Meade, Richard W. Memorial, with Accompanying Documents, of Richard W. Meade, in relation to his Claims. 18th Congress, 2d Session, no. 11. Washington: Printed by Gales & Seaton, 1825. First Edition. [11797]
Removed, 8 3/4 x 5 3/4 inches, 83 pp., foxing. Good. Pamphlet.
A plea for payment of a sum awarded to Mr. Meade due to false imprisonment at Cadiz by the Spanish government, the award being $491,153.62. The debt had been taken over by the U. S. Government, which never paid him. The Meade family attempts to recover this money continued into the early years of the 20th century.
Richard Worsam Meade (1778-1828), b. Chester Co., Pennsylvania; d. Georgetown, Washington, DC. He was a successful merchant and art collector, and from 1803 to 1820 lived in Cadiz, Spain. The Spanish government incurred large debts to him during the Peninsular War, a sum he failed to recover. Upon his return to Philadelphia he made significant donations from his art collection, became a trustee of St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, and under the Adams-Onis treaty made several appeals to Congress for a recovery of the debt owed to him by the Spanish government. Meade was the grandfather of the Union general George Gordon Meade, of Gettysburg fame.
