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A Genealogical and Biographical Sketch of Amos Reed (1762-1847)

 

Amos Reed was born in Newton, Massachusetts on 15 February 1762, according to his Revolutionary War pension application. There is no record of his birth in the published vital records of Newton, Massachusetts. The only Newton vital records pertaining to his immediate family concern the second marriage of the woman thought to be his mother, Phebe (?Campbell?) Reed. She married John Savage "late of Blanford" on 2 February 1776. The marriage of Phebe to her first husband [__?__] Reed is not listed in the published records, nor are the births of any siblings of Amos Reed. A review of the town's original vital records, microfilmed by the Church of Latter Day Saints, reveals no additional information. In his pension application, Amos Reed stated that he had "a record of his age in a Bible given him at 10 years old." In such a Bible one would expect to find his father's name and date of marriage, along with the names of Amos' brothers and sisters. But this information is not found in any known account of Amos Reed, so the Bible, if it ever existed, may well be lost. Why would a boy be given a family Bible at age ten? While it is pure speculation, it's possible his father may have died around that time (1772).

The young Amos Reed apparently moved back to Blandford, Massachusetts with his mother and step-father shortly after their marriage. During the Revolution, Amos Reed lived at Blandford, and from there enlisted in the war as a private. In 1832, he described his service in his declaration made in application for a pension:

State of New York,
Jefferson County

On this eleventh day of September, 1832, personally appeared in open Court, before the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas, in and for said County, now sitting, Amos Reed, a resident of Rutland in said County, aged 70 years, who being first duly sworn according to law, doth, on his oath, make the following declaration, in order to obtain the benefit of the Act of Congress, passed June 7, 1832:

That he entered the service of the United States under the following named officers, and served as herein stated:

In the year 1778, then living in Blandford [MA], was drafted for nine months or to pay thirty Dollars which sum he paid -- and on the first of October of the same year 1778 volunteered for three months in the company commanded by Capt. Carpenter of Brimfield -- Lieutenant Martin Smith of Westfield -- both of Massachusetts -- no colonel -- it being what was called a Captain's guard -- and was stationed at the Barracks on Gallows Hill, East Springfield, Massachusetts -- there was no other force there at that time -- was dismissed the first of January at Springfield -- no written discharge -- having served 3 months a private soldier in P Company.

About the month of July 1779 at Blandford Mass. volunteered in the Company commanded by Capt. Ely -- Lieuts. Smith, Fowler and Stiles. Major Root, Colonel Brown's Regiment, Massachusetts State Troops -- for three months. Marched to Albany -- from there to the Mohawk River and was employed most of the time in different Forts on that River in small squads and guarding the Inhabitants against the Indians while they secured their crops -- On the 19th October our regt 200 in number was surprised by about 700 Torys & Indians under command of Sir John Johnston, B[utler] & B[rown] at Stone Roby -- Colonel Brown was killed and we ?retreated? under Maj. Root into Stone Roby Fort -- 26 of the 40 composing the Company I was in were killed -- I was discharged the 20th day of October at the Fort but remained one day longer to assist in burying the dead -- In the year 1780 was with 6 or 8 others who were to furnish a continental soldier, which we did and paid $200…

Amos Reed married Hannah Slade in September 1782 in Blandford (Hampshire) Massachusetts. Hannah Slade was born on 17 April 1765 in Windsor (Hartford) CT, daughter of James and Experience (Parker) Slade. Her gravestone gives her date of birth as 12 April 1765. However, the stone is not the original, and in any case, cemetery inscriptions are not a reliable source for birth dates. Without further research, it is impossible to say if either of the two dates is correct.

Following their marriage, the couple spent about 20 years in Blandford, and most of their children were probably born there. The 1790 U.S. Census shows Amos Reed resident in Blandford, in a household consisting of one male 16 and upward, 3 males under 16, and 3 females, and next door a couple who are apparently his mother and step-father (John Savage). On 30 December 1799 at a town meeting in Blandford, it was voted that Amos Reed and others "shall have free liberty to be Incorporated into the Baptist Society in Russel, agreeable to their petition presented to the general Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts etc…." The 1800 U.S. Census for Blandford (Hampshire) Massachusetts shows the presence not only of Amos Reed and his family, but also two couples who are quite likely the parents of Amos Reed and Hannah (Slade) Reed:

John Savage - 1 - - 1 | - - - - 1
James Slade - - - - 1 | - - - - 1
Amos Reed 3 2 1 1 - | 1 2 1 - -

Assuming the entry for Amos Reed represents his immediate family, nine of his thirteen children had been born when the census was taken in 1800.

