My family tree directs back to the Irish Catholic Meade family with an “e” on the end of Mead who came over in 1857 to NYC, NY from England. Kenneth James Meade and his wife Mary Frazier came over on a boat and had a child Kenneth Joseph in NYC in the year 1857.
The Mead family separated from the MEADE Irish Catholics when my grandfather Kenneth James Meade change his name in 1916 to Pelham Kenneth Mead by dropping the ‘e” which made the Meade name Irish in origin. Grandpa Mead Sr. had issues with his father Kenneth Joseph Meade who divorced his mother Fanny Francis Kohler. Fanny later remarried and became Fanny Mosso living in New Jersey.
The Seabury connection comes from my Grandma Madeline Seabury Mead’s side of the family. She married Pelham Kenneth Mead Sr. by eloping with him because her father was the Police Chief of Peekskill, New York and he would never have agreed to his cultured daughter Madeline marrying some bum from Brooklyn that was only five feet six inches tall. Madeline was five feet ten inches tall.
The Seabury family line traces back to 1636 when John Seaberry aka Seabury seaman arrived on Boston town in Mass. He bought a home in Duxberry, Mass, 30 miles north of Salem, Mass. and began farming for a living. He married Grace Fellows the daughter of one of the original Pilgrims
After farming did not work out John Seaberry departed for the West Indies to grow sugar cane. He was an indentured servant that had to pay back his fee. Life was good in the West Indies and his farm was large and wealthy. Unfortunately, he died at age 40. Three of this children returned to Mass. colony to reclaim his home which was sold but never completely paid for. Samuel Seabury his oldest son and Elizabeth Seabury and John Seabury Jr. sued the buyer of their father’s home and won in court. Samuel Seabury had a privileged education in England and became a Medical Doctor and a religious leader in the local Congregational church. His first wife died and he remarried creating a large extended family
Fast forward to the American Revolutionary War and Samuel Seabury, Chaplain in King Georges III Army in the New York Colony. After the war most of the Seabury loyalists fled to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. Samuel Seabury stayed in a farm in Westchester and changed from a Tory to an American Colonist. He was very vocal in his support of King George and wrote many articles in local papers. He was arrested and thrown in a jail in Conn. by a band of local colonists after the war. He finally got his rich friends to get him out of jail. He went to England to request that the Church of England grant him permission to become a Bishop of the church. They denied his request because he could not swear allegiance to King George III. After two years he went to Scotland and request that the Bishops there confer him as a Bishop of the new church in the American Colonies. They agreed but requested that he use their 1690 prayer book. When Bishop Samuel Seabury returned to the Colonies the local Episcopal priests all voted him in as the first Episcopal Bishop of the Colonies. Later on he became a Priest in Conn.
From Bishop Samuel Seabury came Judge Samuel Seabury of New York. Judge Samuel Seabury was a New York State judge and put NYC Mayor Walker in jail for taking bribes and conspiracy in 1930.
My Great Grandfather on my grandmothers side of the family was Nathaniel Newcomb Seabury of Peekskill, NY or Cortland Manor as it was called early on. He was educated at the Peekskill Military School at age 14-16. He became a Sergeant in the Peekskill City Police force in 1900. In three years he was promoted to Police Chief of the Peekskill Police force and remained in that position until 1916 when a Democratic Mayor ousted him with false charges.
Nathaniel Newcomb Seabury married Ida Leverich and had two children James Henry Seabury after his grandfather and Madeline H. Seabury. They lived on Division street in Peekskill and years later in Putnam Valley on Lake Oscawana. In retirement, Nathaniel built his own two story house and started a boating and fishing rental business on Lake Oscawana.
Madeline H. Seabury was educated at a woman’s finishing school and learned to play the piano and other social arts. She met a young man from Brooklyn , NY at the Herald Tribune Summer Camp at the other end of Lake Oscawana. A romantic affair developed, however Madeline’s over powering father was the Police Chief and no man was good enough for his daughter. Madeline knew her father would never approve of this man 18 years of age from Brooklyn, NY marrying his daughter, so they eloped and broke his heart.
During the summers Madeline and Pelham Sr. would dump off their children Ken, Nate, and Madeline Mead off at the Grandparent’s house on Lake Oscawana. My father learned to swim there and fish. They called him “Sunny,” as a nickname. Nate was named after his grandfather Nathaniel and Madeline was named after her grandmother.
