Gove-Meader Family Papers

The Meader and Gove families emigrated from England to America in the mid-1600s. John Meader (1625-1715), arrived in New England from England in the mid 1600s. His descendant, Joseph Meader was born on September 22, 1788, in New Hamphire to Joseph Meader (1753-1820) and his second wife, Elizabeth Gould (1756-1814). He married Mehitable Varney in 1810. He was a farmer and an acknowledged Quaker minister at Sandwich Meeting in New Hampshire. He died on January 28, 1864. In the Wilburite Separation, his family aligned with the Wilburites in 1845.

Valentine Meader was Joseph Meader's brother, born on August 6, 1777, in New Hampshire. His mother, Abigail Field (1759-1784), was the first wife of Joseph Meader (1753-1820). He was a carpenter and a Quaker minister. He traveled widely in the ministry and died of an illness during one of his religious visits in 1837.

In 1830, Joseph Meader's daughter, Mary Meader (1817-1901) married Levi Gove, a descendant of John Gove (1604-1647/8) who had settled in the Massachusetts Bay Colony shortly before his death. Later generations settled in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont, and many were members of the Society of Friends. Levi Gove (1802-1885) was the son of Moses Grove (1774-1851) and his first wife, Hannah Chase (1776-1831). He was a farmer who lived in Lincoln, NH, South Berwick, ME, and Lynn, MA, and had been married twice before. With his marriage to Mary Meader, he affiliated with the Wilburite Friends. His children from earlier marriages included Hiram (b. 1828) who lived in Nebraska for a time; Mary (1829-1864) who married Johnson Stout and lived in Hesper, Iowa; Eliza (1833-1855) who married Nicholas Guindon; Ruth (18334-1878) who married Job Batty. Levi and Mary (Meader) Gove had two children: William Henry Gove and Eliza Hetta Gove.