Dawesfield was owned by many generations of the Dawes family, the only family in the Wissahickon Valley Region to inherit the home by women. One of the most well-known members of the family to have lived in this home were the granddaughters of Civil War general George Meade.
Major General George Meade
George G. Meade, aka "Old Snapping Turtle," was born in Cadiz, Spain where his father worked as a US Naval Officer. After his father's death, his family faced a financial crisis, and moved to America where George attended the US Military Academy in West Point.
Outside his military career, he worked as a civil engineer which he built railroads, lighthouses and breakwaters.
When the Civil War broke out, George became a brigadier general of one of the PA Volunteers. He gained his reputation during the Battle of Fredericksburg after his army was the only one to break the Confederate lines. This earned him the promotion of major general.
He was unexpectedly put in charge of the Union Army of the Potomac in June 1863 after General Joseph Hooker resigned his post. His first challenge was during the Battle of Gettysburg where he was first confronted by General Robert E. Lee and his Confederate Army. It only took three days for George to defeat Lee's army with huge causalities. Despite his victory at Gettysburg, he received criticism from President Abraham Lincoln for his failures to demolish Lee's army in its weakest state.
Fun Fact # 1: George used the home of Lydia Leister as his headquarters where the Council of War was held on the night of July 2, 1863. The home was leased by the National Parks Service. You can take a virtual 3D tour of the home here!
Fun Fact # 2: The chair he sat during the Council of War was held at the Gettysburg Museum of History.
He remained in the Army of the Potomac as General Ulysses S. Grant's subordinate. During the Reconstruction era, George became the governor of the Third Military District in Atlanta.
He spent the rest of his life back in Philadelphia.
"My dad was always proud of the Meade story, but he was also somewhat ashamed in that Meade was discredited for not following up right away after Gettysburg and smashing Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia and ending the conflict then... Some of the lessons of his life and what he had to deal with, the adversity he dealt with, was remarkable. The saddest thing about his life is that he did not write a book. He was an educated man; he could have written a beautiful, interesting history. He did not have a chance to tell his own story, so it's always told by others."
- Jim Cooke, great-grandson of Major General George Meade
The Meade Family
George's namesake son George G. Meade, Jr. (1843-1897) followed in his footsteps, and fought by his side towards the end of the Civil War. He married Elizabeth "Bessie" Lewis (1849-1931), daughter of Saunders Lewis (1812-1893) of Dawesfield, in 1874 and had six children: George III, Salvadora, Margaretta, Elizabeth, Edith, and Phoebe.
One of his daughters occupied the Dawesfield estate while the other daughter lived next to it: Edith Meade Francine (1880-1968) and Elizabeth Meade Cooke (1883-1934). His widow Bessie's home was built in between her daughters' homes. It was built at the same time as Edith's home.
Fun Fact # 3: In her will, Bessie Meade divided papers and relics of George Meade to her children and left her estate for $35,000.
Bibliography
"'Dawesfield' Fine Old Whitpain Property." Ambler Gazette. January 9, 1936. Page 4. https://digitalarchives.powerlibrary.org/papd/islandora/object/papd%3Awivp-gazett_21877.
Franklin Survey Co. Atlas: Montgomery County 1934 Vol B, Plate 7, 1935.
"General Meade's Relics Are Devised." Ambler Gazette. July 23, 1931. Page 1. https://digitalarchives.powerlibrary.org/papd/islandora/object/papd%3Awivp-gazett_18228.
"George G. Meade." History. Last modified August 21, 2018. https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/george-g-meade.
"Google Maps Area Calculator Tool." DaftLogic. Accessed April 1, 2023. https://www.daftlogic.com/projects-google-maps-area-calculator-tool.htm.
Huntington, Tom. Searching for George Gordon Meade: The Forgotten Victor of Gettysburg. (Mechanicsburg: Stackpole Books, 2013): 354.
Mueller, A. H. Atlas of the North Penn Section of Montgomery County, Pa., Plate 28, 1916.
Philadelphia Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide, v. 28, n. 29, 36 (1913): 464, 578.
"The Leister farm – General Meade’s Headquarters." The Battle of Gettysburg. Accessed April 1, 2023. https://gettysburg.stonesentinels.com/battlefield-farms/leister-farm-meades-headquarters/.