Notes:

Archive rec Lillie Dunford Mecham.

Notes:

Archive Record of Lillie Dunford Mecham;
9 Aug 2004 http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~colby/colbyfam/d415.html
(email: rmcolby@micro-net.com) :
"Doctor Thomas MEACHAM was born on 1 JUL 1771 in Canaan, Grafton County, New Hampshire. He died on 7 MAY 1849 in Dickinson, Franklin County, New York. He was buried on 7 MAY 1849 in Dickinson, Franklin County, New York. He has Ancestral File number 2TCN-36. DR. THOMAS MEACHAM To begin a sketch on the life of Dr. Thomas Meacham. We can do no better than to quote from "A BRIEF HISTORY OF MY LIFE" by Edward Thomas Meacham, a grandson of Dr. Thomas Meacham. Under the heading "Account of My Ancestors." he writes: "There is a tradition in our family handed down, and confirmed by my paternal grandfather, that the Meachams came from Scotland in a very early day. "My great-grandfather, Samuel Meacham, was born at Stonington, Connecticut about 1740. Of him I know but little. He moved from there, with his family, to Canaan, New Hampshire. His wife, my great-grandmother, lived to be nearly 100 year old. My grandfather, Thomas Meacham was born 1 July 1771 in Canaan, New Hampshire. He lived there 25 years or more; was married during that time and finally moved himself and family to the town of Fletcher in the north part of the State of Vermont, bought 100 acres of land or more. lived there 11 or 12 years and finally settled in Dickenson, County of Franklin, State of New York in the year 1807 or 1808. He bought land of H. B. Pierpont to the amount of 250 acres. The west bounds of his land joined Hopkinton, St. Lawrence County, N.Y. He never did much farming, employed most of his time in hunting. He was a man of truth and integrity; a man that you could depend on. "Grandmother Meacham's maiden name was Sarah Cauley. She was of Irish origin, She was born 20 November. 1769, in New Salem, State of Massachusetts. She was a very good woman, very bright and intelligent. She could remember hearing the cannon at the commencement of the Revolution. She died in the town of Lawrence, St. Lawrence County, New York, 12 January, 1858, age 88 years, one month and twenty-three days." The author of "A Brief History of My Life," from which I shall quote freely, was the son of Thomas Meacham Jr. and the history was written at Hopkinton, N. Y.. where he had associated with his grandparents. Dr. Thomas and Sarah Cauley Meacham for many years. His "History," consists of five notebooks full of well written and interesting material which I have in my possession, given me by the last surviving child of the author, Ada R. Meacham Watson. During the eleven or twelve yeas that Dr. Thomas and his wife, Sarah, lived at Fletcher, Vermont. five more children were born to them: Stephen Peabody, 12 March 1797, Temma, 24 September 1799: Jeremiah, 28 July 1801; Hannah 28 April 1803, and Joseph 18 May 1806. Soon after the birth of the youngest of these children. for reasons unknown to us Thomas left Fletcher and his family and some debts, as is shown by the town records which give an account of the appraisal of his property to determine if a claim by two creditors could be settled. One item listed for appraisal is as follows: "One hundred acres of land, being the farm on which the said Meacham's family now resides." This appraisal was made 23 February 1807, but there is no record of the sale of any of the property and the family continued to live "on the farm" for several years afterward. Thomas Meacham is next heard of in Northern New York where he become famous as a hunter and trapper. The Historical Society of Malone, N. Y. gave the following under the title "A Mighty Hunter." "Franklin County, New York. Can boast of one of the greatest hunters of all time in the person of Thomas Meacham who was, probably, a Vermonter and who must have arrived in this county in the early part of the 19th century as it appears in the proceedings of the 'Board of Supervisors' for the year 1808, that he had been paid $50.00 as bounty on wolves he had killed." "He first settled in the town of Hopkinton. St. Lawrence Co.. N. Y.. but a little later on moved over the line into Franklin County and into what is now the town of Waverly, where he purchased fifty acres of land and built himself a home on the old Northwest Bay Road where he spent the remainder of his life." "The deed conveying this property is dated 10 Nov.1810, and is recorded in Liber No.1 of the deed records in Franklin County, it being the first tract of land sold to a settler by the executors of the will of Wm. Constable and lies in what is now the town of Waverly. He subsequently purchased three other fifty acre tracts between 1810 and 1828 all of which, it is said were paid for with wolf bounties. He died in 1849." "Frederick J. Seaver has this to say of him in his history of Franklin County. "It was he who gave the name to Meacham Lake, a beautiful body of water the Adirondacks laying