended slavery as a positive good while the "new School" took a
more liberal view of the issue.
The
“New School" Presbyterian church enjoyed a dominant position in Clinton
from 1843 to 1848. The division between
"New School" and the "Old School" for dominance continued
through the period of Presbyterian control and was probably the most important
factor in causing the failure of the Presbyterians in the management of
Mississippi College.
The
effect of the division of the Presbyterian church on Mississippi College became
evident during the session of 1843-1844.
The board of trustees underwent several significant changes. Cowles Mead died on May 22, 1844. He had been a strong and successful leader
of the board.
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Cowles
Mead was active in many areas of politics and community. One is the Mississippi Colonization Society,
as follows:
The
Source: Religion in
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The Greenwood
Plantation Home of Cowles Mead
– Microsoft Word format
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From The Southern Star (Gallatin,
Miss.), Page unknown:
August 8, 1840 – Died near
Clinton, Hinds Co., on the 29th ult., at the residence of Gen. Mead,
Miss Sarah B. Mead, aged 29 years.
From the Vicksburg Daily Whig
(Vicksburg, Miss.), Page unknown:
May 27, 1844 – Died on the 17th,
near Clinton, Miss., of disease of the heart, General Cowles Mead. He was born in Bedford county, Virginia the
18th of October, 1776. In
1806 he came to Mississippi as Secretary of the territory, under the
appointment of Mr. Jefferson.
From the Jeffersonian Democrat
(Macon, Miss.), Page unknown:
June 1, 1844 -- Died near Clinton,
May 17th, General Cowles Mead, aged 88 years. Ed. Note: He was actually 68 years old at the
time of his death.
From the Mississippi Messenger
(Natchez, Miss.), Vol. III, Number 136, Page 3, Col. 2.
Tuesday, April 7, 1807 -- Married
on Thursday evening last [04/02/1807], by the Hon. Thomas Rodney, the Honorable
Cowles Mead, Secretary of this Territory, to the amiable Miss Mary Green,
daughter of Abner Green, Esquire.
From The Raymond Times (Raymond,
Miss.), Page unknown:
July 31, 1840 -- Died of
consumption on 29th, near Clinton, at residence of her uncle, Gen.
Cowles Mead, Miss Sarah B. Mead, aged 29 years and 9 months.
From The Natchez (Natchez, Miss.),
Page unknown:
May 17, 1833 – Died in Natchez,
May 11, Edward Mead, aged 25 years, of cholera.
From the Port Gibson Herald (Port Gibson,
Miss.), Page unknown:
March 27, 1845 – James R. Mead
died at the residence of George Lake, Esq., on Sunday, the 9th.
From States Rights & Democratic
Union (Yazoo City, Miss.), Page unknown:
October 2, 1839 – Died in this city,
on Tuesday the 23rd Sept., Emanuel Mead, in the 55th year
of his age – an honest and respectable man – and formerly a resident of
Fredricksburg, Virginia.
Other Assorted Information on Cowles Mead
Meadville - Established in 1809 two
miles west of its present site and was know as Franklin at that time. In
1809 a committee was appointed to purchase land for the county seat for the new
county of Franklin which had been formed from Adams County. The Committee
was made up of John Spivars, Richard Coleman, Dougal McLaughlin, Stephen
Middleton and Samuel Ratcliff. The county seat was moved to the new town
of Meadville in 1820 and the town was incorporated in 1860. Meadville was
named for Cowles Mead, fourth Secretary of the Mississippi Territory.
Mississippi Congressman Dan C. McGeehee was a native of Meadville.
MEADVILLE, "the county seat of
Franklin County, is situated at the geographical center of the county on
Morgan's Fork, an affluent of the Homochitto River and 10 miles east of Roxie,
the nearest railroad station. Gloster is the nearest banking town.
The town became the seat of justice about 1820, the original county seat having
been located at Franklin about 2 1/2 miles to the west. It was named for
Cowles Mead, second Secretary of the Territory. It ships cotton and
molasses. The Franklin Advocate, a Democratic Weekly, was established
here in 1891, and is edited and published by Butler & Co.
Population in 1900, 250." From Mississippi Vol. 2 L-Z by
Dunbar Rowland, 1907, page 215.
[Ed. Note: Cowles Mead was actually the fourth Secretary of the Territory. Preceding Mead were: John Steele (1798-1801),
Cato West (1803-1805), and Thomas Hill Williams (1805). Following Mead were: Thomas H Williams (1807-1809),
Henry Dangerfield (1810-1814), and Nathaniel A. Ware (1815-1816).]
From the Congressional Biography
MEAD, Cowles,
1776-1844
MEAD, Cowles, a
Representative from Georgia; born in Virginia October 18, 1776; moved to
Georgia at an early age; received an English education; studied law; was
admitted to the bar and practiced; presented credentials as a Member-elect to
the Ninth Congress and served from March 4, 1805, to December 24, 1805, when he
was succeeded by Thomas Spalding, who contested his election; appointed
secretary of Mississippi Territory by President Jefferson in March 1806 and
served until 1807; Acting Governor from June 1806 to January 1807 during the
absence of Gov. Robert Williams; resumed the practice of law; member of the
Mississippi house of representatives in 1807; unsuccessful candidate for
election in 1812 to the Thirteenth Congress; delegate to the first
constitutional convention of Mississippi in 1817; unsuccessful candidate for
election in 1818 to the Sixteenth Congress; served in the State senate in 1821;
again a member of the State house of representatives in 1822 and 1823;
unsuccessful candidate for election as Governor of Mississippi in 1825; died on
his plantation, “Greenwood,” near Clinton, Jefferson County, Miss., May 17,
1844; interment on his estate. [Ed.
Note: Clinton, MS is in Hinds County].
Mead,
Cowles
(1776-1844) Born in