William Reed (1817 - aft. 1880)

Born 1817 in Tennessee

Husband of Jemima (Fann) Reed — married 4 Oct 1838 in Cannon County, Tennessee

Descendants

Died after 1880 after age 63 in Cannon County, Tennessee

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Biography

William Reed was born in 1817 to James Reed and Elizabeth Bryson Reed. He was born in Tennessee. He passed away in 1870. He was one of ten children.

He married Jemina Fann, the daughter of Elijah Fann and Jean/Jane Coulter Fann on October 4, 1838. They married in Cannon County, Tennessee. They produced seven children during their marriage.

The 1840 US Census shows William and his family living in Cannon County, Tennessee with 7 people in their household, 4 of whom were employed in agriculture.

The 1850 US Census shows William and his family living in District 2 Alexander, Cannon, Tennessee. William is showing as being 33 years old and his wife, Jemina is 40 years old. With them in the home are three children, James, Josephine and Rebecca along with a 19 year old young man named Alford Fann. I am assuming that he may be a younger brother to Jemima or possibly a nephew. James and Rebecca are the children of William and Jemima while (based on records), Josephine is Jemima's younger sister.

William and Jemima have added to their household by the the time the 1860 US Census was conducted. By this time, six children are living in the home, along with two others who may have been field hands. Of the children still living in the home are James, Martha, Rebecca, Adam, Amanda and Gowan Reed. Also listed are two males, 51 year old Sidney Smith and 21 year old James Smith. They are still residing in Cannon County, Tennessee.

In the 1870 US Census, William and Jemima are living in District 1, Cannon County, Tennessee. They still have four children living in the household with them which include Rebecca, Adam, Amanda, and their youngest child, Gowan.

By the time the 1880 US Census is conducted, William has become a widower with Jemima's death in March of 1880. He still resides in District 1, Cannon County, Tennessee with his son Adam Reed and his wife Lucinda and their two children; one year old Izzy and 2 month old William.

Sometime during 1880, William Reed passes away in the only home he's ever known. It is unclear exactly when William passed away or where he was interred at this time.

Sources

• "Tennessee State Marriage Index, 1780-2002," database, FamilySearch (Index Link: accessed 18 April 2016), William Reed and Jemima Fann, 04 Oct 1838; from "Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002," database and images, Ancestry (Index Link: 2008); citing p. 7, Cannon, Tennessee, United States, Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, Tennessee.
• "Tennessee Marriages, 1796-1950," database, FamilySearch (Index Link: accessed 18 April 2016), William Reed and Jemima Fann, 04 Oct 1838; citing Cannon, Tennessee, reference ; FHL microfilm 898,442.
• United States General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934, database with images, FamilySearch (Index Link: accessed 18 April 2016), William W Reed, 1889.
• United States Census, 1840," database with images, FamilySearch (Index Link: accessed 18 April 2016), William Reed, Cannon, Tennessee, United States; citing p. 128, NARA microfilm publication M704, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 519; FHL microfilm 24,543.
• "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (Index Link: accessed 18 April 2016), William Reed, Cannon county, Cannon, Tennessee, United States; citing family 517, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
• "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M8T7-TZD : 18 February 2021), Wm Reed, 1860.
• "United States Census, 1870, database with images, FamilySearch (Index Link: accessed 18 April 2016), William Reed, Tennessee, United States; citing p. 18, family 141, NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 553,015.

Interesting Facts

The Panic of 1837

Banks shuttered their doors and unemployment skyrocketed when William Reed lived in Tennessee in 1840, during the economic depression that became known as the Panic of 1837.

The South Secedes

Those living in Southern states like William Reed of Tennessee, may or may not have supported the decision to secede from the United States.

The election of Abraham Lincoln as the 16th president of the United States sounded the death-knell for southerners living in slave-holding states. On December 20, 1860, the South Carolina legislature decreed that the “Union is Dissolved,” by a vote of 169-0, becoming the first state to secede from the Union. Over the next eight months, 10 more states followed. The idea of secession was not new: The nation had wrestled with the possibility for years. The reasons for secession were complicated, but all grievances rested on an important premise: that of a compact, or agreement, binding the federal government and the states. If one or the other was dissatisfied, it had the right to nullify the agreement. The secession of the 11 states forced border states—Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky, and Missouri—to make a hard decision. In the end, the four stayed in the Union though sympathies would see those states providing aid to the South.

Southern Life in the Civil War

William Reed was living in the South as the American Civil War raged.

For American Southerners, 1861 to 1865 were long and difficult years that saw families uprooted and women forced to head households as more than a million men marched off to fight in the Civil War.