Preface to Volume One, published in 1976

Each relative of John Meader of Piscataqua who had the Meader surname and had offspring of whom any useful information is presently known is given a separate heading.

As much detail and anecdote as is practicable is included. Usually the words are not revised but are quoted directly from the sources, in an effort to preserve the true flavor of the personalities of those who preceded us.

Children who died under the age of twelve are considered not to have had offspring and are not listed in the indices.

The dates given are those judged the best of those offered In the various sources. When there is concurrence, they are given without comment. When not, usually a guess is made:
 a "c." meaning "circa" or "about" indicates a probability of a date within three to five years; a "?" indicates a guess; a blank (1711-   ) means that there Is no clear evidence within a decade or two; "p." means "post" or "after," and "a." means "ante" or "before."

 "Intention of marriage," where indicated, usually precedes marriage by less than a month.

A will, especially in the early days, was usually signed in the year of death.

Dr. Granville Meader

Preface to Volume Two, published in 1977

I had no idea there were so many descendants of John Meader as have appeared since the publication of the first volume. Nor had any of us I believe realized how many of them are interested in genealogy. Jane Meader Nye and I have corresponded with literally hundreds of Meaders during the past year. A number of them had already traced their families' history, and they gladly made their material available to us. Others were willing to undertake the backbreaking research of visiting cemeteries and noting names and dates, checking with the caretaker's records when stones were illegible. Still others have contributed financially to the publication of the first two volumes.

 Of the many who have helped, a few are listed below. Others will be mentioned in the next volume for their great help, without whose encouragement this work would be far less complete than it is now.

Grace Meader Camire, New Hampshire
Phyllis Cox, Maryland
Charles Meader, Iowa
Edwin E. Meader, Michigan
Forrest W. Meader, New York
Frederick I. Meader, Maryland
Col. Glenn Meader, California
Henry C. Meader, Esq., Alabama
Mrs. Leo Meader, Iowa
Mrs. Leon Meader, New Hampshire
Mrs. Leslie Meader, Minnesota
Dr. Ralph G. Meader, New Hampshire
Raymon F. Meader, Massachusetts
Alice Meader Moquin, New Hampshire

Three dozen members of our large family have made monetary contributions toward the publication of the genealogy. Those who have already donated a hundred dollars or more include:

Edwin E. Meader, Michigan
Granville Meader, New Jersey
Henry C. Meader, Alabama
John D. Meader, New York
Mr. & Mrs. Leon B. Meader, Jr., New Hampshire
Ralph G. Meader, New Hampshire
Robert P. W. Meader, New York
Jane Meader Nye, New York

Others who have helped with their contributions include:
Robert C. Austen, New York
Mary Blakeslee, California
Dr. & Mrs. Elmer L. DeGowin, Iowa
Olive W. Edgett, New York
Mary Agnes Haymes, New Mexico
Virginia S. Jones, Massachusetts
Byron H. Meader, New York
Carroll A. Meader, Manitoba
Donald T. Meader, New Hampshire
Ernest A. Meader, New Hampshire
Col. Glenn S. Meader, California
Col. Glenn S. Meader, Jr., APO New York
Gordon A. Meader, Florida
John D. Meader, New York
John William Meader, Massachusetts
John W. Meader, New York
Leo K. Meader, Iowa
Mary Jane Meader, California
Norman D. Meader, Maine
Raymon F. Meader, Massachusetts
Thomas B. Meader, Michigan
Vera H. Meader, Mew York

With their help, the second volume now goes to press. Without it, publication would have been impossible.

Dr. Granville Meader

Preface to Volume Three, published in 1978

This is the third of a projected four volumes of the history of John Meader of Piscataqua and his more than two thousand descendants with the Meader surname alone. When we started this work, we had anticipated that three volumes would be ample. So many have liberally contributed additional family information, however, that a fourth volume has become necessary.

In each of these volumes there is information which is inaccurate. inadequate, inchoate or inconsistent. The editor is fallible. The fourth volume will contain as many corrections as you send us before its publication in late 1979. We urge you to check at least your own family tree against the materials you have, and to let us know wherein we have erred.

Bud Meader of Rochester, New Hampshire and Edwin Meader of Parchment, Michigan have generously contributed the funding for the publication of this volume.

The contribution of Jane Meader Nye can never be adequately acknowledged. Her gifts of time, energy and money, her enthusiasm in organizing and maintaining the Meader Family Association, Inc., as well as her immanent love for all the Meader family all have been most generously given and as gratefully received.

Dr. Granville Meader

There is no Preface to Volume Four

Preface to Volume Five, unpublished

We – meaning not the editorial or royal but the large Meader family – have been working in this vineyard since the early1970s, basing much on the earlier monumental efforts of Robert F. W. Meader (1928) , Alvin A. Meader (1900) and Elizabeth Slocum (1865).  Now this, the fifth volume, is the last in this series.  We leave any later volumes to our children.

Our familial contacts have been valuable and as varied and intriguing as the Meaders are themselves, as befits a family that can be traced back nearly five hundred years, we are, as someone clichéd, the world: we have relatives in England, including Kenneth Meader of London and Colin Bull of Surrey, and on the other side of the globe, twelve thousand miles or so from England, on Guam there is a daughter of Charlotte Earle Meader – not to mention Medar Ngrateklong, in the Pelau Islands, who claims descent from James Meader [0087].

Most of us thought we were part of a dying clan, that Meaders were now as scarce as Kennedy half dollars. But with the formation of The Meader Family Association, Inc., and the efforts of the indefatigable Jane Nye, we now have a mailing list of twelve hundred Meader families – and who knows, with our productivity there may be four or five times that number of Meaders here in the States.

In the five published volumes are more than three thousand Meaders listed, plus more than two thousand other relatives.  The possibility for error is cosmic, and we regret any that may have in or obtruded. [Editors Note: the fifth volume is as yet unpublished in 2008.]

Hang loose in faulting us. Do not pick the nits in which we have erred, since they are but evanescent motes in the sunbeam of verity.

A hundred years ago a man mourned that he could not find the right genealogist to trace his ancestry.  "How can I be sure it's done accurately?" he asked.

"Run for public office," was the wise response.

We have avoided that last contingency, and thus the fallibility of this text.