John Meader, son of Joseph Meader (1753-1820) [0042] and Elizabeth Gould (1756-1814), was born in Rochester, NH November 3, 1797 and died June 7, 1860 in Providence, RI. September 4, 1819, in Monkton, VT, he married Elizabeth (Hoag) Taber, widow of James Taber and daughter of Joseph Hoag and Huldah Case of Charlotte, VT. She was born March 31, 1793 and died January 23, 1881.
In early life (1807) he moved with his parents to Sandwich, Carroll, NH. His father was a member of the Society of Friends. John Meader appeared in the ministry in 1815, and he was recorded by the Sandwich Monthly Meeting as a recommended minister in 1824. In the next four years he made religious visits in neighboring Quarterly Meetings. From 1829 to 1831 he and his wife visited the New York, Philadelphia, Ohio, Indiana and Baltimore Yearly Meetings. After their return they lived at Dover, NH, then at Berwick, ME until 1837, and then at Cranston, RI.
In 1839 he opened a retail grocery store in Providence and continued with this activity until the spring of 1858, with the exception of about 16 months in Europe. Then he went into the retail commission cloth business, in which he continued until his death.
In 1842 he paid a religious visit to most of the tribes of Indians living west of the Mississippi River, Friends in the Territory of Iowa, the Yearly Meeting of Indiana, most of the Quarterly and some of the Monthly Meetings belonging thereto, and also had some religious service within the limits of the Ohio Yearly Meeting. He was absent about six months on this service.
During several succeeding years he visited many of the Yearly Meetings on this continent. In August, 1850 he and his wife visited Friends and others in Great Britain, Ireland, Norway and a few places in Germany. His wife was the first American lady ever known to have crossed the mountains of Norway, and there was much curiosity among the people to see her.
They arrived in Liverpool September 2, 1850 and left to return home October 18, 1851. They passed 411 days in Europe, attended 402 meetings, and traveled 12,160 miles. Add to this the passage across the Atlantic of some 3,500 miles each way, and the entire distance becomes more than 19,000 miles.
In 1856 he visited several Quarterly Meetings in New England and Yearly Meetings in Baltimore. This was his last religious visit except for some within the limits of the Providence Quarterly Meeting. The following sketch of Elizabeth Hoag Taber Meader, his wife, was written by Augustine Jones for the Hartford Post:
"Elizabeth, wife of John Meader, was born at Charlotte, Vermont in 1793, the daughter of Joseph and Huldah Hoag, who were ministers in the Society of Friends. Joseph Hoag was a gifted man, and at times he seemed to speak with prophetic authority. His vision in 1803 respecting our country and its fulfillment attracted much public attention. Her mother was hardly less remarkable. She founded the first Friends' Meeting on the Western side of Lake Champlain. She was evidently in earnest, for she went nine miles from her home on horseback with an infant in her arms. She attempted to cross in a small boat, with a man and woman in company, but, overtaken by a storm, they barely reached one of the Four Brothers Islands, wet and fatigued. They were exposed all night, and the next day they went ten miles in the boat, and walked five miles to the spot which, from that day, has sustained a Friends Meeting. That spot is now Peru, New York, and the child was Hannah.
"She [Huldah Hoag] frequently rode 100 miles on horseback to Monthly or Quarterly Meetings, with an infant, and once she made a tour of 300 miles to the New York Yearly Meeting. Elizabeth [Meader] had been carried on horseback by her mother 350 miles before she was four months old. The children [of Joseph and Huldah Hoag] were numerous, and all were ministers but two who died young. The early years of Elizabeth were passed in the wilderness, with hardly a thought except of religion and a livelihood. There was no room for doubt in this household: the future life was certain. Trust in the leadership of the Lord was firm, that of Israel in the pillar of fire by night.
“Elizabeth Hoag on August 12, 1812 married James Taber, who was born March 17, 1792 and died May 23, 1817. They had three children: all died young. Her early married life was soon terminated.
"She was recorded a minister in 1819, and in the same year she was married to John Meader, with whom she lived happily for 41 years. They went from North Berwick, Maine to Providence, RI in 1837. During these years they acquired influence nearly as wide as the denomination itself. They made religious visits to Great Britain and some portions of the European continent and were everywhere welcomed as ministers of Jesus Christ. Their diaries attest their interest in their work and show they felt their guidance was of the Lord. They returned in the autumn of 1851, with that peace that attends obedience. “She made an extensive religious visit in the Western States in 1854, and she was greatly afflicted by the loss of her husband in 1860. They were thoroughly united in their life work. [After her husband's death she continued to live in Providence with her son, John Joseph Meader.]
"She made a second visit to the Western States in 1861 and attended the Yearly Meeting in Canada in 1867, after which time her services were mostly in New England. For about two years she was confined to the house. She continued her diary during her journeys and during a portion of her confinement at home. Assurance of faith and eternal hope find expression on every page. She had her daily baptism of suffering, but she looked beyond to the end that should crown all."
| i. | Elizabeth Meader, born in 1822 and died in infancy. | |
| ii. | James Meader, born in 1825 and died in infancy. | |
| iii. | Eliza Meader, born in 1828 and died in infancy. | |
| 0224 | iv. | John Joseph Meader, born at North Berwick, Maine on June 3, 1834 and died in Providence, R.I. on September 25, 1897. |