52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #20 — Nancy Reed Glynn of Putney, Vermont

Nancy Reed, my third great-grandmother, was one of the children of Benjamin Reed and Huldah Pratt. According to The Reed Genealogy, she was born on 2 August 1798. Her birthplace is not stated in that account, but if she was born at her parents' home, she may have been born in Woodford, Bennington County, Vermont, where Benjamin and Huldah resided from about 1788 until at least 1803.

Nancy’s parents, Benjamin and Huldah, had deep New England roots. Benjamin Reed had served in the Revolutionary War and later moved his family from Massachusetts into Vermont. Benjamin wrote in his pension record that, while in Vermont, he lived in Woodford, Wardsboro, and Putney. By 1812, Benjamin, Huldah, and several of their children were living in Putney, Windham County, Vermont.

Nancy grew up in a large family. Some of her siblings lived long enough to leave records in Vermont and beyond, while others appear only briefly in the records. The Reed Genealogy names her siblings as Benjamin Jr., John, Cyrus, David, Calvin, Huldah, Betsey, Luther, and Almira. Combined information from the U.S. census and The Reed Genealogy suggests the probable Reed household in 1820, shown below.

Before Nancy’s marriage, I found her name in Putney records twice, both on the same day, 2 January 1821, in land transactions involving her parents and her brother Luther. Benjamin and Huldah sold land to Luther Read, and Luther then leased the farm back to Benjamin and Huldah for their natural lives. The rent was symbolic: one ear of corn each January 2nd, if demanded.

“To Have and to hold the said Land and buildings unto the said Benjamin Read and Huldah his wife, for and during their natural lives, and whichsoever of them shall continue the longest, they or either of them yealding and paying therefor, on the second day of January each and every year, one ear of corn if demanded on the premises.”

On 19 January 1829, Nancy Reed married Joseph T. Glynn* in Putney, Vermont. She was about thirty years old. Joseph was from nearby Dummerston and was often referred to as Truman.

Nancy and Joseph made their home in Putney and had at least three children:

• Caroline Almira Glynn, born 22 July 1829 in Putney

• Henry Reed Glynn, born 2 June 1833 in Putney

• Joseph Albert Glynn, born 13 February 1835 in Putney, my second great-grandfather

Only a few weeks before Joseph Albert’s birth, Nancy’s father, Benjamin Reed, died in Putney on 10 January 1835. Nancy’s mother, Huldah Pratt Reed, lived several more years and died in Putney on 17 May 1842. Huldah lived long enough to know all three of Nancy and Joseph’s known children. In the 1840 census of pensioners, Huldah was identified as living in Joseph T. Glynn’s household.

On 11 April 1842, shortly before Huldah’s death, Luther Read conveyed land in Putney to Nancy Glynn, wife of Joseph T. Glynn, for $10. The parcel began on the River Road near a little brook north of Elisha Wilber’s property and included the privilege of taking water from a spring about sixteen rods north of the land, by logs. The land was part of a lot Luther had bought from James Lowell.

The next year, on 10 May 1843, Luther Read sold a 60-acre Putney parcel to Lydia A. Campbell and Sophronia Sabin for $1,150. That deed reserved Nancy Glynn’s earlier right to take water from the spring under Luther’s deed to her dated 11 April 1842. Nancy and her heirs had to keep the logs or lead pipe covered, avoid unnecessary injury to the soil, and maintain a fence around her land at no expense to the new owners.

The 1850 census places Nancy in Putney, where she was living with her husband Joseph, a laborer, and their three children. Seventeen-year-old Henry and fifteen-year-old Albert attended school during the year and were also identified as laborers. Their daughter Caroline was twenty-one years old. Nancy’s brother Luther, a widower, was enumerated just above the Glynn family with three of his minor children. Luther’s wife, Jerusha, had died on 24 May 1850 at only thirty-eight years old.