Both Nathaniel and Ida Seabury died in the 1950’s and are buried in Hillside Cemetery just outside Peekskill in the town of Putnam Valley.
Cemetery Information for Seabury family
Hillside Cemetery, Peekskill, NY
Kenneth James Meade, Irish Catholic from England migrated to NYC prior to 1857 when his son Kenneth Joseph was born in NYC, NY. Kenneth was a draftsman and his wife Mary Frazier was Scottish. They lived in Conn.
James Meade , Irish Catholic, brother of Kenneth James and father of William T. Meade and Madeline Meade.
Madeline Meade daughter of James Meade lived in Deep River, Conn. Married and moved to Hartford, Conn.
William T. Meade, Lived in Middletown, Conn. His uncle Kenneth Joseph, lithographer died on Christmas Eve at William’s house in Middletown Dec. 24, 1916.
*recently discovered brothers and sisters and children of Madeline and William. The lost part of the Meade aka Mead family line. All recorded on software Ancestry.
James L. Seabury –(Millionaire, Iron works owner in Peekskill 1850’s to 1870. Ave. B, old section, Hillcrest cemetery, Putnam Valley, NY, The grave sits on a boulder in a stone memorial with draws for cremated remains. Sons James H. and Cornelius N. are also buried there with small stone crosses.
*When President Lincoln needed to pay for the expenses of the Civil War he started the Federal tax on income. Rich people like James L. Seabury tried to avoid the tax by buying negotiable bonds. James had his millions of dollars all wrapped up in negotiable bonds which could not be detected by the Federal Government. Unfortunately, James L. Seabury’s personal secretary and accountant stole all the negotiable bonds and left James L. Seabury with no money except the house on the top of division street, with its 8 rooms and barn and 100 acres of land which he had to sell and move to Brown Street where he lived in his final years. The bonds were never recovered and the accountant was never caught.
James H. and Cornelius N. are also buried there. Helen the sister of James L. also
Buried (cremated), James H. was a Civil War veteran for the NY 6th Heavy Artillery 1864.
Christina Seabury Valentine buried with her husband,
Judge Wm. Valentine of Sing Sing town next to James L. Seabury.
Nathaniel Newcomb Seabury and Ida Leverich
First Police Chief of City of Peekskill 1900-1916, Republican, Plot 3- Pine Row, brass name plates, directly on The knoll behind the office. Nate Mead bought the name plates with money from brother Ken Mead and Sister Madeline Frampton. Was unmarked previously.
The original St. Paul Methodist Episcopal church is the Chapel in the old section of
The Cemetery. There is a pew with a Seabury name plate on it. James L. Seabury was
An elder of the church in 1863.
James Henry Seabury Jr., son of Nathaniel and Ida Seabury is buried in the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Tarrytown, NY. Plot unknown. Ruth Seabury died of alzheimers in NYC while living with her son James H. Seabury 3rd, 15st. NYC, NY.
Kenneth Joseph Meade, father of Pelham K. Mead Sr. aka Kenneth James Meade is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in Flatbush, Brooklyn, NY. No headstone. Madeline Meade Vail paid for his funeral. He was shipped by train in 1916 to NYC from Middletown, Ct. where he died on Christmas Eve at his nephew’s house Wm. T. Meade of Pearl st. , Middletown, Ct.
Pelham K. Mead Sr. and Madeline Seabury Mead are both buried in Dundalk, Maryland where they lived when they died. Cemetery and plot unknown. Never served in the Military. Changed his name Nov. 25, 1916. Married, eloped, on Nov. 22, 1916, Married in Roman Catholic Church in the Bronx, NY.
Pelham K. Mead Jr. was buried at sea by the US Navy on July 4, 1993. Doris Grace Werts Mead was cremated and her ashes were spread over the Pacific ocean from a Plane. Pelham served on the USS Antietam CV-36 during WWII.
Grandpa Charles L. Werts, father of Doris, and Grandma Ross Werts were both cremated in Flordia , and their ashes were scattered over the Atlantic Ocean. Charles served in the Merchant Marine service during WWI.
Charles L. Werts Jr.- (Sunny) Deceased, Burial unknown site- Died a Professor of Psychology at California. He had a second degree in Electrical Engineering. Served in the US Navy.
