Mead family (Napoleon's World)

The Mead family is a prominent Irish-American family known for its legacy of political and economic power in the U.S. state of Huron, and for their particular involvement in the National Party. Seven of its members have served in the Huron state government, with three (John, 1971-75 and 1979-83; his son Peter, 1987-91; and Patrick, 2003-2007) having served as Governor. The patriarch of the Mead family is regarded as Henry Mead (1890-1977), the son of Irish immigrants in Yorktown who built his own personal real estate empire and whose three sons John (b. 1923), Peter (b. 1925) and David (b. 1929) became powerful members of the local establishment.

The ancestral home of the Meads in Ireland is believed to be Kilkenny. The Meads are often compared in their influence upon their state and association with a particular political party, as well as their Irish Catholic heritage, to the significantly more prominent Kennedys of Massachusetts.