52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #13 Sarah Reed Hill and Her Granddaughter’s Memory of Benjamin Reed

Sarah Reed was born in Abington, Massachusetts, in 1757, married Joel Hill in Cummington, and later spent her final years in Vermont. At first, her life seems to survive only in scattered facts—birth, marriage, children, and death. But family memories passed down through her granddaughter make Sarah a much more interesting person in my search to identify the parents of her probable brother and my fourth-great-grandfather, Benjamin Reed.

Sarah Reed's Birth Record - 26 August 1757

Sarah was the daughter of Peter Reed and Lucy Hugens Reed. She was born on 26 August 1757. When Sarah was twenty-two years old, her father was said to have died on 18 February 1780. Cyril Nash wrote in his manuscript, “At the death of Peter his widow removed to the westward probably to Cummington, and Samuel to the same place, where she died.” Samuel was Sarah’s youngest brother and would have been 19 years old in 1780.

Nash did not mention Peter and Lucy’s daughters, Sarah and Joanna, in that passage. Still, his writings are important because they tell much about the families of Peter Reed and Benjamin Reed. Nash's writings were included in The Reed Genealogy: descendants of William Reade, of Weymouth, Mass., from 1635-1902, by John Ludovicus Reed. In this book, Benjamin was named a son of Peter.

On 21 October 1782, Sarah Reed married Joel Hill in Cummington, Massachusetts. That location did not surprise me. Lucy Reed was said to have moved west after Peter’s death. Sarah’s sister Joanna also married in Cummington. Benjamin Reed had been in Cummington before 1775. Sarah’s marriage there fits the movement of the family.

Over the next fifteen years, Sarah and Joel had six children: Samuel, Lucius, David, Sarah Jane called Sally, Electa, and Laura. Land records indicate that Joel and Sarah Hill remained in Massachusetts from the time of their marriage until about 1808. Before moving to Vermont, they lived in Rowe, near the Massachusetts–Vermont line. Their first home in Vermont was Marlboro in Windham County, a short distance from Rowe.

Later records place Joel and members of the family in Marlboro, Jamaica, and Dummerston. Joel died in Dummerston in 1843 and is buried there. Sarah is said to have died earlier, on 29 December 1836.

Sarah’s children help trace the family’s Vermont story. They remained in Windham County and married into other Windham County families, including Church, Blake, Phillips, Rawson, and Brown families. But the most interesting part of Sarah’s story comes from her granddaughter's memories, preserved in The Reed Genealogy.

In The Reed Genealogy, John Ludovicus Reed wrote that Sarah’s granddaughter, Mrs. John V. Evans of West Dummerston, remembered Sarah well. She also remembered Sarah’s brother Benjamin. Mrs. Evans said that Sarah had lived for a time with Dr. Braddish’s family in Bridgewater and was in Bridgewater on the Dark Day, 19 May 1780. While living in Vermont, Sarah often spoke of Abington, Bridgewater, Plainfield, Cummington, and Milford. She must have spoken of those places often enough that her granddaughter carried the memories into old age.

That granddaughter was Louisa Emeline Hill, later Mrs. John V. Evans. Louisa was born in 1816 and is identified in The Reed Genealogy as Sarah’s granddaughter, not her daughter. Some family trees list Louisa as Sarah Reed Hill’s daughter, but the records found so far indicate she was probably Sarah’s granddaughter.*

Louisa’s memories are especially valuable because they connect Sarah Reed Hill’s family directly to Benjamin Reed’s household. In 1898, Mrs. Evans remembered visiting Benjamin Reed’s old house and said she knew Benjamin and Huldah well. She described them as "fine people, of good character, and well beloved by all who knew them."

Almira Reed
East Putney Cemetery

Mrs. Evans also remembered Benjamin and Huldah’s daughter Almira, who died in 1835, and said she was with Almira at the time of her death. That detail is worth noticing. Benjamin had died six months earlier. Deed records indicate that Sarah and her family were living in Jamaica, Vermont, a full day's journey by wagon or coach. Louisa’s presence with Almira suggests that the two families were still closely connected.

Sarah Reed Hill did not leave a record trail that tells her whole story. But through her granddaughter’s recollections, she becomes more than a name in the Reed family.