That same year, Joseph and Nancy were also involved in a land transaction with the Vermont Valley Railroad Company. On 13 May 1850, they conveyed land to the railroad. The deed referred to “our land,” and Nancy was examined separately from her husband before acknowledging that she signed freely and without fear or compulsion. That detail is a reminder that Nancy’s legal interest in the land had to be formally recognized.

On 26 July 1850, Nancy’s brother Calvin died by accidental drowning at Mandarin, Duval County, Florida. He had been living in Florida for about twenty-five years.

The next year, Nancy’s youngest brother, Luther Read, died on 27 November 1851. A probate-related paper states that Luther Reed died leaving five minor children, one son and four daughters, and also one sister, the wife of Joseph T. Glynn, all then living in Putney. This record is especially important because it identifies Nancy, wife of Joseph T. Glynn, as Luther’s sister.

Less than a year after Luther’s death, Nancy and Joseph lost their only daughter. Caroline Almira Glynn died on 6 August 1852 at the age of twenty-three from what was then called consumption, now known as tuberculosis. Her obituary follows:

“In Putney, Aug. 6, of consumption, Miss CAROLINE ALMINA, daughter of Joseph F. and Nancy Glynn, aged 23. Being an only daughter, she naturally won an unusual share of parental and fraternal affection, which was the more deserved on account of her excellent moral qualities. She bore a lingering sickness with christian fortitude and resignation. Trusting in the mercy of God through the merits of a crucified Saviour, she met the closing scene with calmness, leaving evidence that hers was the death of the righteous. Printers in Mass. and N. H. please copy.”

Nancy’s name appears in 1853 on a paper regarding one of Luther’s minor daughters, Hellen [Helen] Read. On 26 August 1853, Nancy Glynn signed a request asking the Probate Court for the District of Westminster to appoint a guardian for Hellen, who was under the age of fourteen. This places Nancy in Putney and still involved in Reed family matters less than a year before her own death.

Nancy Reed Glynn died in Putney on 2 April 1854, at about age fifty-five. She is buried in Maple Grove Cemetery in Putney, along with her daughter Caroline and her son Joseph Albert.

Nancy did not leave many records that tell her story directly, but the records that do name her are meaningful. They place her in the Reed household before marriage, on Reed family land after marriage, and in Putney’s legal records as a wife, mother, sister, and landholder.

*Nancy Reed Glynn should not be confused with Nancy Lockwood, who married a different Joseph Glynn and lived in Windsor County, Vermont. The two couples are sometimes combined or confused in online family trees and other web-based sources.

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

Diana

© 2026

“Calvin Read obituary,” Florida Republican (Jacksonville, Florida), 8 August 1850, digital image, OldNews (https://www.oldnews.com/en/record?record_id=record-11024-225493483&page_id=3 : accessed 13 June 2026). OldNews incorrectly indexed this issue as The Florida Republican, Jacksonville, Duval, Florida, 1 January 1848; the masthead identifies the paper as Florida Republican and gives the date as Thursday, 8 August 1850.

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/190058477/nancy-glynn: accessed July 2, 2026), memorial page for Nancy Reed Glynn (2 Aug 1798–2 Apr 1854), Find a Grave Memorial ID 190058477, citing Maple Grove Cemetery, Putney, Windham County, Vermont, USA; Maintained by dbquinn (contributor 47552132).

John Ludovicus Reed, The Reed Genealogy: Descendants of William Reade of Weymouth, Massachusetts, from 1635–1902, vol. 1 (1901); digital image, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/reedgenealogydes01reed/page/n11/mode/2up : accessed 18 April 2026).

“Mortuary Notice,” The Semi-Weekly Eagle (Brattleboro, Vermont), 27 September 1852, p. 3, for Caroline Almira Glynn; digital image, GenealogyBank  (https://www.genealogybank.com : accessed 2 July 2026).

The Vermont Gazette, February 4, 1876, Page  2. via Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-vermont-gazette-benjamin-reed-town/155440991/: accessed July 2, 2026), clip page for Benjamin Reed - Town Clerk from 1792 - 1803 by user dewquinn.

