0195. Ann Meader (1824 - 1914) Gender: F
Born: 1824
Died: 1914
0195. Ann Meader (1824 - 1914)
Ann Meader, daughter of Reuben Meader (1794-1881) [0094] and Sarah Swain (1795-1879), was born February 16, 1824 on Nantucket and died June 10, 1914 at North Easton, MA. She was quite small in stature - four feet seven inches - and quite gifted - she was reputed to do beautiful pen and ink drawings. She married John H. Swain, son of William C. and Mary Swain.
John Swain and his father-in-law Reuben Meader founded the first two banks in North Easton, MA. Swain was President of the Taunton, Mass, Silver Company. Both were in the Massachusetts legislature. Oliver Ames and his brother Oakes, of Ames Brothers in North Easton, persuaded Meader and Swain to invest heavily in the Union Pacific Railroad and Credit Mobilier. Not only did they invest their own funds, but they encouraged their depositors to follow suit. When Credit Mobilier collapsed in a terrible scandal, Swain and Meader paid all depositors' losses out of their own funds, but they suffered heavily themselves.
The children of Ann Meader and John Swain were:
i. John Howland Swain, Jr., born October 18, 1851 and died October 31, 1852.
ii. William H. Swain, born December 16, 1854.
iii. Frank M. Swain, born November 17, 1856. On April 21, 1881 he married Alice S, Lynch. They had a son, Ann Meader's only grandchild. Two of his daughters were living in 1976, one in Hyannisport, MA and the other in Reno, NV.
- AAMeader, #77