Charles Edward Reed (abt. 1842 - abt. 1902)

Born about Apr 1842 in Barre, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States

Husband of Sarah Maria (Francis) Reed — married about 1863 in Boston Harbor Islands, Massachusetts

Died about 1902 at about age 59 in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: K Raymoure [send private message]

Biography

Charles Reed is a part of US Black heritage.

Private Charles Reed served in the United States Civil War.
Enlisted: 1 Dec 1863
Mustered out: 20 Aug 1865
Side: USA
Regiment(s): Co. D, 54th Mass. Inf. (Colored)

Charles Edward^[1] Reed was born in April about 1842 in Barre, Massachusetts and was a lifelong resident of Worcester County, Massachusetts. He was the child^[1] of Melissa Newport and Charles Stiles Reed, and the husband of Sarah Maria Francis. He and his brother Joseph served with the famous 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry during the American Civil War.

He and his wife Sarah were married by Reverend Leonard Grimes.

Education

In 1850, he is attending school, probably in or near Sterling, Massachusetts.^[2]

Occupations

• 1880: Wire mill worker
• abt. 1870: Carpet layer with comrade-at-arms Alexander Howard Johnson^[1]
• 1865^[3][4]: Soldier
• 1863^[5]: Farmer
• 1860, 1870, 1900: Farmhand

Residences

• 1900: Webster, Massachusetts (widowed) with his widowed sister-in-law Sarah
• 1880: 39 North Ashland Street, Worcester, Massachusetts with his wife^[6] Anna
• 1890: Worcester, Massachusetts (US Veterans Schedules)
• 1870: Warren, Massachusetts with his wife Sarah
• 1865: Leicester, Massachusetts (father Charles' record) in the household of widowed father with brother Joseph^[4]
• 1865: Worcester, Massachusetts (wife Sarah's record) in the household of Lydia J. Hector with 21-year-old Martha A. Durkins and her toddler daughter Georgianna^[3]
• 1863: Spencer, Massachusetts (military enlistment)^[5]
• 1860: Damon family farm in Warren, Massachusetts with the Damon family and fellow farmhand Orvill Knowlton
• 1850: Sterling, Massachusetts with his parents and siblings^[2]

Military Service

During the Civil War, he served as a Private in Company D of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry of the Union Army, the second^[7] regiment in the United States made up entirely of enlisted men of color. He was about 21 years old, married and working as a farmer when he enlisted on 1 December 1863 in Spencer, Massachusetts. Mustered out 20 August 1865 with his regiment.^[5]

Military Pension

Military Pension Application No. 253787 Certificate No. 602710 (2 May 1878)

Raymoure-1 17:10, 29 May 2020 (UTC): Pension digitized by American Origins, LLC and retrieved; processing!

Special Examination: Deposition A of Charles Reed, p. 9 8 January 1900

Special Examination: Deposition A of Charles Reed, p. 10 8 January 1900

Special Examination: Deposition A of Charles Reed, p. 11 8 January 1900

Special Examination: Deposition A of Charles Reed, p. 12 8 January 1900

Special Examination: Deposition A of Charles Reed, p. 13 8 January 1900

Special Examination: Deposition B of Alexander H. Johnson, p. 14 8 January 1900

Special Examination: Deposition B of Alexander H. Johnson, p. 15 8 January 1900

Special Examination: Deposition B of Alexander H. Johnson, p. 16 8 January 1900

Special Examination: Deposition C of Henry Hazard, p. 17 9 January 1900

Special Examination: Deposition D of Lydia Jane (Francis) Dyer, p. 19 8 January 1900

Military Pension Widow's Application No. 483230 Certificate No. 328339

Raymoure-1 19:24, 29 May 2020 (UTC): This is an approved pension for a woman named Mrs. Maria Reed, who was the widow of a Charles Reed born in Memphis, Tennessee and who died in Ohio in 1883. Very much not Private Charles Reed of Company D of the 54th Massachusetts. There are no other Charles Reeds in the 54th or 55th Massachusetts. Comrade-at-arms Musician Alexander Howard Johnson believed, however, that she might be a con artist going by the name of Moulton who had been in Worcester in the 1870s and who had gone west to Ohio where she may have approached a Grand Army encampment inquiring about Reeds in the 54th Massachusetts.

