William Reed (bef. 1614 - bef. 1658)

Born before 1614 in Somerset, England [uncertain]

Husband of Avis (Chapman) Reed — married 8 Oct 1635 in Long Sutton, Somerset, England

Descendants

Died before 6 Apr 1658 at about age 44 in Weymouth, Suffolk County, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Puritan Great Migration Project WikiTree [send private message], Thomas Walter [send private message], and Steve Henkel [send private message]

William Reed is currently protected by the Puritan Great Migration Project for reasons described in the narrative. Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: PGM

Because this man is frequently confused with a separate and known Great Migration-era William Read/Reed, Wikitree's Puritan Great Migration Project is co-managing this profile for tracking purposes.

Biography

Note of Caution, Multiple William Reads

Robert C. Anderson in his Great Migration, warns that several William Reads living in Weymouth, Massachusetts Bay Colony, have biographies that are so confused that he chose not to deal with all the issues.^[1] He said the works of Pope and Savage "muddled the records."^[1] He called Weymouth History by George Walter Chamberlain "less successful, but still useful," and Jacob Whittemore Reed's History of the Reed Family in Europe and America, (Boston 1861) "worthless."^[1] The one work he recommends is by Donald Lines Jacobus', The Granberry Family and Allied Families, Including the Ancestry of Helen (Woodward) Granberry.^[1] However, Jacobus cites Chamberlain and J. L. Reed, and even his work contains some mistakes regarding the William Read of this profile.

William Read is the other man of that name who lived in Weymouth. He arrived in Weymouth earlier and moved to Boston in 1647, when he was admitted to the church there with a recommendation from Weymouth.^[2]

Origin

Anderson in The American Genealogist, uses "Reed".^[3] Jacobus in The Granberry Family ... also uses the "Reed" spelling.^[4]

Very little is known about the origin of this William Reed. We do not know his birth date, nor his place of birth, nor his parents. Given the relatively unusual first name of his wife, he was likely the "William Reede" who married "Avis Chepman" (Avis Chapman) in Long Sutton, Somerset, England, on 8 October 1635.^[5] The Bishop's Transcript of this marriage has the additional notation that Avis lived in Knole, which is a hamlet within Long Sutton parish.^[6]

The idea that William was a son of Richard Reade and Joanna Dale comes from their mention in Jacob Whittemore Reed's History of the Reed Family in Europe and America, ... (Boston 1861) which Anderson calls "worthless."^[1] This profile was detached from Sir William Read, as father (source of this is unknown - see Research Notes below).

Jacob Whitmore Reed also reports that William's parents were William Reade and Lucy Henage from Kent, and that he sailed in 1635 aboard the Assurance.^[7] This is a case of mistaking one William Reed/Read for another.^[8] In fact the Reads aboard the Assurance in 1635 were expressly "to be transported to Virginea"!^[9] This defies common sense. It is too early, the wrong destination (Virginia), and there was no woman named Avis, nor woman named Read/Reed/Reade aboard that ship.^[10] William could not have been on the voyage in July and married in Somersetshire in October of the same year.

Birth date c. 1614 is a guess, based on marriage in 1635.

Immigration

The details of the family's immigration are not known. It is certain that they arrived at Weymouth prior to the first record of William when he was made a freeman at Weymouth on 18 May 1653.^[11] This seems to prove that this Wiliam Reed was not the "William Reade" elected a "townsman" (or selectman) for Weymouth, at a town meeting that supposedly took place on 26 November 1651. Public offices were only held by church members. The actual date of this town meeting is questionable.^[12]

Even The Granberry Family and Allied Families ... by Jacobus, which Anderson recommends, is not perfect. It attributes property which obviously could not have belonged to this William Reed when he writes, "On 9 March 1636/7 William Reade having bought the house & 20 acres of land at Weymouth..."^[11] This was more than ten years before this William arrived at Weymouth and certainly belonged to the other William Read.

However, the two families weren't in Weymouth at the same time. The other William Read moved to Boston in 1647, and this William Reed did not arrive until about 1650. Nevertheless, their records are often confused with each other.

Family

William Reed married (Avis Chapman) in Long Sutton, Somerset, England, on 8 October 1635.^[5] The Bishop's Transcript of this marriage has the additional notation that Avis lived in Knole, which is a hamlet within Long Sutton parish.^[13]

Children of William and Avis (Chapman) Reed:

1. Margaret Reed bp. 20 Jan 1635/6 Long Sutton,^[14] m. 11 May 1657 John Vining.
2. Hannah Reed b 1637, d 17 Aug 1663 ; mar 2 Dec 1658 Weymouth to Nicholas Whitmarsh^[3]
3. Ruth Reed b 1642 (Aldridge, p13),Weymouth; mar 19 Dec 1662 John Whitman
4. Thomas Reed b c. 1645 Weymouth
5. Mary Reed b 1647 Weymouth, d 16 April 1655
6. John Reed d 13 Jan 1720/2 Dighton, MA; mar Bethia Frye, daughter of George Fry/Frye of Taunton
7. William Reed b bef 1650; mar Esther Tomson
8. James Reed b betw 1657-60 Weymouth; mar Susannah Richmond

Death and Legacy

William died between 11 January 1657/8 and 6 April 1658 at Weymouth, Suffolk (later Norfolk) County, Massachusetts Bay Colony.^[3] On 11 January 1657/58, he purchased lumber, and on 6 April 1658, Avis is recorded as his widow, when the town ruled she could have a front-yard garden."