* Louisa Emeline Hill’s exact parentage needs further documentation. The Reed Genealogy identifies her as Sarah Reed Hill’s granddaughter. Lucius Hill named Louisa Emeline Hill as his niece in his will, and census and deed records show a continued association between Sally Hill and Louisa.

If you would like to learn more about the families I research, follow my Facebook page, where I share each post along with other genealogical finds.

Diana

© 2026

“Abington, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States records,” digital images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L979-W74D?view=fullText

 : accessed 30 April 2025), image 7 of 152, birth entry for Sarah Reed; Image Group Number 007009636; citing Abington, Massachusetts, Town Clerk.

“Abington, Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States records,” digital images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-9979-W7G7?view=fullText

 : accessed 7 January 2025), image 11 of 152, birth entry for Samuel Reed; citing Abington, Massachusetts, Town Clerk.

C. McClellan & Co. and J. Chace, McClellan’s Map of Windham County, Vermont (Philadelphia: C. McClellan & Co.; lithographed by W. H. Rease, 1856), map, digital image, Library of Congress (https://www.loc.gov/item/2012586226/ : accessed 18 April 2026).

Ephraim H. Newton, The History of the Town of Marlborough, Windham County, Vermont, with introduction by John Clement (Montpelier: Vermont Historical Society, 1930); digital images, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/historyoftownofm00newt/page/n9/mode/2up

 : accessed 18 April 2026).

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/27499359/almira-read: accessed 4 July 2022), memorial page for Almira Read, Find a Grave Memorial ID 27499357, citing East Putney Cemetery, East Putney, Windham County, Vermont; memorial maintained by Cynthia Kaley, contributor 51056978; gravestone photograph by Donna G. Dunham, contributor 46871624.

“Hampshire, Massachusetts, United States records,” digital images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSVR-832H-W?view=fullText

 : accessed 14 March 2026), image 456 of 562; Image Group Number 008131623; citing Massachusetts, Court of Common Pleas, Hampshire County.

“Jamaica, Windham, Vermont, United States records,” digital images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-8999-VWT4?view=fullText : accessed 9 May 2025), image 281 of 568, page 517 marriage of Luther Rawson and Electra Reed; Image Group Number 005463989; citing Jamaica, Vermont, Town Clerk.

“Jamaica, Windham, Vermont, United States records,” digital images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-8999-V4MD?view=fullText

 : accessed 9 May 2025), image 287 of 568, page 526 marriage of Laura Hill and Timothy Brown; Image Group Number 005463989; citing Jamaica, Vermont, Town Clerk.

“Jamaica, Windham, Vermont, United States records,” digital images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C37V-T9V2-C?view=fullText

 : accessed 22 February 2025), image 295 of 546, deed involving Joel Hill, Louisa Hill, and Sally Hill, 1839; original source not identified in supplied FamilySearch citation.

John Ludovicus Reed, The Reed Genealogy: Descendants of William Reade of Weymouth, Massachusetts, from 1635–1902, vol. 1 ([no place]: [no publisher], 1901); digital image, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/reedgenealogydes01reed/page/n11/mode/2up

 : accessed 18 April 2026).

“Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626–2001,” database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FH5P-Z7B

 : accessed 22 January 2025), entry for Joel Hill and Sarah Reed, marriage, 21 October 1782, Cummington, Hampshire County, Massachusetts, page 2.

“Massachusetts, United States records,” digital images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9Z8-28QY?view=fullText

 : accessed 5 June 2024), image 178 of 715; citing Massachusetts, County Court, Hampshire County.

1860 U.S. census, Windham County, Vermont, population schedule, Jamaica, page 15, John V. Evans family; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7667/images/4297354_00151: accessed 18 April 2026); citing NARA microfilm publication M653, Eighth Census of the United States, 1860.

1870 U.S. census, Windham County, Vermont, population schedule, Jamaica, page 46, John V. Evans family; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7163/records/40457539: accessed 18 April 2026); citing NARA microfilm publication M593, Ninth Census of the United States, 1870.

“Vermont, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1732–2005,” database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPQ5-L9ZX: accessed 8 March 2024), entry for Joel Hill, death, 2 March 1843, Dummerston, Windham County, Vermont.

