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Monday, July 4, 2022

Benjamin Reed, a Patriot and my 4th Great-Grandfather

Greetings on July 4th! [1]

 

Patriots: colonists who rebelled against British
control during the American Revolution.[2] 

 

Today is an appropriate day to write about my 4th great-grandfather Benjamin Reed (also seen as Read). Benjamin was a Patriot serving in the Revolutionary War as a minute man in the Lexington Alarm and served continuously until discharged on 29 November 1777.[3]

According to his pension record, Benjamin Reed was born on 3 May 1752 in Bridgewater, Massachusetts.[4] His parents are said to be Peter Reed and Lucy Hugens from Abington, Plymouth County, Massachusetts.[5] 

In 1775 Benjamin was a young man living in the town of Cummington in the County of Hampshire, Massachusetts. It is thought that he responded to the Lexington Alarm, marching about 100 miles, with a detachment of Minute Men from the town of Williamsburg, Massachusetts, and serving from April 21 to April 27.[6] 

After Lexington, Benjamin marched on to Roxbury, where he served during the battle at Bunker Hill. He served throughout the war and is known to be at Fort Ticonderoga, Mount Hope, Crown Point, Morristown, New Jersey, Dorchester, Cambridge, and the Battle of Bennington. It appears that he was primarily employed as a guard.[7] Guards served in various duties, from guarding prisoners or structures to providing security to officers. When marching guards, were posted at the side, front, and rear of the troops.[8] 


Documentation, showing Benjamin and
Hulda's marriage date and place,
was found in the pension record.[11]
Benjamin Reed married Hulda Pratt, of Bridgewater, on 3 December 1778 in the city of Abbington, Plymouth County, Massachusetts.[9] By 1779 they were living in Woodford, Bennington County, Vermont, where Benjamin was one of the early settlers in Woodford, and his son Benjamin was said to be the first child born in Woodford on 11 August 1779.[10]  

I have documentation showing that Benjamin and Hulda had children Benjamin, Calvin, Luther, Almira, and my 3rd great-grandmother, Nancy.[12] I am sure there are others, but documentation needs to be found. 

Benjamin and his family left Woodford and moved to Wardsboro in Windham County, Vermont.[13] By 1813 the family was living in Putney in Windham County.[14] 

Benjamin Reed was the Town Clerk of Woodford from 1792-1803.[15] 


Benjamin Reed
1752-1835 [19]
Benjamin's occupation after the war is unknown. In Woodford, he served as the Town Clerk from 1792-1803 and was a land owner in both Bennington and Windham Counties.[16] He applied for a pension for his service in 1834.  After his death, Huldah applied for and received a pension.[17] 

Benjamin Reed died on 10 January 1835. Hulda died on 17 May 1842. They are buried in East Putney Cemetery. [18] 


