Reed-Read Lineage (Capt. John Reed of Norwalk)

\*° -^^^^ .0- V-^ ^' •^^o^ ^ .^' 1 • • * \ ^ />S' ■> • ••' u/-^y qO '^b^'*''' o » < 0^ .»*-•'• 4v '<PV * o « o ' o,^ f^ 3> ■> <^ X 0 vvvv^.' ^V ^-rV ^^^. * I • iV^ c 0^ • ( ■« ,o ^<' ■v^^ V .v^^^. ^ ,"p Ho. .<iy^ . V ' . ^ T*^ Eu-A Rki-d Wright. 2877A. / ^tth-Etnh Eittcag^ //"/V OJaptain Snljn Uuh OF PROVIDENCE. R. I.. AND NORWALK. CONN. AND HIS DESCENDANTS THROUGH HIS SONS Jfotjtt atth 2[Ijomaa 1060-1909 BY Ella Reed-Wright THE MATTATUCK PRESS, INC. WATERBURY, CONN. 19 0 9 CI.A:^5.1.4'SG COPYftK^Hj" BY ELLA REECr w'rIGHT 1909 N V. PART I PART II ^tBtmhmxtB of SfbumaB DEDICATED TO MY SON gvanlxlhi (f^vxn^ ^tn^Ixt WITH ALL THE AFFECTION OF A LOVING MOTHER EXPLANATION Descendants of John (2), son of John (i), found in Part First. Descendants of Thomas (2), son of John (i), found in Part Second. Every descendant has a number in order of birth in the margin of the page preceding their name, — this number if preceded by the phis mark (-}-) indicates that the number is repeated forward in proper order in bold face numerals at the side preceding the name of female members of the family marrying, also before generation headings. If no plus mark ap- pears, it indicates that no further record of that person could be obtained. Study this arrangement and then take pleasure in tracing the differ- ent lines to the first American ancestor. ¥ ^ ^ COAT OF ARMS ¥ Arms: Gu., on a bend nebullee, arg., three shovelers. az. Crest : A stag's head erased : proper — ducally gorged, or. VI :S> REED ABBREVIATIONS b. signifies born. d. signifies died. m. signifies married, marriage. unm. signifies unmarried. bapt. signifies baptized. s. signifies son. dau. signifies daughter. wid. signifies widow. add. signifies addrcs-":. vn. TO MY KINSMEN My first recollections of a visit to my grand parents' home was that I met there many cousins who claimed blood relationship to the Reed family, and my mind became early impressed with the idea that to bear that name, or belong to that big family, was a heritage I had a right to be proud of. That idea years have strengthened and from it has grown a de- sire to perpetuate by printed testimony the records of our Reed (Read) ancestors and their descendants. Though realizing to some extent the magnitude of such a task, I began a number of years ago to collect from various reliable sources such history and data as should be needed in a work of this kind. I have pleasure in saying that my appeals for records, in most every case have been met with cordial and prompt response, and my determination to bring down to the present generation the female branches of the family, has been materialy strengthened thereby. I was moved m this by the conceding that some of the best blood of a family comes through the daughters, and one has said that "She that rocks the cradle rules the world." The scope of this work does not include the lineage of the mothers of our earliest ancestors, but I have given space to a brief mention of the lineage of Elizabeth Tuttle, wife of John (2), and ancestors of all the descendants included in Part I. Her pioneer an- cestor was William Tuttle, who migrated on the "Planter" to Boston in 1635, was in New Haven in 1639, lived seventeen years on the acre and a quarter upon which Yale College was established and was the progenitor of three of its presidents (two Dwights and Woolsey), as well as of the first Jonathan Edwards, president of Princeton, pronounced by Robert Hall "the greatest of the sons of men." Continuing, courage and energy were stimulated by the interest and enthusiasm displayed in my work by each member of the family, and it viii. is as much due to their courtesy and helpfulness as to my own endeavors that I am able to present this work. Even ^nth the valuable assistance I have received, I have found that to obtain a record of every descendant, male and female, of a pioneer born nearly three hundred years aeo, is an impossibility. Some of the records of our early towns have been de- stroyed by fire, Church records depended largely upon the disposition of the minister to record affairs of the church and its people, Bible records are incomplete and graves are unmarked or so effaced by time and neglect as to be useless as a record. I have made a conscientious search and I feel repaid for my eff"orts by the amount of material and the number of lines I have been able to preserve from oblivion. Alay the coming genera- tions carry on in their time the work that I have here began, which though It has, it is true, its errors of omission and incompleteness, has been a labor of love and delight and bears with it the tenderest regard of your kinswoman. Ella Reed Wright. IX. ORIGIN OF THE NAME Jacob Whittemore Reed, compiler of "The Reed Family in Europe and America," is my best authority for the origin of the name Reed. He made this subject a matter of personal study and research and his theory is