“Windham, Vermont, United States records,” digital images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9BH-G349-7?view=fullText

 : accessed 6 May 2025), image 599 of 643, will of Lucas Hill; Image Group Number 007714786; original source not identified in supplied FamilySearch citation.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #9 Joanna Reed, Daughter of Peter and Lucy

Baptism of Joanna Reed, 25 Dec. 1763

Joanna Reed was born on 8 September 1763 in Abington or Bridgewater (records vary) and was baptized in Bridgewater, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, on 25 December 1763. She was the daughter of Peter Reed and Lucy Hugens.

Hill Top Cemetery, Plainfield, MA

Her life can be traced from Plymouth County to Cummington and later to Plainfield, both in Hampshire County. Charles N. Dyer, in his History of the Town of Plainfield, Hampshire County, Mass., wrote that many of Plainfield’s early settlers moved west from Abington, Bridgewater, and Weymouth. Joanna’s path seems to fit that pattern, although I do not know when she left Plymouth County.

Joanna is believed to have been the sister of my fourth-great-grandfather, Benjamin Reed. Benjamin was in Cummington before the Revolutionary War. When their father, Peter Reed, died in 1780, it was said that his widow, Lucy, moved to Cummington. Did Joanna go to Cummington with her mother, or was she already in Hampshire County by that time?

On 14 April 1788, a marriage intention was recorded in Cummington for Joanna Reed and Jacob Nash, and they were married there on 27 November 1788.  Jacob Nash was born in Weymouth in 1760 and came to Plainfield soon after the close of the Revolutionary War. Dyer noted in his book that the Jacob Nash home was still standing in 1891.

Joanna and Jacob had five known children: 

Sibyl, born 19 August 1789 

Arvin, born 19 November 1790 

Roxanna, born 22 August 1792 

Eunice, born 30 April 1795 

Mandana, born 19 January 1800

The family remained closely tied to Plainfield and the surrounding area. Joanna died on 8 September 1849 in Plainfield, Hampshire County, Massachusetts, on her eighty-sixth birthday, and was buried there.

If you would like to learn more about the families I research, follow my Facebook page , where I share each post along with other genealogical finds.

Diana

© 2026

“Amherst, Hampshire, Massachusetts, United States records,” images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G979-927F?view=fullText  : accessed 13 March 2026), image 505 of 562; Amherst (Massachusetts), death of Sibyl Nash, showing mother’s birthplace as Bridgewater; Image Group Number 007009211.

Charles N. Dyer, History of the Town of Plainfield, Hampshire County, Mass., from Its Settlement to 1891, Including a Genealogical History of Twenty Three of the Original Settlers and Their Descendants, with Anecdotes and Sketches (Northampton, Massachusetts: Press of Gazette Printing Co., 1891), digital images, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/historyoftownofp01dyer/page/n13/mode/2up  : accessed 13 February 2026).

“Cummington, Hampshire, Massachusetts, United States records,” images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-8979-H9YZ?view=fullText  : accessed 5 March 2026), image 134 of 162; Cummington (Massachusetts) marriage of Joanna Reed and Jacob Nash; Image Group Number 007009226.

“Find a Grave,” database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/64880706/jacob-nash  : accessed 13 March 2026), memorial for Joanna Nash, Find a Grave Memorial ID 64880706; citing Hill Top Cemetery, Plainfield, Hampshire County, Massachusetts, USA; maintained by Anonymous. 

First Parish Congregational Church (North Bridgewater, Massachusetts), baptism of Joanna Reed, dau. of Peter Reed, 25 Dec. 1763; digital image, Congregational Library & Archives Digital Collections (https://congregationallibrary.quartexcollections.com/Documents/Detail/church-records-1740-1805-first-parish-congregational-church-in-north-bridgewater/5618?item=5679

 : accessed 9 March 2026).

John Ludovicus Reed, The Reed Genealogy: Descendants of William Reade of Weymouth, Massachusetts from 1635-1902 Vol. I  (no publisher named, 1901).

“Plainfield, Hampshire, Massachusetts, United States records,” images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QHV-P3X5-MR9N?view=fullText  : accessed 5 March 2026), image 30 of 67; marriage intention of Jacob Nash and Joanna Reed; Image Group Number 107028903.

“Plainfield, Hampshire, Massachusetts, United States records,” images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QHV-L3X5-M5DJ?view=fullText  : accessed 6 March 2026), image 35 of 46; Image Group Number 107028906; death record for Joanna Reed.

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] 

If you want to know more about the families I research, click here to like my Facebook page, where you will see each post and other genealogical finds. 

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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).