52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #2 Lucy Hugens

This excerpt, written by Cyrus Nash (1780-1850) of Abington, Massachusetts, was found in The Reed Genealogy: Descendants of William Reade of Weymouth, Massachusetts from 1635-1902 by John Ludovicus Reed. 

This week’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks prompt, “a record that adds color,” is a perfect fit for Lucy Hugens, the wife of Peter Reed and the presumed mother of Benjamin Reed. I did not expect to find much about Lucy. Given the time period and what appears to have been a modest economic status, she left few records of her own. What does add color to Lucy’s story is the above narrative by Cyrus Nash. In just a few paragraphs, Nash provided details that no town or land record ever could.

Nash identified Lucy’s father only as “Mr. Hugens,” an Irish immigrant who married a much younger woman, also from Ireland. According to the account, Lucy’s mother arrived in New England as a teenager, intending to meet an aunt in Pennsylvania. When her ship instead landed in Boston, she was indentured to pay her passage and later married Mr. Hugens in Abington—an experience that Nash’s description suggests contrasted with her earlier life in Ireland.

Nash names Lucy and three siblings: John Hugens, a sister married to Hosiah Porter of Weymouth, and another sister married to a man named Lot Randall. These brief references open valuable research paths.

What can be documented about Lucy comes from a small set of records. She and Peter Reed were married on 25 March 1748 in Abington, Plymouth County, Massachusetts. Later that same year, Peter and Lucy were warned to depart the town of Bridgewater. Lucy appears by name in the Abington birth records of two of her children—Sarah, born in 1757, and Samuel, born in 1760. In 1762 and again in 1763, while living in Bridgewater, Peter and Lucy were warned to remove to Abington. These records do not tell Lucy’s story outright, but together they place her firmly in time and place.

In additional remarks, Nash wrote that Peter died in 1780 and that Lucy removed to Cummington. This movement aligns with what is known about the family, as Benjamin Reed already lived in Cummington, and both of Lucy’s daughters married there in the 1780s.

When paired with marriage, birth, and town records, Nash’s narrative adds dimension to Lucy’s life and provides clues that help guide further research into a woman who otherwise appears only intermittently in the historical record.

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

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

Massachusetts, U.S., Marriages, 1633–1850, digital images, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2495/images/40904_263574__0005-00142

 : accessed 10 January 2026), image 142 of 192, Abington marriages, marriage of Peter Reed and Lucy Hugens, 25 March 1748, Congregational Church, Abington, Plymouth County, Massachusetts; citing Massachusetts Vital Records, Abington, Family History Library microfilm 1,409,404.

Massachusetts, U.S., Town and Vital Records, 1620–1988, digital images, image 243, entry for the marriage of Sarah Reed and Joel Hill, 30 October 1782, Cummington, Hampshire County, Massachusetts; Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2495/records/58991557?tid=45260559&pid=412222903562&ssrc=pt  : accessed 16 May 2024).

Cummington, Hampshire, Massachusetts, United States records, images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-8979-H9YZ?view=explore

 : accessed 11 January 2026), image 134 of 162, entry for the marriage of Jacob Nash and Joanna Reed, 27 November 1788, Cummington Town Clerk; Image Group Number 007009226.

Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States records, images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS41-RST6-P?view=explore

 : accessed 11 January 2026), image 396 of 407, entry for Peter and Lucy Reed warned, 1748, Plymouth County Court of General Sessions of the Peace; Image Group Number 007902905.

Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States records, images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9B2-G9G5-S?view=explore

 : accessed 11 January 2026), image 156 of 971, entry for Peter and Lucy Reed warned, 1762 and 1763, Plymouth County Court of General Sessions of the Peace, volumes 2–6; Image Group Number 007726241.

Clippings from The Baylor County Banner - Seymour, Texas - October 11, 1923

My grandparents, Redic E. Bryan and Myrtie Hairston, and my great-grandparents, Phillip A. Hairston and Lodema Criswell, moved to Baylor County in 1905. My father, Whit Criswell Bryan, was born in Seymour in 1920. He was the youngest of seven children born to Redic and Myrtie. 

In April 2019, I visited the Texas State Library and Archives to read Baylor County Banner issues that could not be found online or on microfilm. I photographed articles with information about my father's family who lived in Seymour. While sorting through my family finds, I realized I had photos of articles that might interest others looking for family. I have pictures of numerous articles from 1923 and a few from other years. I will post as time allows. 

Thank you to Matt Gwinn at the Baylor County Banner for giving me permission to post these clippings.  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. 

Diana

© 2022 

O. C. Harrison, The Baylor County Banner (Seymour, Texas), 11 October 1923, Vol. 28, No. 3, print; Texas State Library and Archives, Austin, Texas, 2019. 

From the Files of Marguerite Cook Clark: Albert Brown Bryan - Son of James Anderson Bryan and Sarah Frances Nix

Albert Brown Bryan was the son of James Anderson Bryan and Sarah Frances Nix. He was born on April 8, 1883 in Bienville Parish, Louisiana. Less than two years after his birth, both of his parents died of influenza. Augustus Reddick Bryan (brother to James Anderson Bryan) and his wife Erie Ontario Nix (aunt to Sarah Frances Nix) raised Albert, along with their three daughters, in a log home about four miles south of Ringgold in Bienville Parish. 