substantiated by early histories with which I have come in touch. What I give further is largely quoted from him. Reed, Read, Reid and many other ways of spelling the name, as Rede, Rheade and Whrede, are all derived from the word Rhea, which had its origin in Phocenicia, having been used soon after the dispersion of the people in consequence of the confusion of language at Babylon. Rhea was worshipped in that part of the world and was a ruling deity. Her name was in some form attached to many per- sons and places in Phoenicia and Asia j\iinor, and was identified with government and rulers. Esau was called the Red, one of the greatest men of his time, his country, Edom, or Red, as the sea contiguous to his dominions was called the Read or Red Sea. One of the principal cities of Persia is called by that name. There was Ethelred or Reed the Good, Conrad or Reed the Powerful, Eldred or Reed the Elder. At a later period the word became more extended in its signification, and implied counsel, advice, wisdom, etc. Later it meant one who could read, or the act of reading. About five hundred years before the Christian era, Ireland was divided into two kingdoms by the Greeks. The capitial of one was called Ballyreda, which in English means Reedstown. The Romans had a na- tion of Rhedarians on the frontier in Italy. The inhabitants of ancient Erin called them Dalredas, the Caledonians called them Dalraids. The Dalraids crossed over from Ireland to Caledonia and so annoyed the Cal- edonians and the Romans that in order to keep them back the latter built the wall Agricola. Prince Reda and his knights scaled the wall and put the Romans to flight, A. D. i8o. After he had got possession of that part of England and Caledonia the Romans (A. D. 210) built the wall running from Newcastle to Carlisle, called Adrian's. The Dalraids kept possession of the territory between the two walls, constituting a portion of the country of Northumberland. They finally conquered Caledonia, A. D. 843. The predatory excursion of these people were called "raids" and from these, Raids, Reeds or Reedhas, are descended the Reads or Reeds of England. Close by a beautiful stream whose green banks are shaded by many a nob!( tree is the place once known as Reed's Farm and the mosscovered grave stones no far off mark the most ancient sepulchers of our fathers in this countr\. The third branch of the River Tyne in the north of England is the River Reed. The valley through which this stream flows is Redesdale. On the banks of the river Reed was fought the bloody battle of Otterburne. Upon the edge of Carterfell, a mountain between England and Scotland, is Reed's Square, named in honor of Sir Reginald Reed, who was dis- tinguished in the border wars. Following the stream down the ruins of several Reed castles and fortifications may be seen. The territory be- tween the wall of Agricola and that of Adrian forms a barony by the name of Redesdale, and this is the first starting point of the Reeds of England and Scotland. Man of the name still remain there scattered through the towns, cities, and rural districts. The Reeds are numerous from the fact that they are descended from a clan or nation and not from an individual. As the line of England and Scotland was constantly changing according to the valor and strength of parties, the Reeds became mixed up with both nations. They were connected with the royal family of England long before the days of William the Conqueror. There was Withred, king of Kent, in the seventh century ; Ethelred or Read the Good, king of England, 866; Alfred, or Reed the Shrewd, in 871 ; Eldred, or Reed the Elder, in 946; Ethelred the Second, in 978. Whatever the reputation of the Reeds might have been when the world was in a state of barbarity, they have since mankind emerged from darkness filled their places well and have been among the leading men in this country and in Europe. It has been well demonstrated by Jacob W. Reed that the Reeds are of no mean origin, that though their connection with thrones and empires has long ceased to exist, they have been and are at the present day a powerful race, and as a body, have acted well their part on the stage on which they have been placed. The race of Reeds was originally of large and gigantic size and strength. Ancient statues represent them to be of an uncommon size, and at the present day they are generally taller than the average man. They gen- earlly live to an old age and are capable of great endurance, especially un- der opposition, and possess a determined will and perseverance which gen- erally carry them through whatever they mean to accomplish. They have been found ready in times of emergency to place themselves in the front rank of danger in order to defend their country and its laws. They have been unusually of a religious turn of mind, being firm supporters of the institution of the gospel. XI. JOHN REED 1633 — 1730 BY CHARLES E. BENTON