Ezekiel Elliott Meader, son of Elder Henry Meader (1789-1867) [0082] and Sally Young (1793-1880), was born May 31, 1814, probably in Gardiner, Kennebec, ME, and died, probably in Hesper, near Decorah, IA, February 13, 1896. January 1, 1836 he married Lydia Ann Felker, born December 25, 1815 and died October 28, 1906.

He went out to Milan, Ripley, IN, where some New England families had settled. He returned to Maine, but in a short time he started again for Milan with a few belongings, his wife and baby, and a chest of carpenter's tools. He took up some land and worked at his trade as carpenter. His wife was a worker.

They remained in Indiana until most of the children had been born and the place became too strait for them. Soon three families, including the Meaders, sold their farms, fitted up prairie schooners and started for IA. They found a desirable location on the Upper Iowa River at Hesper, where most of the family later lived. Ezekiel soon had more than 700 acres of land. He had some money, which he lent to new settlers. Everything he touched seemed to prosper. When his boys came of age, he gave each 80 acres of land, enough timber to fence it, a yoke of oxen and a suit of clothes. Then they had to shift for themselves. He kept 300 acres as the home farm, and he died wealthy.