Research Notes

The baptism record of Ephraim Read at the First Church in Boston has confused some researches. It says "Epharim the sone our brother Willyam Read a member of Waymouth the 29th day of the 9th moneth 1657."^[15] This has been interpreted to mean that William lived in Weymouth. The only William Read/Reed living in Weymouth at that time was the one of this profile.

Reviewing the church records in general, it's apparent that some members were referred to with mention of a previous residence. For instance, Edward Rawson, Secretary of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, lived in Newbury before he was elected that office in 1650, at which point he moved to Boston. He had children baptized in Boston starting in 1651. As late as 1657, an entry following that of Ephraim, says "Elizabeth the Daughter of mr Rawson a member of Newbery bapt. the 15th day of the 9th moneth 1657."

William Read and his first wife Susannah Hayme became members of the Boston church on 15 May 1647 with the notation "upon letters of Dismission from the Church at Waymoth having declared their Conditions to the Elders in private."^[2] This leaves no doubt that Ephraim was the son of William and his second wife Ruth Crooke, not the William of this profile.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4} Anderson, Robert C., (2009) "William Read," Featured name. Great Migration 1634-1635, R-S. AmericanAncestors.org NEHGS (Vol VI, R-S, Pages 24-30)
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} "The Records of the First Church in Boston," Colonial Society of Massachusetts website [1].
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} Anderson, Robert Charles, (1937) "Ancestry of President Calvin Coolidge." The American Genealogist. New Haven, CT: D. L. Jacobus, AmericanAncestors.org NEHGS (Vol 53, Page 165). A better source is needed. This is a summary with no sources cited.
4. ↑ Jacobus, Donald L., and Waterman, Edgar F., (1945) The Granberry Family and Allied Families, Including the Ancestry of Helen (Woodward) Granberry. Hartford: E. F. Waterman HathiTrust.org (Pages 297-99) recommended by Anderson.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} "Somerset, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1531-1812," ancestry.com image database online $ [2]. The marriage date is generally said to be 26 October 1635, including Torrey's Marriages. Whoever said it first apparently confused William's and Avis's marriage entry in the parish register, which is 8 October, with the next, which is 26 October.
6. ↑ Findmypast database online $ [3].
7. ↑ Reed, Jacob Whitmore, (1861) The Reed Family in Europe & America. Boston: Archive.org (Pages 37, 310) "worthless" per Robert Charles Anderson.
8. ↑ Kinney, Greg, "Probably Avis Chapman - not Avis Deacon" GenForum July 22, 2000, accessed February 8, 2015
9. ↑ Reed, Alanson H., The William Reade Memorial The Reade Record No. 1-16 Boston: Reade Society for Genealogical Research, 1904, (No. 2 1909, Extra number A, Page 3) accessed February 8, 2015
10. ↑ Freeman, Laura, trancriber, Passengers on Ship Assurance of London from London England to Virginia 1635 accessed February 4, 2015
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1} Jacobus, Donald L., and Waterman, Edgar F., The Granberry Family and Allied Families, Including the Ancestry of Helen (Woodward) Granberry (Page 301-02) Hartford: E. F. Waterman, 1945, HathiTrust.org accessed February 11, 2015
12. ↑ "Massachusetts, U.S., Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988," Ancestry.com database online (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011) $ [4]. The date of the town meeting record is unreadable in the very poor microfilming of the original records. This part of the page has obvious age damage. Is this date a guess based on some of the records nearby? The records aren't chronological.
13. ↑ Findmypast database online $ [5].
14. ↑ "Somerset, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1531-1812," ancestry.com image database online $ [6].
15. ↑ "The Records of the First Church in Boston," Colonial Society of Massachusetts website [7].

• England, Select Marriages, 1538–1973, $
• Aldridge, Bertha Bortle Beal, Reed Descendants: Thirteen Generations, Including the Ancestors of Paul Reed 1605-1955; Also Other Lines of Descendants of His Immigrant Ancestor William Reed, Born 1605 England. Batavia, NY: LaVerne Cooley, 1955. P. 11-13
• Cutter, William Richard, New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of Commonwealths and the Founding of a Nation. (Page: 2081) New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1915.
• Reed, John L., Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirsof Worcester County Massachusetts. by New York: The Lewis publishing company, 1901.
• Reed, John Ludovicus, The Reed Genealogy -Descendants of William Reade of Weymouth, Massachusetts From 1635 to 1902. Baltimore, MD: The Lord Baltimore Press, 1901, pages: 5,14,16.