lying twenty-five miles south of Malone. (Now owned by the State of New York.) "His earnings in bounties for noxious animals in the forty years of his activities, must have aggregated thousands of dollars, as his obituary written by a townsman state that he kept accurate account of the number of large animals trapped or shot by him and that the totals were: Wolves, 214; Bear, 210: Catamounts, 77: and Deer 2550. Bounties were payable for all of these except deer and if we average these at only $10.00 each, his revenue from the source would be over $5000.00." About the time Thomas came to St. Lawrence and Franklin counties, New York, and for reasons at present unknown to the writer, he and his wife, Sarah Cauley, separated. Whether or not they were divorced I cannot say, but he took a second wife, or woman companion, Rebecca Sanford, who had previously been twice married, first to a man named Grandy and then to Evan Call. She it was, who lived with him at Waverlv, Franklin Co.. N.Y, and bore for him two sons, Washington and Samuel, and two or more daughters. Sarah. the first wife whom Thomas left with her children at Fletcher, Vermont, followed her children to S1. Lawrence County, N.Y., in 1825, and took up her residence at Lawrence where she is buried having lived nine years after the death of Thomas, while Rebecca preceeded him by several years. Living descendants of Thomas Meacham who have heard their parents or grandparent say he was a doctor are borne out in this by the manuscript of the late Ida Meacham Storbridge and the following quotation from "A Brief History of My Life" by Edward Thomas Meacham which is as follows: "In a few days after I came home I was taken down with a fever. One morning a young doctor from the East, going West to practice, called at our home. Father requested him to see me. He decided that I should be bled; accordingly he bled me in my arms, taking a large quanity of blood. The result was I grew worse. Father decided to go after my grandfather Thomas Meacham who was good and successful Botanic Doctor, as well as a noted hunter. He did not approve of the bleeding. It was the practice in those days to bleed the patient at once, no matter what the cause of the sickness. My grandfather always opposed bleeding and never practiced it unless it was strictly necessary, Grandfather lived seven miles from our house. I was sick a long time. Grandfather came every day till I was better (on horse back) with his large leather saddle bags across his saddle. Some three weeks of the time I was sick was lost time to me. I was unconscious most of this time. Finally I got well again." In the manuscript of the late Ida Meacham Strobridge where she lists the children of Samuel, the Revolutionary War soldier, and Phebe Main Meacham, she names Thomas, who, she says, "became a physician and lived for many years on the shore of Meacham Lake in northern New York." She also states that he was known as "The Mighty Hunter of the Adirondacks." In an article published in the "Potsdam Courior and Freeman" the following story is told by C. Brush, whose grandparents had dealings with the "Famous Hunter." Speaking of Meacham he says "He kept a horse for riding on the road, and when the infirmities of age began, to curtail his hunting and trapping activities, tried to ride the old horse into the woods, but with poor success. Grandfather "Eliphalet Brush" was then raising some nice colts of the blood strain that later became famous as Morgans. Meacham took a shine to a three year old sorrel, and after much dickering reluctantly parted with the price. Being warned that the colt was unbroken he exclaimed, "That is just what I want. I can't teach my old horse new tricks, but this colt is kind and tame and looks knowin'. I believe he I can train hime to carry me huntin' and trappin'. He was not disappointed. It was said that the colt soon entered into the spirit of the thing, walking very quietly in the woods and creeping up on deer. The hunter would shoot from his back, then dismount, do the necessary skinning, place the deer saddles and hide on the horse and remounting, ride home. Sometimes he would kill mor than one deer and ride out with vension and hides for and after. The writer has in his possession the hunting knife with a nine-inch blade; the powder horn, with his initials T. M., carved on it, a shot pouch, and a fish-basket, or creel, which he had made; also several deeds and papers signed by Thomas Meacham. Information concerning Thomas and his second wife, Rebecca, I have received from Marion Meacham Young of St. Regis Falls, R. D. No.1, N, Y., who is the youngest daughter of Samuel, the son of Dr. Thomas and his second wife, Rebecca. Other information contained in this sketch not otherwise accounted for comes to me through records of the Mormon church and the family records of Stephen Peabody Meacham the second son of Dr. Thomas and Sarah Cauley Meacham, whose great grandson I am. --J. Arthur Meacham.

