Fannie Equilla (Soward) Reed (1900 - 1964)

Born 1 Dec 1900 in Dyersburg, Dyer, Tennessee, United States

Ancestors

Wife of G.w. Williams — married 16 Dec 1917 (to before 1920) in Dyer, Tennessee, United States

Wife of Edward Reed Sr — married 8 Jan 1927 (to about 1935) in Lauderdale, Tennessee, United States

Descendants

Died 26 Nov 1964 at age 63 in Oshkosh, Winnebago, Wisconsin, United States

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Biography

Fannie (Soward) Reed is a part of US Black heritage.

Fannie Equilla Reed was born in Dyersburg, Tennessee, United States, on December 1, 1900. She went by her middle name Equilla. Equilla was the daughter of John Soward and Mary Benton.

John was an ex-slave from Double Bridges and had been previously married and had five children from a previous marriage. Mary was from Dyersburg, and was born after emancipation, the daughter of ex-slaves, and had a son from a previous relationship. Mary owned land she inherited from her paternal grandfather.

Equilla was the only child of John and Mary Soward together, who were both farm laborers on the Benton family land. Equilla first married G.W. WIlliams on December 16, 1917, and they had one daughter, Odessa Jearldine, on October 4, 1918.

G.W. presumably died, as Equilla was now living as "widowed" with her mother and daughter in the 1920 census. The term widowed was also used for divorce. Mary Soward herself was listed as widowed, but she was actually divorced from John.

On January 8, 1927, Equilla married Edward "Ed" Reed in Lauderdale County. They settled in Dyersburg and had three daughters. Equilla left Dyersburg with she and Ed's three daughters in 1935, where she moved to Evansville, Indiana. In 1937, after the death of Mary Soward in Dyer County, Equilla moved up to Milwaukee, Wisconsin with her three daughters, where a now adult Odessa joined her.

Equilla had two more children, a daughter fathered by Elijah Manning, and a son fathered by King Godfrey. Health problems in the 1940's caused Equilla to be sent to a mental hospital in Winnebago, where she spent the rest of her life, she died there on November 26, 1964. She was buried at Evergreen (now Glen Oaks) cemetery.

Find a Grave

• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/194189905/fannie-equilla_equilla-reed

FamilySearch Profile https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/about/GWWJ-G45

1910 United States Census https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GT85-CTN?i=6&cc=1727033&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AMGNR-19X

1920 United States Census https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9RJ1-RTJ?cc=1488411&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AMN57-D7C

1927 Marriage Certificate to Ed Reed https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9BW-H3G3-L?i=430&cc=1619127

1930 United States Census https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9RZ2-D46?i=9&cc=1810731&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3ASPW5-MLD

1940 United States Census https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9M1-89B4?i=4

1950 United States Census https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/120833727:62308?ssrc=pt&tid=182692496&pid=342383687603

Death Record https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/1491995:8790?ssrc=pt&tid=182692496&pid=342383687603