Joseph Mead was born on December 31, 1838, 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 married Mary Elizabeth Head in Bartlett on June 3, 1859, but she apparently died in the early 1860s. By 1860, Mead was working as a laborer. He enlisted in the Union army on October 9, 1861, and mustered in as a corporal in Company D of the 6^th New Hampshire Infantry on November 27, 1861, along with his brother Willis. The regiment took part in the Second Battle of Bull Run, the Battle of Antietam, the Battle of Fredericksburg, and the Siege of Vicksburg. Mead was discharged for disability on May 5, 1863.

 

He returned home to Bartlett and married Adelaide Gray on July 29, 1865. They had at least two children: Sumner, born in 1869; and Gertrude, born in 1871. By 1870, Mead was working as a farmer, and he owned $1,000 of real estate and $500 of personal property. A decade later, he was working as a retail grocer, and he became a carpenter sometime before 1900. On December 25, 1909, he was admitted to the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in Johnson City, Tennessee. He was suffering from chronic rheumatism, arteriosclerosis, hemorrhoids, “impaired hearing,” and “defective vision.” According to his admission records, he was 6 feet tall, with gray hair and gray eyes. He was discharged on May 22, 1912, and returned to New Hampshire. He died there on January 3, 1923.

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