Thomas married Bond, Sarah in 1792 in Canaan, Grafton, New Hampshire, United States. Sarah (daughter of Bond, Daniel and Spring, Sarah) was born on 20 Nov 1769 in New Salem, Essex, Massachusetts, United States; was christened on 28 Jul 1794 in Birmingham, Warwick, England; died on 12 Jan 1858 in Lawrence, Saint Lawrence, New York, United States; was buried in Lawrence, Saint Lawrence, New York, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Archive Record (Thomas MEACHAM) Lillie Dunford Mecham;
IGI 1988 Vermont (son Stephen Peabody MEACHAM);
TIB SL no. 161 bk 6S p 7;
Sarah's maiden name is CAULEY. She is the widow of a husband surnamed BOND. (Researcher Lilly Dunfield Mecham- Logan, Utah;

Mecham book says: "She was of Irish origin. She was a very good woman, very bright and intelligent. She could remember the first cannon at the commencement of the Revolution. She died age 88 yr, one month and 23 days. Soon after their last child Joseph was born 18 May 1806, her husband Thomas Meacham, for reasons unknown left his family and some debts and was next heard of in Northern New York, where he became famous as a hunter and trapper, living first at Hopkinton, St. Lawrence, NY and at Lake Meacham in the Adirondack Mountains. He had tracts of land near the town of Waverly, Franklin County, NY. It is not known if there was a divorce, but later on he took a second wife, Rebecca Sanford, who had been previously twice married, first to a man named Grandy and then to Evan Call. They had two sons, Washington and Samuel and two more daughters. Sarah left with her children to St.Lawrence County, NY in 1825."

J. Arthur Meacham: “Grandmother Meacham’s maiden name was Sarah Cauley. She was of Irish origin. She was born 20 November, 1769, in New Salem, State of Massachusetts. She was a very good woman, very bright and intelligent. She could remember hearing the cannon at the commencement of the Revolution. She died in the town of Lawrence, St. Lawrence County, New York, 12 January, 1858, age 88 years, one month and twenty-three days."

Notes:

Archive Record of Lillie Dunford Mecham; New York Genealogical & Biographical Magazine V 65, pp 387-388;
Archive Record of Mrs. Richard LeRoy Mecham;
TIB MT no. 25150 bk A-2 p 948; IGI CT 1984 p 9,103;
L. Derek Maude Records.

