Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

1901, Tillie A. Mead, daughter of the late
Alexander Mead, whose biography follows
this.
The career of Robert Mead Wilcox has
been that of an honorable financier and an
upright citizen. Surely such a record as
this is independent of comment.
MEAD, Alexander,
Leader in Florionltnre.
No resident of Greenwich needs to be
told that this was for many years the
name of one of her most successful business
men and respected citizens. Mr.
Mead was a representative of an ancient
and honorable family which traces its
descent from John Mead, one of two
brothers who came from England about
1642. The escutcheon of the family is
as follows
:
Arms—Sable, a chevron between three pelicans
or, vulned gules.
Alexander Mead was born May 27,
1835, in Greenwich, Connecticut. He was
educated in public schools and at the
Greenwich Academy. All his life he lived
on the farm on which he had been reared
and which he inherited from his father.
He early showed a strong interest in the
cultivation of flowers, and established in
a small way a florist's business, having
one greenhouse. From its inception the
venture was successful and the business
steadily increased. As time went on Mr.
Mead became one of the leading florists
of the State, and for many years carried
on a wholesale as well as a retail business.
The growth of Greenwich, in more
recent years, developed a demand which
consumed his entire stock of plants and
flowers. About ten years before his death
he retired, bequeathing to his son a flour-
ishing business, with fifteen greenhouses,
one hundred by twenty-three feet in di-
mensions.
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
271
Mr. Mead married Matilda Grigg,
daughter of John Grigg, of Greenwich,
and they became the parents of a son
and a daughter: Henry Sanford, who has
succeeded his father in the business ; and
Tillie A., who became the wife of Robert
Mead Wilcox (see Wilcox III).
The death of Mr. Mead occurred October
12, 1918. Thrifty, industrious and
fair-minded in all his dealings, he was
devoted to his family and to the many and
exacting responsibilities of his calling.
He has left a record worthy of the stock
from which he sprang, and one in which
his descendants may well take a worthy
and justifiable pride.
BOGARDUS, Frank W.,
Iiumber Dealer, Man of Fnblic Spirit.
From the earliest records of the immigrant
settlers who came to this country,
leaving behind them all the traditions in
which they had been nurtured, the aim
and ambition of our forefathers has been
to establish in the New World a complete
nation in which each citizen should be a
king in his own right. This propaganda
of individual supremacy in private affairs
has in turn become our tradition, and has
made us what we are, a nation of men.
The development of the typically American
city of Stamford, Connecticut, has
been along these lines, and she stands
today among the most progressive communities
of the State and Nation. This
result, so far as Stamford is concerned,
has been brought about from year to year,
period to period, down to the present, by
the diverse yet united efforts of its many
sterling citizens. Among these is to be
counted Frank W. Bogardus, who for a
number of years has been prominently
identified with the life of the city. Mr.
Bogardus is a member of a family of
Dutch origin, which came to America