0256. John Ayers Meader (1813 - 1897) Gender: M
Born: 1813
Died: 1897
0256. John Ayers Meader (1813 - 1897)
John Ayers Meader, son of Daniel Meader (1782-1872) [0133] and Nancy Ann Avery (1788-1861), was born June 30, 1813 on a farm about four miles from Newbury, VT and died March 7, 1897. December 7, 1833 he married Anna Maria Page, daughter of Captain William Page. She was born in Ryegate, VT March 22, 1816 and died September 15, 1898 at the home of her adopted daughter, Mrs. Paul Smith of Monroe, NH. [Mrs. Smith was the daughter of Nathan A. Meader [0258], adopted when eight years old.]
The couple lived in Newbury. They had no children.
"Uncle John" was a carpenter and joiner, having probably built more houses in that vicinity than any other man. He built the Congregational Church in 1856. The last years of his life were spent in farming and gardening.
In his personal appearance he was tall and strongly built, possessed of a keen eye, and he would pass for a man many years younger than he really was. But the test of his endurance was reserved for the last years of his life. He refused all nourishment, as he claimed he was not hungry, for 55 consecutive days and nights, still retaining his mental powers almost to the time of his death. With his iron constitution and indomitable will, he ought to have rounded out a full century of life.
He had been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church for more than half a century.