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.
Diana
© 2022 

    1. Patriotic Greetings, postcard, n.d.; scanned image, original card found in the privately held collection of Diana Bryan Quinn, Virginia Beach, VA, 2022. 
    2. "Loyalists and Patriots," si.edu  (https://americanexperience.si.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Loyalists-and-Patriots.pdf : accessed 25 June 2022).
    3. “U.S., Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800-1900,” database and images, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/49769:1995 : accessed 25 June 2022), for Benjamin Reed, images 266 to 320; citing "Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files" (NARA microfilm publication M804, 2,670 rolls). Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Record Group 15. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
    4. Ibid.
    5. John Ludovicus Reed, The Reed Genealogy: Descendants of William Reade of Weymouth, Massachusetts from 1635-1902 Vol. I  (no publisher named, 1901). 
    6. “U.S., Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800-1900,” database with images, Ancestry.com,  Benjamin Reed, 1834. 
    7. Ibid.
    8."Guard Duty During the American Revolution," RevolutionaryWarJournal.com (https://www.revolutionarywarjournal.com/guard-duty/: accessed 3 July 2022). 
    9. “U.S., Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800-1900,” database with images, Ancestry.com,  Benjamin Reed, 1834.
    10. Lewis Cass Aldrich, History of Bennington County, Vt. With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers. (D. Mason & co, Syracuse, NY: 1889), 475-476; digital images, HathiTrust  (https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=yul.11775368_000_00&view=1up&seq=1&skin=2021 : accessed 25 June 2022).
    11. “U.S., Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800-1900,” database with images, Ancestry.com, Benjamin Reed, 1834.
    12. Aldrich, History of Bennington County, Vt. With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, 475-476. Also, John Ludovicus Reed, The Reed Genealogy: Descendants of William Reade of Weymouth, Massachusetts from 1635-1902 Vol. I  (no publisher named, 1901). Also, "Vermont, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1749-1999," digital images, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/9084/images/005556277_00146?pId=959646: accessed 27 June 2022) Calvin Reed. Also, "Vermont, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1749-1999," digital images, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/1012159:9084?_phsrc=yzP8246&_phstart=successSource&gsfn=luther&gsln=reed&ml_rpos=1&queryId=8ee4ed59aa9a4a8ba3b0ecbb0642bf6c accessed 27 June 2022), Luther Reed, Folder 4, Wrp5-90743, Bundle 11-12, 1851-1852.
    13. “U.S., Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800-1900,” database with images, Ancestry.com, Benjamin Reed, 1834.
    14. "List of Letters remaining in the Post Office at Putney, Vt. 31st March 1813," Reporter (Brattleboro, VT), 24 April 1813, p. 4; database with images, GenealogyBank (https://www.genealogybank.com/doc/newspapers/image/v2%3A10CE5579CE9162A8%40GB3NEWS-10F57F3DA3140E88%402383358-10F57F3E2446ED20%403? : accessed 26 June 2022).
    15. Announcement about taxes, Vermont Gazette (Bennington, VT), 15 November 1793, p. 3; database with images, GenealogyBank (https://www.genealogybank.com/doc/newspapers/image/v2%3A10380B74B5F0BB28%40GB3NEWS-105B61A5CFEF2073%402376259-105B61A65258BF23%402-105B61A7B244A76B%40Advertisement? : accessed 26 June 2022). Also, Woodford, The Vermont Gazette (Bennington, VT), 4 Feb 1876,  p.2; database and images, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/clip/71374880/benjamin-reed-town-clerk-vt/accessed : 18 Feb 2021). 
    16. Windham County, Vermont, Deed Book 3:476, Benjamin Reed to Joseph Knowlton, 21 Nov 1807; digital images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSHS-GH5G?i=527&cat=140883 : accessed 26 Sept 2020), image 528.  Also, Bennington County, Vermont, Benjamin Reed to Asa Barney, 17 Nov 1801; transcription, no deed book or page number given,  from Volume 1 of Woodford Records, copied and arranged, 1944, by Velma Brunins under direction of Henry B Walbridge for Bennington Battle Monument and Historical Association. 
    17. “U.S., Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800-1900,” database with images, Ancestry.com,  Benjamin Reed, 1834.
    18. Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/27499358/huldah-read : accessed 04 July 2022), memorial page for Huldah Pratt Read, Find a Grave Memorial ID 27499358, citing East Putney Cemetery, East Putney, Windham County, Vermont; Maintained by Cynthia Kaley (contributor 51056978). Also, Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/27499357/benjamin-read : accessed 04 July 2022), memorial page for Benjamin Read, Find a Grave Memorial ID 27499357, citing East Putney Cemetery, East Putney, Windham County, Vermont; Maintained by Cynthia Kaley (contributor 51056978).
    19. Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/27499357/benjamin-read : accessed 04 July 2022), memorial page for Benjamin Read (3 May 1753–10 Jan 1835), Find a Grave Memorial ID 27499357, citing East Putney Cemetery, East Putney, Windham County, Vermont, USA ; Maintained by Cynthia Kaley (contributor 51056978); Photograph of gravestone contributed by Donna G. Dunham (contributor 46871624).


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