"United States, Census, 1820", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHLP-7XZ : accessed18 April 2026), Entry for Benjamin Read, 1820.

"United States, Census, 1850", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MC2N-4L1 : accessed 18 April 2026), Entry for Joseph Glynn and Nancy Glynn, 1850.

"Vermont, Vital Records, 1760-1954", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XFVW-SZY : accessed 18 April 2026), Entry for Nancy Glynn, 02 Apr 1854.

“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.

"Vermont, Vital Records, 1760-1954", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XFVW-S4G : accessed 18 April 2026), Entry for Joseph F Glynn and Nancy Read, 19 Jan 1829.

"Vermont, Births and Christenings, 1765-1908", FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F825-54H : accessed 18 April 2026), Nancy in entry for Caroline Almira Glynn, 1829.

"Vermont, Births and Christenings, 1765-1908", FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F8L6-CJS : accessed 18 April 2026), Nancy in entry for Henry Reed Glynn, 1833.

"Vermont, Births and Christenings, 1765-1908", FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F8L6-CJH : accessed 18 April 2026), Nancy in entry for Joseph Albert Glynn, 1835.

"Windham, Vermont, United States records," images, FamilySearch (https://

www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89S9-F9FC-7?view=fullText : 18 Apri, 2026), image 80 of 198; Vermont. Supreme Court, probate mentioning minor children, and sister of Luther Read. 

"Windham, Vermont, United States records," images, FamilySearch (https:// www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9S9-FTN5?view=fullText : accessed 2 July 2026), image 270 of 301; Vermont, Supreme Court, guardianship, Hellen Read. 

Using AI to Give Names to the Tick Marks

John Ludovicus Reed, The Reed Genealogy: Descendants of William Reade of Weymouth, Massachusetts, from 1635–1902, page 115

When looking for family members before 1850, I often analyze earlier census records — the ones with only heads of household and tick marks. My goal is to determine who could have been living in the household during those years.

By giving names to the tick marks, I can track children over time, identify gaps, uncover possible missing family members, and estimate birth years.

This is not a new process for me.

In an earlier project, I compared the 1830 census for the Bryan family with birth information from the Bryan family Bible transcript. In that case, I was trying to see whether another child could fit into the household. The census did not name each person, but the age and gender categories gave me a way to test the family structure.

I have also used this approach with my John Giddens family in Wayne County, North Carolina. The 1800 census showed John Giddens with a wife, six sons, and two daughters. Comparing the census categories with the known or suspected children helped me see who fit, who did not, and where the gaps might matter.

Usually, I sort the household members into census categories by making a handwritten table, using a spreadsheet, or even writing notes on a printed copy of the census. But last week, I tried something different. I used AI to help me organize the comparisons. 

I was working with Benjamin Reed and his wife, Huldah Pratt, of Woodford, Bennington County, Vermont. One source that has been especially helpful is John Ludovicus Reed’s The Reed Genealogy: Descendants of William Reade of Weymouth, Massachusetts from 1635 to 1902. The clipped entry at the top of the page lists ten children for Benjamin Reed and Huldah Pratt.

That list was important to me because, until I found The Reed Genealogy, I did not know about four of the ten children named in the book. 

Of course, a published genealogy is not the final answer. It needs to be tested against other records whenever possible. For Benjamin Reed’s family, the 1790 and 1800 census records gave me one way to see whether the children named in The Reed Genealogy fit the household Benjamin Reed headed in Woodford, Vermont.

For these comparisons, my process was simple: I asked AI to check the Ancestry.com census transcriptions against the original images, use information found in The Reed Genealogy as a working family list, match likely household members to the census categories, and point out where the records fit or raised questions. In other words, AI was helping me follow the same process I use when I do this work by hand.

The 1790 census gave me my first test. Benjamin Reed’s household in Woodford included one male aged sixteen and over, three males under sixteen, and two females.

