Person:Daniel Reed (16)

History of Western Massachusetts, volume 2, p. 189-90: The territory of Cummington was originally embraced in No. 5, of the series of ten townships sold by the Government at auction, on the 2d of June, 1762. ... Samuel Brewer settled within the territory [of Cummington] as early as 1761. Within a year of two after this, came Peter harwood, Joseph Farr, Daniel Reed, Joseph Warner, William Ward, and perhaps, others.

There is another Capt. Daniel Reed Sr., s/o Thomas Reed and Hannah Randall, b. 1704, m. 1729 Ruth Torrey, d. 1776. Both Daniels had wives named Ruth, and both were called "Capt.", so it can be tricky sorting them out.

• The Capt. Daniel Reed, Sr., m. Ruth Torrey, and was known as Capt. Daniel Reed.
• The Capt. Daniel Reed, Jr., m. Ruth White, was also known as Capt. Daniel Reed, but was also called Jr. since he is younger. (However, after the birth of Seth in 1750, and starting with the birth of Ruth in 1752, Daniel Jr. is no longer called Daniel Jr. in the birth records? It is presumed that the distinction was no longer necessary because the wife Ruth of the Daniel, Sr. had died in 1750, so from then on, identifying the parents as Daniel and Ruth was no longer ambiguous.)
• Finally, the Daniel that is the s/o Daniel Sr. and Ruth Torrey, b. 1729, would be "Daniel 3rd" and is clearly indicated as such in records marrying 1755 Mary Turner (who d. 1763) and then 1764 Anne Dawes (daughter of Sarah (Howland) Dawes mentioned below, by her first marriage). I don't believe Daniel 3rd was ever a Captain, but when he died in 1806, age 77 matching his birth in 1729, he was called Lt. Daniel Reed. His wife Anna d. 1794.

Besides the marriages to the two Ruths, there are two additional marriages of a Capt. Daniel Reed to Sarahs that are very hard to place, one to Sarah (Howland) Dawes in 1765, and one to Sarah Hamblin in 1776.

Older genealogies, such as Jacob Whittemore Reed, did not feel it was necessary to explain their conclusions, and it is difficult to know if they were doing more than matching vital records, or if there was supporting information that informed their decisions. We can only assume the first, having no knowledge of the second. In any event, this work is known to be full of mistakes and, in this case, its incompleteness and lack of detail does not give us confidence in its conclusions. So, for the record, he says that Daniel Jr. married Sarah (Howland) Dawes, but does not mention nor attribute the marriage to Sarah Hamblin to either. He does not mention a death date for Daniel Sr. nor his wife even though both plainly appear in Abington VRs, and so never identifies who the recorded death in 1750 of Ruth, wife of Ensign Daniel Reed, applies to, nor who the death record of Capt. Daniel Reed in 1776 applies to.

What we do know:

• Daniel Sr., s/o Thomas Reed and Hannah Randall, b. 1704 (VR Weymouth, p. 247), m. 1729 Ruth Torrey (VR Abington, p. 2:171, clearly him since Daniel Jr. was not of marrying age), d. 1776 (VR Abington, p. 2:338, age at death 72 so born about 1704)
• Daniel Jr., s/o William Reed and Alice Nash, b. 1713 (VR Abington, p. 1:181), m. 1739 Ruth White (VR Abington, 2:171, other Daniel already married, not yet widowed), d. Cummington 1781 (VR Cummington, p. 220).
• Ruth (Torrey) Reed, the wife of Daniel Sr., is the one who d. 1750 (VR Abington, p. 2:343, by elimination, since the wife of Daniel Jr. had two more children after 1750, Noah and Ruth. Noah ended up in Cummington where Daniel Jr. was, and Daniel Sr. already had a daughter Ruth about 13 years earlier so this Ruth born after 1750 must belong to Daniel Jr. So, both these post-1750 children belong to the Daniel Jr. and his wife Ruth, showing that Ruth (White) Reed did not die in 1750.)

