Enoch Mead

Enoch Mead, 1809-1892

Foundations of Scott County Iowa.

In Old Rockingham.

It's Rise and Fall...

How the Smallest Township in the County Came Very Near to Becoming the Most Important - Some Interesting Details of the Township.

By F.J. B. Huot

Rev. Enoch Mead

Rev. Enoch Mead, of whom some mention has already been made, was doubtless our first clergyman. He was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, September 2d, 1809. His parents were Colonel Ebenezer Mead and Elizabeth (Holmes) Mead, both of good old Puritan stock. His grandsire was a hero of the revolutionary war and had seen old Israel Putnam dash down the rocky precipices at break-neck speed, the British dragoons in close pursuit. The subject of our sketch received an excellent education, graduating from Yale College in 1830, after which he adopted the profession of clergyman, and in the fall of 1830 became a member of the Theological Seminary at Auburn, New York. He completed his course, after which he successfully and successively filled pulpits at Lockport, New York and New Haven, Vermont, where on January 20th, 1835 he married Miss Mary E. James, the oldest daughter of Deacon Samuel James, a successful farmer of Middlebury, Vermont. A son and a daughter, James R. and Mary E. were the fruits of this union.

Saw Lovejoy Die

Immediately after his marriage Rev. Mr. Mead left his wife in the care of his parents in Connecticut and turned his face toward the setting sun with no particular destination in view. His route was by the way of Philadelphia, Pittsburg, the Ohio river and the Mississippi to Alton, Illinois. While resting in Alton from the fatigue of a three week's journey, a proslavery mob destroyed the printing press and murdered the publisher of the Alton Observer, Elijah P. Lovejoy. Mr. Mead, with a few sorrowing friends, attended the obsequies of the early martyr to the cause of emancipation and administered the last solemn rites. From Alton he proceeded up the Illinois river to Peoria, the last boats of the season having gone up the Mississippi; thence he went to Knoxville, the end of public travel at that time. Leaving there his baggage he set out on foot and alone for Rock Island, which he reached after three days travel over a new country without roads or bridges and with the settlements from ten to fifteen miles apa.

Located at Rockingham

Arriving at Rock Island he passed direct to Davenport, then a new town containing about half a dozen families at the most. He soon learned that there was a promising town four miles below called Rockingham, then the county seat, and already harboring several hundred inhabitants. He betook himself to that place where he received a hearty welcome as a minister of the gospel. It was represented to him that the "Sabbath had not crossed the Mississippi," but that the people generally desired a Christian minister to settle among them and establish a religious institution. Finding a promising field Rev. Mr. Mead determined to stay so the next year he returned to the east, packed up his household goods, purchased a span of horses and a covered spring wagon and with his wife, his goods and his chattels, he set out on the 1200 mile journey from the Green Mountains to the Mississippi. The overland journey was made in a little over a month, without accident and without much fatigue.

Was Then Declining

The once prosperous town of Rockingham, about the time of his arrival with his wife, commenced a rapid decline which continued until it was nearly deserted. The church which had been organized through his efforts was later absorbed by the Metropolitan Church in Davenport. Rev. Mr. Mead then devoted himself to the missionary work in his own and adjoining counties and for many years continued in this field. At Blue Grass he ministered for nearly ten years and his itinerary in Scott county often took in the area 150 miles.

Location of the Estate

The Mead estate lies four miles directly west of the city of Davenport and commanded a charming view of the great river for several miles and of the twin-cities Rock Island and Davenport. Mr. Mead filled several important township offices and was for one term a county supervisor. In politics he was a staunch Republican. As one of Scott county's pioneers he served as president of the Old Settler's Association. His character was temperate and during a long life the veteran clergyman never used liquor or tobacco in any form. Kind, generous and open-hearted, with a broad love for humanity and a pathetic devotion to his Master, Rev. Enoch Mead was a true type of the ideal missionary and frontier settler who preached and ploughed with equal earnestness and served his fellow men equally as diligently as he served his God. He lived to a great age and in his demise there passed away the only remaining representative in Rockingham of that energetic and determined band who labored so hard to make it a famous city.