Willis W. Mead was born on September 26, 1842, in Jefferson, New Hampshire, to James Mead and Comfort Rogers. His father was a farmer who owned $700 of real estate and $400 of personal property in 1860. Mead grew up and attended school in Bartlett, New Hampshire. He enlisted in the Union army on October 9, 1861, and mustered in as a private in Company D of the 6^th New Hampshire Infantry on November 27, 1861, along with his brother Joseph. Confederate forces captured him in the Second Battle of Bull Run in August 1862, and they reportedly sent him to Andersonville prison in Georgia. He was eventually exchanged, and he was discharged for disability on January 6, 1863. Mead returned home to Barlett after leaving the army, and he married a woman named Martha around 1867. Their daughter Susan was born around 1868. By 1870, Mead was working as a farmer, and he owned $1,300 of real estate and $400 of personal property. By 1900, he was working as a stone cutter. He remained in Bartlett for the rest of his life, and he died there on March 8, 1907.

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