Person talk:William Reed (89)

Were there two sons named William? [14 June 2009]

Prior to my changes, the birth date for William was given as 1 May 1685 in Taunton, MA. The source is apparently "FROM REED FAMILY GENEALOGY SENT BY FRANK WRIGHT". His parents m. 1683 in Taunton, but were in Middleborough by 1686 when their daughter Susanna was born according to Middleborough VRs.

I have searched, and I find no births for any child of James and Susannah recorded in Taunton.

I do find a birth for William in Middleborough on 10 Mar 1688.

Since these dates differ in day, month, and year, the only way to reconcile 10 Mar 1688 and 1 May 1685, is to assume the first son named William d. in infancy. Given the lack of detail given about exactly what the indicated source says, and given that no other children from this family were mentioned (specifically a second William), and that clearly the surviving William was the one born later even if there were two, I am changing the birthdate to the one that I can find documentation for.

If there was a William who d. infancy, please add him back into this family. But since this is the kind of thing that can't be known without some kind of source, please provide that source in as much detail as copyright laws allow. --Jrich 17:40, 14 June 2009 (EDT)

This source is available at Internet Archive. It says (p. 23) William, b. 1 May 1685, m. Elizabeth ---, and resided at Middleborough. On p. 37, it repeats this and gives a list of children with no further details about William. If J.L. Reed found the record of a birth of William in 1685, it is not in VRs of Taunton, Weymouth or Middleborough. It is also strange that he did not find the birth of Susanna, which is recorded in Middleborough. His assertion on p. 23 that the father James lived 25 years in Taunton is clearly wrong. So it seems that odds are 50/50 that he was looking at children from a different family or that his alleged William was a child who died in infancy. Until evidence is found to tell which it is, it seems best to ignore this source when collecting data about this family. --Jrich 10:52, 23 October 2010 (EDT)