http://www.concentric.net/~Ssbray/mechsam.htm 9 Aug 2004:
"SAMUEL MEACHAM II (son of Samuel Meacham I and Bethia Pease) was born Nov. 15, 1739, in Norwich, Connecticut and married Phebe Main March 31, 1763 at Stonington, New London, Connecticut. She was the daughter of Thomas Main and Anna Brown, born Nov. 16, 1747 at Stonington, New London, Connecticut. Samuel II moved from Connecticut to New Hampshire, where he was one of the original grantees of Canaan, New Hampshire, in 1761. (Canaan, New Hampshire is only 25 or 30 miles from Sharon, Vermont, where the prophet Joseph Smith was born in 1805).
Samuel Meacham II served in the Revolutionary War, in Captain John Welles' Company, Colonel Chase's regiment of Militia, which was called out in response to the alarm of Oct. 20, 1780.
According to Polly Derby Mecham,
"Samuel's joining with the soldiers of the Revolution was very sudden. He left his family home for the purpose of gathering up some firewood in the adjoining forest, telling his family that he would be right back. While in the forest a group of men came dashing towards him, telling him that they were in urgent need of his services, and to join them immediately. This he did, not having time to tell his family of his whereabouts. At the finish of his service in the army (months or years later), he came by the forest, gathered up some firewood, and took it home just as if he hadn't been gone at all."
Samuel Meacham II and Phebe Main Meacham were the parents of 17 children, all of whom reached their maturity, married, and raised large families. The children were
1.PHEBE (md. EZEKIEL WELLS);
2.SAMUEL (md. PHEBE HASKALL);
3.POLLY (MARY) (md. WILLIAM BRADBURY);
4.Dr. THOMAS (md. 1-SARAH BOND or CAULEY and
2-REBECCA SANFORD);
**5.JOSHUA (md. PERMELIA CHAPMAN);
6.JEREMIAH (md. ABIGAIL DAVIS);
7.ELAM (md. MARY WILLIAMS;
8.JOSEPH (md. 1-SARAH BASFORD and
2-LUCINA HARMON);
9.BETHIAH (md. MOSES WORTHEN);
10.ANDREW (md. ABIGAIL EASTMAN);
11.OLIVE (md. AMOS WORTHEN);
12.SARAH (md. 1-ANDREW MAIN,
2-MOSES FALL, and
3-JAMES WORTHEN);
13.ANNA (md JOHN GARDNER);
14.OLIVE (md. 1-JAMES STREATOR and
2-DAVID BRADBURY);
15. ? - female (married JAMES KIDDER);
16.MIRIAM (md. ASA KIMBALL); and
17.TEMPERANCE (md. JUDAH WELLS).
(Three of these brothers, Joshua, Elam, and Joseph Mecham, and most of their adult children and families, joined the LDS Church around 1836 and moved to Iowa, across the river from Nauvoo. These three and their descendants changed the spelling and pronunciation of their surname from Meacham to Mecham, "and have almost created or originated a new family" according to one Meacham family researcher in the eastern states. Some descendants of another of the brothers, Dr. Thomas Meacham, joined the Church later in New York state, but kept the spelling of their surname as Meacham).
All of Samuel's children were born in Canaan, Grafton County, New Hampshire, with the exception of the oldest daughter Phebe. She was born in Stonington, New London, Connecticut, where her mother had gone home to her family for the first confinement. Samuel's sons Joseph, Joshua, Elam, and son-in-law James Kidder together with their families moved to Mercer, Erie County, Pennsylvania; while Dr. Thomas, Jeremiah, Andres, and Samuel together with their families moved to St. Lawrence County, New York (near Meacham Lake). The lake was named by Dr. Thomas Meacham, and it is located in the Adirondacks. Dr. Thomas became a frontier physician of some repute. He was skilled in the used of herbs, and avoided the practice of drawing blood from the sick which was customary in those days. He also became a successful trapper in the Adirondack Mountains. Some of his children later joined the LDS Church and joined their cousins in the west."

Samuel married Main, Phebe on 31 Mar 1763 in Stonington, New London, Connecticut, United States. Phebe (daughter of Main, Deacon Thomas and Brown, Anna) was born on 16 Nov 1747 in Stonington, New London, Connecticut, United States; died in 1843 in New London, New London, Connecticut, United States; was buried in , New London, Connecticut, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Archive rec Lillie Dunford Mecham; TIB SL no. 199 bk 2W p 8; IGI CT 1984
p 8,756; Arch rec Rebecca Scott; Americana Vol 20 p 553; Hist of Stonington, CT F 448-9; Rec of L. Derek Maude 1988. Death may have been at Canaan, Grafton, CT.

