Over the past several weeks, we learned that Elizabeth Belle Ferguson's first husband, James McNabb, died in 1860 leaving Elizabeth widowed with a small daughter, Ella. We just spent three posts covering the descendants of Ella, "The Carper Children," and now we will move on to her half-siblings.
Just to help re-orient yourself:
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| Elizabeth B Ferguson McNabb Reed |
James, Elizabeth, and Ella appeared on the 1860 U.S. Census in Cedar Creek, Allen County, Indiana, living in the household of a William and Fanny McNabb (this William most likely being the older brother of Reuben McNabb). William and Fanny McNabb's household is listed just above a Robert McNabb (age, 38; wife, Prudence) and another William McNabb (age, 28; wife, Celia) who appear to be from another McNabb family. The upshot is that we don't have many records, and we have a LOT of people with similar names, which makes the puzzle of who's who in the McNabb zoo a very tricky one to solve.
But thanks to Elizabeth's obituary, quoted in our earlier post, and this 1860 Census record, we can assert that James most likely died in Cedar Creek after the date on this record: 12 July 1860. And that's where we'll rejoin Elizabeth's story - but first, we must introduce Mr. Reed:
George Washington Reed (1825–1874) was born in Ohio around 1825. I believe his parents were James C. Reed and Mary Glass, but the evidence for this is somewhat thin. We do have the record showing that George married his first wife, Clarinda "Clara" Trindall (1828–1853) on 26 October 1847 in De Kalb County, Indiana. They then appeared on the 1850 Census with their son, Jacob, in Mifflin, Ashland County, Ohio. Their household consisted of:
- George W Reed, Age 23
- Clara Reed, Age 22
- Jacob M Reed, Age 1
- Mary Reed, Age 53 (possibly George's mother)
- James P Reed, Age 21 (possible brother)
- S. A. Reed, Age 18 (possible sister)
We don't have a record to say when Clara died, but Elizabeth's obituary tells us that she and George married on 27 March 1861. In 1870, we see George and Elizabeth on the Census record for Jackson, De Kalb County, Indiana, listed below the households of James Ferguson Jr and Sr. There are two boys, Franklin and William, who are older than Elizabeth's daughter, Ella, so presumably they are Clara's younger children. From that, we might assume that Clara died after William's birth around 1857.
There is a memorial on Find-A-Grave for a "Clarana Reed, wife of George W. Reed, Died 11 March 1859" located in the Vesper Cemetery in Mifflin Township, Ashland County, Ohio; in the same cemetery, there is a memorial for a Mary Reed, d. 1882, "wife of James Reed" - that could be George's mother. Until we can confirm some of this with additional records, all of this is just speculation, but these facts do seem to fit together.
At any rate, from this point, we will be focused on the children born to George W. and Elizabeth Ferguson (McNabb) Reed. Since we numbered Ella Florence McNabb, Elizabeth's first child, as "I." in our earlier post, I'll continue to number her half-siblings for consistency:
II. James F. Reed (1863–1936)
III. Emma A Reed (1865–1934)
IV. Eliza A. Reed (1866–1951)
V. Mary Reed (1868–1869)
VI. Margaret Jane Reed (1870–1952)
VII. Charles Albert Reed (1871–1927)
George W. Reed died on 21 February 1874, and he was buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Auburn, DeKalb County, Indiana. According to her obituary, Elizabeth "lived in the present home [the farm she and George moved to in 1867] for 28 years. She kept the family together, and looked after their welfare." When she died on 8 June 1896, she was buried in Evergreen Cemetery with her husband.
II. James F. Reed (1863–1936)
James was born on 5 January 1863 in Indiana, most likely in De Kalb County, where he grew up. It should be noted that out of the six children born to George W. and Elizabeth Ferguson Reed, James is the only one not mentioned in The Callin Family History.In 1885, he married Ellen Walter (1866–1941), the youngest child of Joseph Walter (1818–1882) and Sarah Nixon (1818–1888). They lived in Auburn until moving to Fort Wayne in 1900. I should note that the records were very inconsistent on whether their surname was "Walter," "Walters," or even "Waters" or "Watters." The family appears to have preferred "Walter."
James worked for the railroad, and then as a laborer until winding up working in the streets department of the City of Fort Wayne. He suffered from liver and heart trouble and died at age 73 on 2 September 1936. Ellen also died in Fort Wayne on 22 January 1941. She and James were buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Auburn. They were survived by their two sons and one grandchild.
A. Elmer Charles Reed (1886–1954) was born in Auburn on 27 February 1886 and lived there until his father relocated the family to Fort Wayne in 1900. Elmer married Seauretta Bonsay (b. 1887) on 21 May 1909, but divorced her five years later, claiming she "up and left" him.
Elmer was a barber and worked in a number of barber shops in Fort Wayne over the years. He appears to have remained single after his divorce and left no children behind. He died on 28 December 1954 in Fort Wayne and was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery with his parents.
B. Ralph R Reed (1888–1946) was born 3 December 1888 in Auburn and married Lucille L Havert (1893–1964) on 5 August 1913 in Fort Wayne. She was born on 21 March 1893, the daughter of Alphonsus Havert (1850–1903) and Ellen Didier (1861–1947).
Ralph retired as a switchman from the Casad Ordnance Depot in New Haven and then worked as a taxi driver in Fort Wayne. He suffered from heart disease for several years and died at the age of 57 on 31 May 1946. Lucille died on 20 March 1964 after suffering from uterine cancer for 6 years. They are buried in Catholic Cemetery in Fort Wayne.
i. Ralph Raymond Reed Jr (1916–2007) was born on 3 October 1916, and listed his birthplace as Jackson, Michigan, though he was raised in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He was living in Los Angeles, California when the war came, and he enlisted there on 23 October 1943.
After the war, Ralph married Anna Marie McLaughlin (1922–2017) on 11 February 1946 in McKeesport, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. She was the daughter of Francis H McLaughlin (1881–1965) and Estelle M Bigley (1888–1966).
Ralph worked for the Uniroyal Corp. in Mishawaka, Indiana, for more than 30 years. Anna was a secretary for Wilts Office and Sears. He died on 5 July 2007 from renal failure after suffering from kidney trouble for many years. Ralph donated his body to Indiana University Anatomical Education Program, Indianapolis. Anna died on 16 May 2017, and they are buried in the Bigley Family Cemetery in Coulter, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.
They left behind one son (now deceased), one daughter, two granddaughters, and three great-granddaughters.
a. Raymond Richard Reed (1950-2017) was born on 1 July 1950 in Fort Wayne and served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. Ray died in Coulter, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, 6 May 2017. He is survived by his daughter, sister, two grandchildren, niece, and great-niece.
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Next week, we will continue with James Reed's younger siblings. I'm still in summer school for a couple more weeks, and then I get to take some vacation in August before settling into my "senior" year!
As always, if you've found one or more of your relatives mentioned in this blog, please get in touch. You can comment below (anonymous comments are usually not as helpful), or email "mightieracorns" at Gmail.com.
We now have more ways to reach out:
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...and if you prefer a private group, we still have the Callin Family History group on Facebook for "cousins only" (there will be a question about how you're related to the family before you can join).
Until next time.... Happy Hunting!
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