Genealogy and Family History Notes
About Ruth (Wilson) Mead
Although Ruth (Wilson) Mead's gravestone shows a date of death of 1843, this date is called into question because of the dates of birth of two children.
Lewis A Mead Jr's gravestone gives his date of birth as 19 Feb 1844. Leander J Mead's gravestone shows his date of birth as 19 May 1844. Leander is known to have been the son of Lewis A Mead and his second wife, Cynthia Kenyon. If Lewis Jr's date of birth and Ruth's date of death are both correct, Ruth could not have been Lewis Jr's mother. In that event, Cynthia would most likely have been his mother. However, this would mean that Cynthia gave birth in both Feb (Lewis Jr) and May (Leander) 1844, which is quite unlikely. If Lewis Jr's date of birth is correct, it appears most probable that Ruth would have been his mother, but that her date of death was actually 26 Mar 1844. This appears to be an unlikely (although not impossible) scenario, because in order to have given birth to Leander in May 1844, Cynthia would have to have gotten pregnant while Ruth was still living. However, if Ruth's date of death is correct, then it is most likely the case that Lewis Jr was her son, but that he was actually born on 19 Feb 1843. Of all the possible scenarios, the most likely appears to be that Lewis Jr's date of birth is incorrect on his gravestone, and was actually 19 Feb 1843. (If the incorrect date is actually on Leander's gravestone, then this analysis is completely wrong.)