Another Leaf on the Family Tree

After over 40 years of research, I thought I had found all the children of my 3rd great-grandfather John Reade.

As I discovered recently, I had not found them all.

When I first began researching my family history I was fascinated by the stories my grandfather Maurice L. Reed had written about his great-grandfather, John Reade. He was born in New Hampshire about 1812, and ran away from home when he was a young adult.

He ended up in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, where he met and married his first wife, Katherine Kettering. Their son James Lawrence Reed was born there in 1839, and by 1849 the family had moved to Kalamazoo County, Michigan. In 1850 John and Katherine and their 3 children were living in Alamo, Kalamazoo County, which is about the time John changed the spelling of his last name to Reed.

1850 U.S. census, Kalamazoo Co. MI, population schedule, Alamo, p.50B, dwelling 718, family 732, John Reed household; citing NARA microfilm M432, roll 353.

I knew from my grandfather's notes that James Lawrence Reed had a half-sister named Caroline.

When I began doing internet research, I discovered Carrie's marriage to Seth Dusenberry in 1873; her father John Reed was the officiant.

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FamilySearch (familysearch.org/search/collection/1810350) > Van Buren > Marriage certificates, 1867-1895, v.B2 > image 101 of 356, Van Buren Co. MI Marriage Book B2:98, line 1408, Seth Dusenberry & Caroline V. Reed (1873).

Carrie Dusenberry's death certificate stated her mother's name as Amelia Houseman.

.Michigan Dep. of Health, death certificate  61-5281 for Carrie Dusenberry (1945).

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Over time, other searches revealed that John and Amelia had three other children, John Edgar, Gilbert and Georgia. John Edgar Reed married Hattie Beagle in .Allegan County, Michigan in 1884, and died in Muskegon County in 1923. Gilbert Reed married Minnie Splitstone in Newaygo County, Michigan in 1893; he died in Muskegon County in 1916. Georgia Ella Reed married James Mallory and then Robert Brown; by 1930 she and Robert were living in Los Angeles County, California.

Michigan Dept. of Health, death certificate 61-551 for John Edgar Reed (1923).

Michigan Dept. of Health, death certificate 551 for Gilbert Reed (1916).

1930 U.S. Census, Los Angeles Co. CA, pop. sched., Covina, ED 907, p.4A, dwell./fam. 96, Robert Brown household; citing NARA microfilm T626, roll 124.

So, to recap, John Reade had a total of seven children:
Three with his first wife Katherine Kettering: James Lawrence, Laura and Ezra (the latter two probably died young)
Four with his second wife Amelia Houseman: John Edgar, Caroline, Gilbert and Georgia.

And with that, his family was complete.

Or so I thought.

Last month I was taking another look at my DNA matches, because you never know when you'll discover something new. I entered "Reed" into the search box at the top of my list of matches, and looked at the results. 

​When I looked at the family tree of one of those matches, I saw that his great-great grandmother Tressie Reed was born in Michigan about 1853, and married Richard Carr.

A few minutes' research led me to her 1902 death certificate, which named her parents as John and Emilie Reed

Michigan Dept. of Health, death certificate 125 for Tressie Carr (1902).

I realized with growing astonishment that Tressie was possibly another child of John Reade and Amelia Houseman. Then I thought indignantly, "But where was she in the 1870 census?" I took another look at the 1870 census of Allegan County, Michigan, where I knew Amelia was living with her youngest children, Gilbert and Georgia. And there she was - under another name. I had looked at this census entry many times, and always assumed that Theresa Hewett was a boarder or housekeeper. I never even considered the possibility that she was Amelia's married daughter.

1870 U.S. census, Allegan Co. MI, pop. sched., Allegan, p.43A, dwell. 240, fam. 247, Amelia Read household; citing NARA microfilm M593, roll 660.

My next task was to find Theresa's marriage record, which I discovered on FamilySearch's microfilmed marriage registers of Allegan County, Michigan. Theresa and Tom Hewitt were married by her father, and one of the witnesses was her mother. (The other witness, Mariah Merchant, was Theresa's half-sister; Amelia's daughter by her first marriage.)

FamilySearch (familysearch.org/search/collection/1810350) > Allegan > Marriage certificates, 1867-1882, v.4 > image 55 of 335, Allegan Co. MI Marriage Register 4:13, line 123, Tom Hewett and Teressa Reed (1868).

By 1870 Tom and Teresa must have been separated, because Tom Hewitt married Hattie Wilcox in 1871. Theresa married Richard Carr by 1876 when their first child Richard H. Carr was born. I have not yet found a divorce record for Tom and Theresa Hewitt, or a marriage record for Theresa and Richard Carr.

And Theresa's 1902 death certificate showed that she was living in Newaygo County, Michigan; the same county where her mother (remarried to Arvi Parmer) and brother Gilbert were living in 1900.

1900 U.S. census, Newaygo Co. MI, pop. sched., White Cloud, ED 100, p.2, dwell.47, fam. 48, Gilbert Reed household; citing NARA microfilm T623, roll 735.

Welcome to the family, Theresa.

I'm sorry I took so long to find you.

Rest in peace.