Daniel married Spring, Sarah on 1 Mar 1765 in Massachusetts, United States. Sarah (daughter of Spring, Henry and Converse, Keziah) was born in 1727 in Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States; died on 23 Oct 1834 in Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Archive rec Mrs. Richard LeRoy Meacham; Meacham/Mecham Book of Rem- Leondis Devon Mecham 1949; TIB MT no. 24973 bk A2 p 942; Rec of L. Derek Maude.

http://www.concentric.net/~Ssbray/mechsam.htm 9 Aug 2004:

"SAMUEL MEACHAM I was born in 1712 and died sometime after 1754. He married Bethia Pease (1709-1778), the daughter of Robert Pease (1669-????) and Hannah Warriner (1674-1774). Hannah was the daughter of Joseph Warriner (1645-1697) and Mary Montague (1649-1689). (The Montague or De Montacute family was descended from royalty, and had a genealogy claimed to be traced back to Adam and Eve -- given in the Mecham Family Book of Remembrance). Mary Montague was also descended from families Downing, Allen, Bullock, Cotton, Malthus (Malthouse), Kingsmill, Bloise, Norris, Gifford, and Nottingham.
The 9 children of SAMUEL MEACHAM I and BETHIA PEASE were:
1.MARY (md. ELIAS RANDALL);
2.ZEBAH (md. ELIZABETH PEMBESTON or PENDLETON);
**3.SAMUEL II (md. PHEBE MAIN);
4.BETHIA (md. JOSIAH PHELPS);
5.JEREMIAH (md. 1-RHODA BARNES and 2-MARY BARTHOLOMEW);
6.DEBORAH (md. EZEKIEL MAIN);
7.BENJAMIN (unmarried);
8.SETH (md. LOIS PRINDLE); and
9.NEHEMIAH (prob. died young).

SAMUEL MEACHAM II (son of Samuel Meacham I and Bethia Pease) was born Nov. 15, 1739, in Norwich, Connecticut and married Phebe Main March 31, 1763 at Stonington, New London, Connecticut. She was the daughter of Thomas Main and Anna Brown, born Nov. 16, 1747 at Stonington, New London, Connecticut. Samuel II moved from Connecticut to New Hampshire, where he was one of the original grantees of Canaan, New Hampshire, in 1761. (Canaan, New Hampshire is only 25 or 30 miles from Sharon, Vermont, where the prophet Joseph Smith was born in 1805).
Samuel Meacham II served in the Revolutionary War, in Captain John Welles' Company, Colonel Chase's regiment of Militia, which was called out in response to the alarm of Oct. 20, 1780.
According to Polly Derby Mecham,
"Samuel's joining with the soldiers of the Revolution was very sudden. He left his family home for the purpose of gathering up some firewood in the adjoining forest, telling his family that he would be right back. While in the forest a group of men came dashing towards him, telling him that they were in urgent need of his services, and to join them immediately. This he did, not having time to tell his family of his whereabouts. At the finish of his service in the army (months or years later), he came by the forest, gathered up some firewood, and took it home just as if he hadn't been gone at all."
Samuel Meacham II and Phebe Main Meacham were the parents of 17 children, all of whom reached their maturity, married, and raised large families. The children were
1.PHEBE (md. EZEKIEL WELLS);
2.SAMUEL (md. PHEBE HASKALL);
3.POLLY (MARY) (md. WILLIAM BRADBURY);
4.Dr. THOMAS (md. 1-SARAH BOND or CAULEY and
2-REBECCA SANFORD);
**5.JOSHUA (md. PERMELIA CHAPMAN);
6.JEREMIAH (md. ABIGAIL DAVIS);
7.ELAM (md. MARY WILLIAMS;
8.JOSEPH (md. 1-SARAH BASFORD and
2-LUCINA HARMON);
9.BETHIAH (md. MOSES WORTHEN);
10.ANDREW (md. ABIGAIL EASTMAN);
11.OLIVE (md. AMOS WORTHEN);
12.SARAH (md. 1-ANDREW MAIN,
2-MOSES FALL, and
3-JAMES WORTHEN);
13.ANNA (md JOHN GARDNER);
14.OLIVE (md. 1-JAMES STREATOR and
2-DAVID BRADBURY);
15. ? - female (married JAMES KIDDER);
16.MIRIAM (md. ASA KIMBALL); and
17.TEMPERANCE (md. JUDAH WELLS).
(Three of these brothers, Joshua, Elam, and Joseph Mecham, and most of their adult children and families, joined the LDS Church around 1836 and moved to Iowa, across the river from Nauvoo. These three and their descendants changed the spelling and pronunciation of their surname from Meacham to Mecham, "and have almost created or originated a new family" according to one Meacham family researcher in the eastern states. Some descendants of another of the brothers, Dr. Thomas Meacham, joined the Church later in New York state, but kept the spelling of their surname as Meacham).
All of Samuel's children were born in Canaan, Grafton County, New Hampshire, with the exception of the oldest daughter Phebe. She was born in Stonington, New London, Connecticut, where her mother had gone home to her family for the first confinement. Samuel's sons Joseph, Joshua, Elam, and son-in-law James Kidder together with their families moved to Mercer, Erie County, Pennsylvania; while Dr. Thomas, Jeremiah, Andres, and Samuel together with their families moved to St. Lawrence County, New York (near Meacham Lake). The lake was named by Dr. Thomas Meacham, and it is located in the Adirondacks. Dr. Thomas became a frontier physician of some repute. He was skilled in the used of herbs, and avoided the practice of drawing blood from the sick which was customary in those days. He also became a successful trapper in the Adirondack Mountains. Some of his children later joined the LDS Church and joined their cousins in the west.
It must have been difficult for the parents Samuel and Phebe Main Meacham to see their children and families load their belongings and start on their various journeys to far-away places. It was, however, a general practice among the settlers of their day to move on to new land as the old lost its productive value. No doubt, Samuel and Phebe were comforted with the thought that their children would improve their economic conditions as they moved to new areas. After the general exodus of their family, Samuel and Phebe stayed and lived out their days in Grafton County, New Hampshire. Samuel Mecham II died Jan. 22, 1811, at the age of 71. Mother Phebe Main Meacham died around 1845, at the age of 98."