Amos Reed and his family appear to have left Blandford shortly after 1800. A death certificate for one of his granddaughters, Hannah (Rogers) Allen, states that Amos Reed's tenth child, Betsy (Reed) Rogers, was born in Vermont. Her tombstone inscription indicates she was born in January, 1802.
On 20 Oct 1802 a deed was drawn up in which Nathan Adams of Norway (Herkimer) New York sold land for $820.00 to Amos Reed of the Town of Blandford, Hampshire Co., Mass. In a deed drawn up 23 April 1804, Amos Reed of Norway bought $400.00 worth of property in Norway from Baley Burritt of Remsen (Oneida) NY and his wife Ruth. It is possible the Reed family's migration route took them through an area which at that time was still considered a part of Vermont. Or the information in the death certificate may be wrong. Even so, it is clear that the family of Amos Reed was in Norway (Herkimer) NY by the autumn of 1802 or soon afterwards.
The Reed family is enumerated in the 1810 U.S. census in the Town of Russia. This town was split off from the Town of Norway as Union on 7 Apr 1806 by an act of legislature, and renamed Russia in 1808. By 1810, some of the older Reed children had married and become heads of household or wives. At least two sons of Amos Reed, Archibald and John Savage Reed, had households in the same town as their father. Archibald's household indicates the presence of one older woman who could be his grandmother, Phebe (Campbell) Reed Savage, although a positive identification cannot be made. One son - the first of two named Rolon - had died by this time. One of the two oldest daughters had probably married, and was not enumerated in the family group of Amos Reed. All thirteen of Amos and Hannah Reed's children had been born by 1810, and the numbers in the census entries for the family reflect this quite well.

G. A. Hardin's history of Herkimer County states that Amos Reed was the first supervisor of the Town of Russia, serving from 1807-1810, and again in 1812. But no records of the business he transacted have survived. Census records do not indicate the presence of another Amos Reed in the Town of Russia at this time, so it seems very likely that the first town supervisor was the same Amos Reed who had moved there from Blandford some five years earlier. The records of the Russia Union Church list the marriage of his daughter Polley (or Mary) to Truman Barker, although the date of the marriage is not given. No other church records have been found in the towns of Russia and Norway pertaining to the family of Amos Reed. On 31 August 1816, Amos and Hannah Reed of the Town of Russia (Herkimer) New York sold to Joseph Williams of Russia their property valued at $1800.00. This sum probably represents their entire land holdings, and so the date of the sale provides an approximate date for their migration to Jefferson County, New York.

Amos and Hannah (Slade) Reed were among those mentioned when the Brownville Elm Flats Settlement [Baptist] Church was constituted on 10 Mar 1820. Elm Flats was a small settlement two and a half miles north of Depauville on the Clayton Center Road, in what is now the Town of Clayton, Jefferson County, NY. However in 1820 it would have been part of the Town of Orleans, Lyme, or possibly Brownville, as Clayton was not formed until 1833. The Town of Brownville is where the family of Amos Reed is found in the 1820 U.S. Census. The entry for his family group is consistent with expectations, except for the presence of an additional female aged 45 and over. There is reason to speculate again that this female may be Amos Reed's mother, Phebe (Campbell) Reed Savage, although that cannot be stated conclusively.

There are no land transactions for Amos Reed recorded in Jefferson County, and court records have not been searched. However, New York State census returns and records of the Elm Flats Baptist Church provide some picture of the Reed family's life during this time period. On 30 Oct 1820 the church met at the school house and chose Amos Reed to be Moderator and Clerk. On 24 Jan 1823 Amos Reed was chosen as one of two deacons. On 24 Jan 1824, "Elder Dodge preached a funeral sermon … before the interment of Sister Reed." Amos Reed remained a widower for less than a year, marrying on 14 September 1824, Mrs. Thankful Case, a younger sister of his first wife Hannah Slade.