Most of that household fits the family described in The Reed Genealogy. Benjamin fits the adult male. Huldah Pratt Reed and her daughter Huldah fit as the two females. Several of the sons fit the male-under-sixteen category.

But there was one problem. Based on the children listed in The Reed Genealogy, I expected four males under sixteen: Benjamin Jr., John, Cyrus, and David. The census only counted three.

Table created with assistance from ChatGPT by comparing the 1790 census entry for Benjamin Reed with the family list in The Reed Genealogy. The comparison and conclusions were reviewed by the author.

That mismatch does not disprove the Reed genealogy entry. Census records are not perfect. A child may have been missed, be living elsewhere, or be temporarily away, or the household may have been reported or recorded incorrectly.

The 1800 census gave me a much cleaner comparison. By 1800, Benjamin Reed’s household in Woodford included nine people. When I compared those age categories with the children listed in the Reed genealogy, the younger children lined up very neatly.

Table created with assistance from ChatGPT by comparing the 1800 census entry for Benjamin Reed with the family list in The Reed Genealogy. The comparison and conclusions were reviewed by the author.

The two oldest sons, Benjamin Jr. and John, do not appear to be living in Benjamin Reed’s household in 1800, which makes sense, as they were about 19 or 20 years old.

The 1800 census does not prove the Reed genealogy entry on its own, but it fits the family group remarkably well. It also gives indirect support for family members who may not have left many records of their own. 

 AI did not prove that the published genealogy was correct. It did not replace the need to read the original census image. It did not solve the Reed family for me. However, it organized the information quickly. It helped calculate which children fit into each census category. It showed where the numbers matched and where they did not. What usually takes me well over an hour took only a few prompts. Both comparisons were useful, and AI saved me much time

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

Diana

© 2026

1790 U.S. census, Bennington County, Vermont, population schedule, Woodford, p. 244, Benjn Reed household; digital image, Ancestry.com, “1790 United States Federal Census” (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/5058/ : accessed 2 June 2026); citing First Census of the United States, 1790, NARA microfilm publication M637, National Archives, Washington, D.C.

1800 U.S. census, Bennington County, Vermont, population schedule, Woodford, Benjamin Reed household; digital image, Ancestry.com, “1800 United States Federal Census” (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7590/ : accessed 2 June 2026); citing Second Census of the United States, 1800, NARA microfilm publication M32, National Archives, Washington, D.C.

1830 U.S. Census, Houston County, Georgia, population schedule, p.274, line 4, district or territory not named, Reddick Bryan; digital image, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/: accessed 8 March 2021); citing National Archives microfilm publication M19, roll 18.

John Ludovicus Reed, The Reed Genealogy: Descendants of William Reade of Weymouth, Massachusetts, from 1635–1902, vol. 1 (1901); digital image, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/reedgenealogydes01reed/page/n11/mode/2up : accessed 18 April 2026).

"United States Census, 1800," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHRD-ZJR : accessed 15 January 2022), John Giddens, Wayne, North Carolina, United States; citing p. 856, NARA microfilm publication M32, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 32; FHL microfilm 337,908.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: They Were Named Only Once — #16 Huldah, #17 Cyrus, and #18 Betsey

Among the children of Benjamin Reed and Huldah Pratt were three whose lives were brief enough that they left almost nothing behind. They did not marry, buy land, appear in many records, or leave descendants to remember them. Their names survive because a copy of the family Bible record was preserved in the family and later used, at least in part, by John Ludovicus Reed in The Reed Genealogy: Descendants of William Reade of Weymouth, Massachusetts, from 1635–1902, hereafter The Reed Genealogy.