Samuel married Pease, Bethia on 11 Jan 1734 in Enfield, Hartford, Connecticut, United States. Bethia (daughter of Pease, The Latter Robert and Warriner, Hannah [Royal Line]) was born on 21 Nov 1709 in Enfield, Hartford, Connecticut, United States; died on 1 Jan 1778 in Harwinton, Litchfield, Connecticut, United States; was buried in Jan 1778. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Archive Record of William F. Edwards; Pease Gen; Warriner Family; History of Enfield;
TIB NZ194318; Archive Record of Mrs. Richard LeRoy Meacham.

Notes:

Archive rec Rebecca Scott; Americana V 20 p 553; Hist of Stonington, CT
pp 448-449; Mecham Book p 37; Arch Rec Mrs. Richard LeRoy Mecham;
L. Derek Maude 1988;

IGI 1988 Conn p 10,222 batch 7450348 0, 8433501 1, 8802180 3; (Marriage batch 8433501 39, 7402803 16, A184639 8416);

Thomas married Brown, Anna on 20 Apr 1720 in Stonington, New London, Connecticut, United States. Anna (daughter of Brown, Eleazer [Royal Line] and Pendleton, Ann) was born on 1 Feb 1700 in Stonington, New London, Connecticut, United States; was christened on 30 Jun 1700 in Stonington, New London, Connecticut, United States; died on 11 Mar 1766 in Stonington, New London, Connecticut, United States; was buried in Mar 1766 in Stonington, New London, Connecticut, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Archive rec Rebecca Scott; Americana V 20 p 553; Hist of Stonington, CT
pp 448-449; Mecham Book p 37; IGI 1988 Conn (Thomas MAIN) p 10,222; Arch rec Mrs. Richard LeRoy Mecham; L. Derek Maude 1988.

Daniel married Coolidge, Hannah on 29 Apr 1714 in Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States. Hannah (daughter of Coolidge, Obadiah and Rouse, Elizabeth) was born in 1683 in Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States; died in 1728. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Henry married Converse, Keziah in 1717 in Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States. Keziah (daughter of Converse, Captain Josiah and Marshall, Ruth) was born on 27 Mar 1699 in Woburn, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]