The 1825 New York State census for the Town of Orleans, Jefferson County, lists a total of 3 males and 5 females in Amos Reed's household, so it seems likely that the family of one of his children may lived with him after the death of his first wife. According to gravestone inscriptions, his mother Phebe (Campbell) Reed Savage was still alive, and was probably among the five females enumerated. In addition to the count of persons in the household of Amos Reed, the census shows the family lived on 24 acres of improved land. They owned 13 head of "neat cattle," i.e., bulls, oxen or cows, one horse, 26 sheep and four hogs. During the preceding year they had manufactured 32 yards of fulled cloth, that is, cloth cleaned, beaten and pressed into a compact state; four yards of flannel and other woolen cloth not fulled; and 38 yards of linen, cotton or other thin cloth.

On 23 Aug 1825, the Elm Flats Baptist church "Voted to relinquish Brother Amos Reed as clerk." On 27 Dec 1827 "The church thought it proper to choose a deacon in place of Brother Reed who had moved away."

The U.S. Census of 1830 lists Amos Reed as a resident of the Town of Rutland, Jefferson County, some 20 to 25 miles from his previous residence. His household consists only of him and a woman aged 50 to 60 years, presumably his second wife Thankful (Slade) Case Reed. His mother, Phebe (Campbell) Reed Savage had died 16 May 1828. Amos Reed was still resident in the Town of Rutland in September, 1832 when he applied for a Revolutionary War soldier's pension.

He lived for a time in the household of his son Amos Reed, Jr., in the Town of Mexico, Oswego County, New York, where he was enumerated as a Revolutionary War veteran in the 1840 U.S. census. However, on 21 Sep 1844 and again on 12 Dec 1844, the records of the Elm Flats Baptist Church, near Depauville (Jefferson) NY, note "Father Reed at Covenant meeting."

Amos Reed died on 11 May 1847, probably in the Town of Clayton, and is apparently buried in Three Mile Creek Cemetery, with his first wife, his mother, and his son, John Savage Reed. There is no probate file for Amos Reed in Jefferson County, N.Y.
Amos and Hanna (Slade) Reed had the following children. The names and dates are taken from various DAR sources. , While the sources are generally in agreement, there are some discrepancies, suggesting a need to find and examine primary sources for the birth dates and birthplaces of the children:

i. Archibald (or Archa), b. 18 Mar 1783.
ii. John Savage, b. 19 Sep 1784.
iii. Polley Mary, b. 26 June 1786.
iv. Amos, Jr., b. 14 Apr 1788.
v. Phebe, b. 17 Jan 1790.
vi. William, b. 2 Jan 1792.
vii. Rolon, b. 6 Apr 1795. Died 9 Dec 1801.
viii. Simeon Parker, b. 24 Mar 1797.
ix. Hannah, b. 21 Sep 1799.
x. Betsy, b. 18 Jan 1802.
xi. Rolon R., b. 22 Aug 1804.
xii. James Slade, b. 17 Dec 1806
xiii. Thankful Purline, b. 19 Dec 1809.

Amos Reed's second wife, Thankful (Slade) (Case) Reed was about 53 years old when he married her. There are no known children from this marriage.

Ideas for Further Research

· Find primary source(s) for the birth dates, birthplaces and marriages of the children of Amos Reed. Some of the births should be in Blandford, MA vital records.

· Examine the 1835 and 1845 New York State census returns to complete the picture of Amos Reed's movements in his later years.

· Examine court records in Jefferson and Herkimer counties in New York, mostly with the goal of filling out the picture of the Reed family's life in New York, but also with the (faint) hope of finding clues to Amos Reed's ancestry.

· The Amos Reed family seems to have left surprisingly few records in Newton, MA, suggesting they were not there for that long. Expand the search from Newton, MA in an attempt to determine where the family came from, again with the ultimate goal of discovering something of Amos Reed's ancestry.

· Determine the source for his mother's maiden surname, said to be Campbell. The current source seems to be the DAR Bible Records mentioned above. And these records do not appear to have come from a Bible, rather from family notes and papers, possibly recorded in a Bible many years after the actual events.

· Investigate Campbell/Capel/Camel, etc. families in the relevant part of Massachusetts during the time period Phebe Campbell's ancestors might have been present.

· Trace other lines of descent from Amos Reed's children, apart from my own (from his tenth child, Betsy). Other descendants may have inherited additional information.

· Watch for clues on the Amos Reed family in Internet genealogy forums, and in such unreliable but interesting sources as Ancestral File and Broderbund's World Family Tree CDROMs.