Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 07.djvu/349

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MEADE


MEADE


junior, General Sheridan, to the office of lieu- tenant-general was a severe blow to the military pride of General Meade. His son, John Sergeant < 1841-1865), was a contributor to current literature. And another son, George (1843-1897), was a private in the 8th Pennsylvania regiment, 1861-63, was promoted captain and aide-de-camp on his father's staff, and served in that capacity until the close of the war, when he returned to his regiment and resigned in 1874, and was a broker And president of the Piiiladelphia club. General Meade died in Philadel|)hia, Pa., Nov. 6, 1872.

MEADE, Richard Kidder, soldier, was born in Xaiiseinond county, Va., July 14, 1746; son of David and Susannah (Everard) Meade. Ilis first Ancestor in America, Andrew Meade, a Roman Catholic, emigrated from Ireland to London, England, and thence to New York, where he married Mary Latham, a Quakeress, of Flushing, Long Island, N.Y., and subsequently removed to Nansenioiid county, Va., where he became a representative in the house of burgesses, judge of the county and colonel of the militia. Ricliard Kidder Meade attended school at Harrow, Eng- land, and soon after his return to Virginia •entered the patriot army. On June 24, 1775, with several others, he removed the arms from Lord Dunmore's house to the magazine in Wil- liamsburg. He was in command of a" company At the battle of Great Bridge near Norfolk, Va., in December. 1775, and served throughout the remainder of the war as aide-de-camp to General Washington, ])articipating in all of his impor- tant battles. He superintended the execution of Major Andre, and at the close of the war he re- turned to Virginia and engaged in farming. He was twice married, first in 1760 to Elizabeth Randolph, and secondly in 1780 to Jane, the wudow of William Randolph of Chatsworth. He died in Frederick county, Va., in February, 1805.

MEADE, Richard Kidder, representative, was born in Frederick county, Va., in 1795; son of Richard Kidder and Jane Randolph Meade. He received a good education, and practised law in Petersburg, Va. He was a Democratic repre- sentative in the 30th, 31st and 32d congresses, 1847-53; declined the apiK)intment of charge- d'affaires at Sardinia, offered by President Pierce in 1853; was U.S. minister to Brazil, by appoint- ment of President Buchanan, 1856-61, and at the outbreak of the civil war he returned to Virginia and devoted himself to the cause of theConfeder- Acy. His son, Ricliard Kidder, 2d lieutenant, U.S.A., in the artillery service, was one of the «ight officers under Maj. Robert Anderson that surrendered at Fort Sumter, and after reaching New York, he went to Virginia, joined the Con- federate army and died soon after. Richard Kid- der, Sr., died in Petersburg, Va., April 20, 1862.


MEADE, Richard Worsam, naval officer, was born in Cadiz, Spain, in 1807; son of Richard Worsam (1778-1828) and Margaret Coates (But- ler) Meade, and grandson of George Meade. He entered the U.S. navy as a midshipman, April 1, 1826; was promoted pAs.sed midiihipman, June 14, 1834; lieutenant, Dec. 20, 1837; commander, Sept. 14, 1855, and captain, July 16, 1862. He commanded the receiving ship North Carolina^ 1861-64, and in 1864 the steam sloop San Jacinto, winch w;is wrecked on the Florida reefs. He was retired from active service with the rank of commodore, Dec. 11, 1867, and settled in New York city, where he died, April 16, 1870.

MEADE, Richard Worsam, naval officer, was born in New York city. Oct. 9, 1837; son of Com. Richard Worsam Meade. He was appointed a midshipman in the U.S. navy, Oct. 2, 1850: was graduated from the U.S. Naval academy in 1856: was commissioned lieutenant in April. 1857, and was promoted lieutenant, Jan. 23, 18.58. He was stricken with fever at Acapulco. Mex.. in 1861; was invalided and arrived in New York city in August, 1861, and was detached on the re- ceiving ship Ohio as instructor in gunnery practice. He was promoted lieutenant- commander, July 17, 1862; commanded the Louisville of the Mississippi flotilla; was disabled and sent east in January, 1863; commanded the Uni- ted States in pur- suit of the privateer Tacony in the sum- mer of 1863, and

commanded the Marblehead during the opera- tions against Charleston, S.C, 1863-64. He was recommended for advancement by Admirals Por- ter and Dahlgren. He command the boat C/io- cura of the west gulf blockading squadron, 1864-65, and on Jan. 22, 1865, he cut out and destroyed the Confederate blockade runner Del- phiua in Calcasieu river. La. He was head of the department of seamanship and naval tactics at the Naval academy, 1865-68. He was married in June, 1865, to Rebecca, daughter of Rear- Ad- miral Paulding, U.S.N. He commanded the Sa- ginaw in Alaska, 1868-69, and was promoted commodore, Sei)t. 20, 1868. He was detailed in 1870 to fit out the yacht America and sail her in a race against the English yacht Cambria. The race was sailed under his command on Aug. 8, 1870, the America winning by over four miles. He commanded the Narragansctt on cruise of


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