Benjamin Matthias Nead

Benjamin Matthias Nead (1847–1923) was an American historian, author, newspaper editor, lawyer, and politician.

Early life and education Nead was born July 14, 1847, in Antrim Township, near Greencastle, Franklin County, Pennsylvania. He was the eldest child of Benjamin Franklin Nead and his wife, nee Eleanor Wunderlich. Both parents were of German extraction and counted among their ancestors several prominent early Palatine immigrants. On February 11, 1895, B. M. Nead joined the Pennsylvania Society Sons of the American Revolution by virtue of descent from three ancestors: viz., John Wunderlich, Peter Dechert, and Benjamin Spyker. Many of his other ancestors served the cause of the Revolution. For more than thirty years, his ancestor Peter Spyker was judge of Berks county, Pennsylvania, and was one of the commissioners appointed by the Provincial Assembly to raise funds with which to prosecute the War of Independence.

When Nead was a small child, his family settled in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. His father prospered as part of the forwarding and commission partnership Wunderlich & Nead and was thus enabled to provide good educations for his children. The Nead family long occupied the residence located at 157 Lincoln Way East in Chambersburg. The annex of the Franklin County Courthouse is at that location.

B. M. Nead received his early education in the Chambersburg Academy and under the tutelage of the Reverend James Kennedy, Chambersburg. He was prepared for college at the Hopkins Grammar School, New Haven, Connecticut, and then matriculated at Yale University. At Yale, Nead was a member of Brothers and Delta Kappa. He graduated from Yale University in 1870 with an A. B. degree.

Politician Politically, B. M. Nead was a staunch Democrat. In 1872, he was chairman of the Franklin County Democratic Committee. In 1874, he was appointed secretary of the State Democratic Committee and, in 1887, became the permanent secretary, serving seven consecutive one-year terms. In 1894, the Democrats nominated him for a seat in Congress; however, he withdrew from the campaign because the Comptroller of Currency had recently appointed him receiver of the National Bank of Middletown. Chief among his numerous works: Sketches of Early Chambersburg (1872) Nead's Guide to County Officers (1877) The Colonial and Provincial Laws of Pennsylvania, 1676-1700 (1878) Historical Notes on the Legislative Councils and Assemblies of Pennsylvania, 1623-1700 (1878) (commonly referred to as "The Duke of York's Laws") A Brief Review of the Financial History of Pennsylvania, 1682-1881 (1881) Waynesboro: Centennial History, 1797-1900 (1900) Some Hidden Sources of Fiction (1909) In addition he either wrote or edited dozens of historical addresses, newspaper articles, and monographs. He also wrote and narrated a magic lantern presentation titled "In the Footprints of Pennsylvania's Past."

In 2011, Antietam Historical Association created the B. M. Nead Fellowship, a lifetime honorary fellowship recognizing a significant contribution to Antietam History. The recipient is entitled to style himself "B. M. Nead Fellow of Antietam Historical Association."