Source:Ashley, Elihu. Diary, Mar. 1, 1773 - Nov. 5, 1775, entry for 2 Jan 1775, "Captn Reads Wife of No 5, his Sons wife and Child were kill'd (in Chesterfield against Deacn Tuppers) by the falling of a Tree as they were riding in a Sley". We know this pertains to the Daniel Jr. who relocated to Cummington, which is only about 9 miles from Chesterfield, but this entry does not give the name of the wife. Some sources name her as Sarah in added notes. Since they give no justification, we can only assume they are following the Reed Family History mentioned above in thinking that his wife of this time was Sarah. However, Cummington VRs, p. 221, gives the death on 2 Jan 1775 of Ruth, w. of Daniel, Thankful, w. of Seth, and Olive, dau. of Seth and Thankful.

Given Ruth's death date of 2 Jan 1775, all those sources that give this same death date to Sarah (Howland) (Dawes) Reed, would appear to have been misled by the Reed Family History into thinking she married Daniel Jr. who moved to Cummington. So, resetting based on the Cummington VRs, it now seems obvious that Sarah (Howland) Dawes married Capt. Daniel Reed, Sr. Then the Abington death record in 1792, age 89, of Sarah, widow of Capt. Daniel Reed, must be Sarah (Howland) Dawes, and it must be referring to Daniel Sr. This is an attractive arrangement because the birth date calculated from this death record is a good match with the known birth of Sarah Howland, and because pairing her with Daniel Sr. removes the oddity that Daniel Jr. married a woman 10 years older than himself. (Actually, two women 10 years older than himself, because in that original scenario, he married first Sarah (Howland) Dawes whose birth date says she is ten years older than Daniel, and then as he is the only Daniel living in 1776 to marry Sarah Hamblin, the 1792 death record would have apply to her, making her 10 years older than him, as well. In the new scenario, the older Daniel married the older Sarah (Howland) Dawes and the death date belongs to her, confirming her age. In the new scenario, we have no information about the age of Sarah Hamblin.) This new arrangement also means that Daniel Sr., father of Daniel 3rd, married the mother of his son's wife, which is not an uncommon arrangement in colonial times.

Since the marriage record to Sarah Hamblin is 3 months after the Abington death of Daniel Sr., it must be Daniel Jr. that married her. It seems a little odd, since Abington is about 150 miles from Cummington (about 5 days journey one way?), but there doesn't seem to be any other explanation. Daniel 3rd's then-wife Anna lived until 1794, so it could not have been him. Daniel 3rd's son Daniel was b. 1759 and wouldn't have been of marrying age yet. Daniel Jr. had no son Daniel that we know of, so that exhausts the possibilities. There is no identification of this Sarah Hamblin, and we know nothing about her parents, whether a maiden or widow when married, how old, etc., to try and see if this is a reasonable arrangement, but coming about a year after the sleigh accident, it is natural to assume this is Daniel Jr. remarrying.

It is still unknown what the marital status of Daniel Sr. was from 1750 when his first wife died, until 1765 when he married Sarah (Howland) Dawes. Did he remain unmarried, or was there another marriage in between?

1. ↑ Abington, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States. Vital Records to the Year 1850. (Boston, Mass: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1912)
   1:181.

   Reed, Danieal [sic], s. William and Alas, [born] Dec. 6, 1713.

2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 Reed, Jacob Whittemore. History of the Reed Family in Europe and America. (Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, United States: John Wilson and Son, 1861)
   338.

   Daniel Reed, s/o William and Alice, b. 6 Dec 1713, settled in Cummington, d. 5 Apr 1781, m. (1) 15 Sep 1739 Ruth White, m. (2) widow Sarah Dawes.

3.   Reed, John Ludovicus. The Reed genealogy: descendants of William Reade of Weymouth, Mass., from 1635-1902. (Baltimore: Lord Baltimore Press, 1901)
   44.

   Daniel Reed, s/o William Reed and Alice Nash, b. 6 Dec 1713, d. 5 Apr 1781, m. (1) 15 Sep 1739 Ruth White, m. (2) 7 Feb 1776 Sarah Hamlyn. Will of "Daniel Reed of a place called number five [Cummington] in the County of Hampshire", dated 9 Dec 1776, names wife Sarah Reed [mentions contract made before marriage], "third son Enoch Reed" [if he returns], "youngest daughter Ruth Gannett", "eldest daughter Rachel Porter", "youngest son Noah Reed" [executor], "fourth son Seth Reed". [Oldest two sons, Micah and Jesse, are not mentioned by name.]