Oliver and Letty’s 5 Children
If you missed the post on the first generation, click here.
1. James Wilson Read 1814-1815
James Wilson, named after his maternal grandfather was born on 16 Nov 1814 and died as an infant on 19 Sept 1815 at age 10 months. The baby rests in Hillside Cemetery, Section 3. James W. Read (note the spelling “Read” as it appears on his headstone) Subsequent headstones all are spelled as ‘Reed’.
2. Catherine Fletcher Reed 1816-1899. (Catherine Reed Daby)
Catherine was born on 23 October 1816. Catherine went on to marry Asa Daby of Harvard, MA Her marriage was 11 years after her father’s death. Asa was a successful blacksmith and made a fine living, working alongside his brother Ethan Daby, also a blacksmith. Catherine and Asa married on 13 April 1850 when Asa was a 50 year old widower and Catherine was a 34 year old ‘spinster’.
They resided in Asa’s hometown of Harvard until Asa died on the 14th February 1887 at age 80. He is buried in the Harvard Center Cemetery. Catherine died 12 years later on 13 June,1899 and she chose to be buried in the town of her birth, in Townsend’s Hillside Cemetery. She was 82 years old. They had no children.
3. James Oliver Reed (1819-1905)
James Oliver was born 10 Oct 1819. He was 20 when his father died and he was ready to make his own way in life. He took his 1/4 share of the estate in cash, went off to sea and served in the military where he learned how to manage accounts. James was a merchant, a trader and also a farmer. At one point, around 1900, James tried his hand growing and selling Concord grapes. The vault in the Reed House holds one of his business cards. “James O. Reed….Concord Grapes …..West Townsend”. He lived in New Hampshire in Stoddard, New Ipswich and Mason. James married Caroline Hildreth on 1 Jan 1852. They had two children, James Oliver Jr, later known as “Uncle Ollie” (1858-1927) and a daughter Harriet Caroline (1866-1943). Harriet would go on to marry George C. Strout and they had 2 children, Oliver H. Strout and Letty Amanda Strout.
James Oliver Reed, the second son of Oliver and Letty, lived to the ripe old age of 85 and died on 1 May 1905. James and his family are buried in Prospect Hill Cemetery in Mason, NH.
4. Harriet J. Reed (1821-1907)
Harriet was born 9 October 1821. She saw many changes in her lifetime by the time she died on 14 February 1907. She remained a spinster for her long life of 85 years and Harriet was the long time resident and caretaker of the Reed House. She looked after her family and aging mother and carried on with her duties as caretaker, as the second generation grew up and moved on. Harriet’s mother Letty, the matriarch of the family, passed away 25 years after her husband, Oliver Reed’s death. Letty died in 1864 at the age of 75 yrs 5 months. She had lost her first born son, her husband, and her parents. Harriet and her mother Letty lived to see great changes in their family and in Townsend. The Railroad had come to Townsend and life would change forever.
Harriet’s sister Hannah came to live with her at the Reed House after the tragic death of her dear daughter, Letty. Hannah was in a deep depression and wanted to return to the Reed House. Harriet tried to help her distraught sister, but after the events of 19 November 1880 Harriet could no longer live in the house. She moved to Mason, NH to live with her brother, James Oliver and his family. The house at 72 Main St would stand empty and in sorrow for many years with only the occasional visit by Harriet and family.
5. Hannah W. Reed (1825-1880). (Hannah Reed Willard)
Hannah was 14 when her father died. Hannah went on to marry Ebenezer Crosby Willard, a Merchant and Trader. They married in Townsend on 16 April 1855 when Hannah was 29. Ebenezer was 33 and it was his second marriage. His first marriage to Susan Parks had ended in great tragedy. His wife and their two young children all died within three months of one another as Dysentery spread through their family and the town. Death records from the time report the frequent cause of death as Dysentery, Dysentery, Dysentery. Ebenezer lived in Groton and then Ayer. He was Ayer’s first Selectman when Ayer separated from Groton. He was Town Clerk and held other offices in the town.
Ebenezer and Hannah had two children, Lettie, named after her grandmother, was born in 1859, and another daughter, Kate, or ‘Kittie’ was born in 1865.
According to the 1870 Census, Ebenezer is 48, Hannah is 43, Letty is 11 and Katie is 5. Ebenezer’s occupation is listed as ‘Keeps Country Store” and Hannah “Keeps House.”
Lettie, their first born, was regarded as very lovely in nature and in beauty. It is thought that poor Letty may have contracted Scarlet Fever which sometimes caused Inflammation of the brain.It is possible that part of Letty’s beautiful, rich brown hair was shaved to perform surgery to relieve the pressure on her brain. This was a standard treatment at the time. A long lock of beautiful auburn hair is in the THS vault and is believed to be Letty’s hair. Letty did not survive her illness and she died on 9 March 1872. She was just 13 Yrs, 3Ms & 2D’s old. The family buried her in Ayer with a lovely headstone demonstrating their love. Her headstone reads:
Dear Letty
Jesus Will Take Care of Me
Letty’s mother, Hannah, fell into a deep depression. Eight years later, in the Ayer Census of 1880, Ebenezer Willard is 58 and is retired. Hannah is 55 and is listed as “Insane”. She is living with her husband and her younger daughter Kittie, now 16 and at school. A Boarder is living at the house. Hannah’s torments had became so extreme as to have her being listed as “insane” on the town census form.
Hannah needed help, and she needed a change. Her husband agreed that she should return to Townsend, to the house where she was born, to the company of her dear older sister, Harriet. She returned to Townsend for what was supposed to be a short stay. It turned out to be a much longer stay. Harriet grew increasingly concerned about her sister’s strange behavior. Reports mentioned that Hannah would walk around the house and yard speaking to herself. Harriet became distraught as there was little she could do to help her sister. Tragedy struck on the 19th of December 1880, when Hannah, at the Reed House, took her own life, by strangulation. Hannah is buried in the Ayer Cemetery beside her beloved daughter, Letty.
Harriet was understandably distraught and she could no longer stay in the house. She left the Reed House and moved to Mason, NH to live with her brother James Oliver and his family. She died on 14 Feb 1907 at the age of 85. An interesting tidbit – Townsend historian Richard Smith in “Divinity and Dust” notes that when she died over eight thousand dollars was found rolled up in her stockings and linen.
Harriet J. Reed is buried in Townsend, the town of her birth, in Hillside Cemetery. The last of Oliver and Letty Wilson Reed’s 5 children was now gone.
Once again the Reed House was shrouded in sorrow and the house would be empty for almost 30 years from the time of Hannah’s death, with only the occasional visit by Harriet and her family.
It would take the next generation of Reeds to bring life back to the house. James Oliver Reed’s daughter, Harriet Reed Strout, would inherit the house and bring the house forward into the future.