Military Pension Contesting Widow's Application No. 755766

Native American Heritage?

I am half Indian, nearly^[8][9]

• 1850^[2], 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900: Black

Death

He died about 1902 and is buried at either Hope Cemetery in Worcester, Massachusetts or Mount Zion Cemetery in Webster, Massachusetts. The latter is likely a cenotaph, not erected until a resident identified his burial there in 1991.^[10][11]

Projects

• 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} military pension files
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} 1850 federal census
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} 1865 state census (wife Sarah)
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} 1865 state census (father)
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2} Emilio, Roster p. 357
6. ↑ In 1900, he claims to have only been married once, to Sarah M. Francis. He also confirms his work in the wire mill in the same deposition, so the 1880 census record surely must be his; more research needed.
7. ↑ and the first with federal recognition; the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry regiment was against the wishes of the Secretary of War and filled only six companies, but did see action a full year before the 54th
8. ↑ Deposition A of Charles Reed in his military pension files
9. ↑ see also phrase "paper genocide" for the practice of erasing Native American heritage through paperwork, *exactly* like this
10. ↑ Find a Grave memorial (Worcester)
11. ↑ Find a Grave memorial (Webster)

• 1850 United States Federal Census Year: 1850; Census Place: Sterling, Worcester, Massachusetts; Roll: M432_343; Page: 179A; Image: 358
• 1860 United States Federal Census Year: 1860; Census Place: Warren, Worcester, Massachusetts; Roll: M653_533; Page: 175; Family History Library Film: 803533
• 1865 Massachusetts State Census (of wife) 1855–1865 Massachusetts State Census [microform]. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts. Location: Worcester: Worcester County, Massachusetts; Ward: 2; Reel Number: 37; Volume Number: 41.
• 1865 Massachusetts State Census (of father) 1855–1865 Massachusetts State Census [microform]. New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts. Location: Leicster, Worcester County, Massachusetts; Reel Number: 34; Volume Number: 38
• 1870 United States Federal Census Year: 1870; Census Place: Warren, Worcester, Massachusetts; Roll: M593_656; Page: 212A; Family History Library Film: 552155
• 1880 United States Federal Census Year: 1880; Census Place: Worcester, Worcester, Massachusetts; Roll: 567; Page: 54C; Enumeration District: 882
• 1890 Veterans Schedules for Worcester, Massachusetts
• 1900 United States Federal Census Year: 1900; Census Place: Webster, Worcester, Massachusetts; Page: 18; Enumeration District: 1697; FHL microfilm: 1240695
• Emilio, Luis Fenollosa. History of the Fifty-Fourth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, 1863-1865, Boston, Massachusetts: Boston Book Co., 1891 (1st ed.) and 1894 (2nd ed.)
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/145855458/charles-e-reed: accessed 19 April 2023), memorial page for Charles E. Reed (1848–1902), Find a Grave Memorial ID 145855458, citing Mount Zion Cemetery, Webster, Worcester County, Massachusetts, USA; Maintained by James Ahaesy (contributor 49059682).: Charles E. Reed (Webster) - erected in 1991, likely a cenotaph
• Find a Grave: Charles Reed (Worcester)
• Fold3.com. "Organization Index to Pension Files of Veterans Who Served Between 1861 and 1900." National Archives Catalog #2588825. "Organization Index to Pension Files of Veterans Who Served Between 1861 and 1900, compiled 1949 - 1949, documenting the period 1861 - 1942." Free Access Black History Collection Records 5-28 February 2019.
• National Archives Catalog #300020. "Case Files of Approved Pension Applications of Widows and Other Veterans of the Army and Navy Who Served Mainly in the Civil War and the War With Spain, compiled 1861 - 1934."