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One mile northwest of The home was noted for its
lavish hospitality and for the numbers of distinguished guests entertained
there. Gen. Mead was devoted to horticulture, and in his lovely wife he had a
most congenial companion; and together they made it a home of
flowers. West of the house were the gardens of ornamental shrubs and
bulbs. Low hedges of evergreens bordered the beds of tulips, hyacinths,
and many others too numerous to mention. To the east was the rose
garden. On the east side of the house and adjoining it were the
greenhouses built by the plantation carpenter. Under the loving care of
Mrs. Mead the hothouse plants bloomed in rich profusion. Beyond the greenhouses was a
small summer house covered with yellow Jessamine. A quaint little gate
admitted one into it. This was the entrance to Gen. Mead’s own
garden. Here were wide smooth walks, syringa hedges, banksia roses, tall crape
myrtles and, clustered around their roots, masses of the purple wild wood
violet, which the good man loved. In this garden was an aged cedar tree,
beneath its spreading branches was placed a wide garden seat; here Gen.
Mead’s after-dinner coffee was served. Many men of illustrious names sat
with him under that old cedar and discussed the affairs of state. Among the valued souvenirs of
the home was the sword of Aaron Burr, which was delivered to Gen. Mead when
Burr was captured. This sword was presented by Mrs. Mead to Captain
Johnson W. Welborn of the Mississippi College Rifles, 18th
Regiment, Company E, when that company marched away to battle on or around May
21, 1861, and was lost at the Battle of Leesburg*** where Capt. Welborn
sustained a slight
wound in the neck. [Ed. Note: “Mrs. Mead” listed in the paragraph above was
Mary
Overaker Magruder Mead, the third wife of Cowles
Mead. She was the widow of James Trueman Magruder. She became the wife of Cowles Mead on
September 17, 1835. Mead’s first wife, Mary
Ann Martha Green Mead** died on June 29, 1828 (location of burial site is
unknown) and Cowles married Mary
Lilly Mills on March 28, 1833.
Information on Mary Lilly Mills is difficult to locate. She died on
October 27, 1834, and is buried beside Cowles at the Mead Family Cemetery in
Hinds Co., MS. The place of burial for
the aforementioned third wife, Mary Magruder, is unknown at this time, but she
is thought to be buried in the Clinton Cemetery, Clinton, MS, with no
marker. She died on December 25, 1879.
Cowles Mead had five children with his first wife (Mary Green). These were:
Mary Cowles Mead (Moffett) (May 22, 1815 – 08/31/1875), Cowles Green Mead
(November 18, 1818 – October 25, 1849), Ann
Elizabeth Eliza Mead (June 18, 1821 - September 2, 1824), Thomas Lafayette Mead (December 20, 1824 - September 1, 1827) and Martha Ann Mead (Fisher) (Brennan)
(October 14, 1826 - ?/?/1864). Cowles Mead, his second
wife (Mary Lilly) and his son, Cowles Green Mead, are the only known members of
the Mead family buried in the Hinds. Co., MS plot near Clinton, MS., although
it is rumored that Cowles Mead’s daughter (Mary C.) is also buried there. However, there is no marker for her grave, if
this is accurate. Cowles Mead is not
known to have had any children by his second wife, Mary Lilly Mills, or his
third wife, Mary Overaker Magruder.] The home, the gardens, and
most of the beautiful trees were destroyed by Grant’s soldiers after the
surrender of The old tree has lived to see
most of the changes of the nineteenth century; and as each returning
spring calls the flowers from out their wintry home, the old tree sends aloft
its coronal of fresh leaves; and when chill autumn with frost-fingers
touches leaf and fruit, the rich brown nuts fall to earth, and many an urchin,
who knows not even the name of him who thus provided this pleasure, is made
happy. ** Mary Ann Martha Mead, is the name listed in her father’s (Abner
Green) Last Will and
Testament of July 16, 1809. She is listed with the last name of Mead,
indicating (and supporting) the fact that she and Cowles were married in 1807. *** Also known as the “Battle of Ball’s Bluff” and the “Battle of
Harrison’s Island.” In
the battle of Leesburg,
on October 21, 1861, Welborn's and Campbell's companies were first in battle,
as part of a detachment, after which the remainder of the regiment marched to
the scene of conflict. Colonel
[Erasmus R.] Burt, Auditor of the State [of Mississippi], fell mortally
wounded while gallantly leading the charge upon the Federal battery, and the
command fell upon Lieutenant-Colonel Griffin. Reinforced by the Seventeenth the
two regiments, under Colonel W. S. Featherston, drove
the enemy into the river, capturing several hundred prisoners. Among the
wounded were Captain A. P. Hill, Lieutenant Fearn and
Captain Welborn. Lieut. F. Bostick was killed. Major
Henry ably commanded a detachment of the companies of Luse
and Kearney, who were joined by Welborn and Campbell, and Fletcher of the
Thirteenth. The casualties of the regiment were 32 killed and 63 wounded, a
loss that speaks eloquently for its prominence in this little battle, which was
at the time a famous event. The aggregate Confederate strength was only about
1,700, which would be about 500 to the regiment. On that estimate the regiment
sustained a loss of about twenty per cent. Additional Note: Colonel
Erasmus R. Burt is buried in the Greenwood Cemetery, Jackson, MS. Sources
indicate that “Colonel Erasmus Rifles Burt [had been] wounded in bowels” and “Died October
26th at 7th Brigade Hospital Leesburg.” |