Huldah, Cyrus, and Betsey were unknown to me until I found The Reed Genealogy. The strongest clue to Reed’s source appears in the entry for Mary E. Reed Roane, daughter of Luther and Jerusha Wilson Reed and granddaughter of Benjamin and Huldah. Reed wrote that Mrs. Roane had “a copy of the family Bible of Benjamin and Huldah (Pratt) Reed, with a list of their children.” That does not prove that the printed list was copied directly from that Bible copy, but it makes Mrs. Roane’s record the clearest known source behind the names of Benjamin and Huldah’s children.

The printed list also has the feel of information copied from an older family source. Several dates are uncertain or given as alternatives: Benjamin was born “Aug. 4, or 17”; John was born “July 20, or 21”; Huldah died “Dec. 13, 1813, or 1818”; Cyrus died “Oct. 14, or 19”; and Almira was born “Sept. 9, or 18.” Those uncertain readings suggest a difficult-to-read, possibly handwritten, record.

Huldah Reed

Huldah Reed, daughter of Benjamin Reed and Huldah Pratt, was said to have been born on 21 August 1783. She was the third child and first daughter. At that time, Benjamin and Huldah were living in Massachusetts, probably in Hampshire County. By the age of five, Huldah was living with her family in the rugged mountains of Bennington County, Vermont, in the sparsely populated town of Woodford.

The Reed family remained in Woodford until sometime between 1801 and 1807, when they moved to Wardsboro. By 1812, they were in Putney, where Benjamin and Huldah remained until their deaths. The Reed Genealogy gives the younger Huldah’s death as 13 December, either in 1813 or 1818. If she remained with her family, Putney is the most likely place of death, though I have not found a record that proves it. She would have been either thirty or thirty-five years old.

Cyrus Reed

Cyrus Reed was born on 24 October 1786, according to The Reed Genealogy. Based on the records I have found for Benjamin Reed, the family lived in Massachusetts until about 1788, placing Cyrus’s birth in Massachusetts.

Cyrus was seventeen years old when he died on either 14 or 19 October 1804. It is difficult to determine where his death may have occurred. Even if he was still with his family, they were moving from Woodford to nearby Wardsboro around that time, and I have not been able to pinpoint the exact date or even the year of the move.

Cyrus was probably still with his family in 1800. When I reconstructed Benjamin Reed’s household from the 1800 U.S. census, there was room for a son of Cyrus’s age. 

In the 1800 U.S. Census, Benjamin Reed’s household in Woodford included nine people. When I compared those age categories with the children listed in the Reed genealogy, the younger children lined up very neatly along with Benjamin and Huldah. The two oldest sons, Benjamin Jr. (age 20) and John (age 19) did not appear to be living with the family. 

Betsey Reed

Betsey Reed was born on 22 August 1791 and died on 9 March 1801. She was nine years old. If she remained with her family during those years, she was probably born in Woodford and died there before the family moved to Wardsboro.

For Huldah, Cyrus, and Betsey, this one published list is the only place I have found them named. They do not appear later as married adults, landowners, parents, or heads of households. Their lives have to be followed indirectly, through the movements of Benjamin and Huldah and through the few dates preserved beside their names.

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

Diana

© 2026

Bennington County, Vermont, land records, 192, Benjamin Reed to James Greenslet, deed, 5 November 1806; “Bennington, Bennington, Vermont, United States records,” digital images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSLR-N9XB-9 : accessed 26 February 2025), image 403 of 803. Shows residency in Wardsboro. 

John Ludovicus Reed, The Reed Genealogy: Descendants of William Reade of Weymouth, Massachusetts, from 1635–1902, vol. 1 (1901); digital image, Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/reedgenealogydes01reed/page/n11/mode/2up : accessed 18 April 2026).

Putney, Windham County, Vermont, town records, p. 579, Benjamin Reed to James Clay, deed, 23 April 1811, acknowledged and recorded 2 March 1812; “Putney, Windham, Vermont, United States records,” digital images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSCM-6SS2-H : accessed 22 February 2025), image 309 of 719.

“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.

“United States, Census, 1800,” database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHRQ-6XP : accessed 25 May 2026), entry for Benjamin Reed, 1800.