Written on the back:
Dr. E. C. Cook
Albert Bryan
Maggie Martin (Cook)
Pearl Smith (?)

Albert's parents left him land and personal items. As an adult that land, personal items, and accumulated income from the land were transferred to him by his uncle, Augustus Reddick Bryan.

Albert married Ina Mae Cook, daughter of Napoleon Bonaparte Cook and Sophronia Pauline Porter, April 12, 1914. They had three sons - James Rupert Bryan, Francis Gilbert Bryan, and Albert Cook Bryan.  

Obituary from Newspaper.com

Obituary from Newspaper.com

Albert was a farmer. In 1956, he was president of the Louisiana Artifical Breeding Co-op (Ringgold Circuit).

Ina Mae died on April 6, 1975 and Albert died soon afterward on May 26, 1975. They are buried in Providence Cemetery in Ringgold. 

 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. 

Diana

© 2017

Sources

Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

Bryan, Albert Brown - Obituary - Newspapers.com. The Times, 1975. Web. 6 Jan. 2018. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/16313351/albert_brown_bryan_obituary

Bryan, Ina Mae Cook - Obituary - Newspapers.com. The Times, 1975. Web. 6 Jan. 2018. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/16313657/ina_mae_cook_bryan_obituary

Family photographs and documents from the collection of Marguerite Cook Clark. Accessed April 28, 2014, September 14, 2014, and November 9 to 11, 2016. Used with permission.

Wimberly, Vera. Wimberly Family History: Ancestors, Relatives, and Descendants of William Wimberly, Pioneer from Georgia to Louisiana, 1837. Houston, Tex.: D. Armstrong, 1979. Print. 

From the Files of Marguerite Cook Clark: Her Father, Dr. Edward Clifton Cook

Dr. Edward Clifton Cook, born on January 29, 1887, was the son of Napoleon Bonaparte Cook and Pauline Porter Cook. He married Mary Marguerite "Maggie" Martin, daughter of Thomas Jefferson Martin and Laura Bryan, on April 10, 1905. 

Dr. Edward Clifton Cook graduated from the Atlanta Southern Dental College in 1913. I have questions about this that family might know.  Did his wife and children go with him to Atlanta while he attended college? Did he practice in Ringgold? 

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. 

Diana

© 2017


Source

Family photographs and documents from the collection of Marguerite Cook Clark. Accessed April 28, 2014, September 14, 2014, and November 9 to 11, 2016. Used with permission.

Friday's Photo: The Family of Thomas Jefferson Martin and Laura Bryan Martin

Back Row
Anne Cook Martin - wife of James Bryan Martin/daughter of Napoleon Bonaparte and Sophrania Pauline Porter Cook
James Bryan Martin - son of Thomas J. and Laura Bryan Martin/husband of Anne Cook Martin
Charles Laurie Martin - son of Thomas J. and Laura Bryan Martin
Mary Marguerite "Maggie" Martin - daughter of Thomas J. and Laura Bryan Martin. Married Edward Clifton Cook. Mother of Marguerite Cook Clark
Front Row
Edith Martin - daughter of Anne Cook Martin and James Bryan Martin
Thomas Jefferson Martin - husband of Laura Bryan Martin
Laura Bryan Martin - daughter of Joseph B. Bryan and Sarah Margaret Wimberly/ wife of Thomas J. Martin

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. 

Diana

© 2017

Source
Family photographs and documents from the collection of Marguerite Cook Clark. Accessed April 28, 2014, September 14, 2014, and November 9 to 11, 2016. Used with permission.

From the Files of Marguerite Cook Clark: Bert and Susie Porter Ellis

On the back - Aunt Susie Ellis

On the back - Bert Ellis  Uncle Bert

Susan "Susie" Cook
Born November 29, 1834 in Jasper County, Mississippi
Died April 13, 1914 in Bienville Parish, Louisiana

Ira Robertus Ellis
Born May 15, 1829 in Mississippi
Died December 24, 1914 in Bienville Parish, Louisiana
Son of Lennon Bridges Ellis and Theresa M. Moffett

Bert and Susie Ellis was written on the back of the above photo. Marguerite Cook Clark's daughter guessed they were Mississippi family but could not positively tell the connection. I'm a sucker for a good mystery and love the search so scanned photos.

It didn't take long to find the connection. Susie was the older sister of Sophrania Pauline Porter Cook. They were the daughters of Larkin Lancelot "Landlot" and Elizabeth Bounds Porter. 

Susan Porter and Ira Robertus Ellis married sometime after September 10, 1850, as on this date, the 1850 census has Susie as single and living with her parents. In 1910, on the federal census, they reported being married for 60 years. 

Bert was reported to be a teacher on the 1870 Federal Census, a farmer in 1880, and a teacher in 1900. 

Susie and Bert lived in Arcadia in Bienville Parish at the times of their deaths and had no children. 

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. 

Diana

© 2017

Sources

Ancestry.com. Public Member Trees [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2006. Original data: Family trees submitted by Ancestry members.

Family photographs and documents from the collection of Marguerite Cook Clark. Accessed April 28, 2014, September 14, 2014, and November 9 to 11, 2016. Used with permission.

From the Files of Marguerite Cook Clark: Miss Samantha Cook

Susan Samantha "Banny" Cook
Born December 6, 1870 in Jasper County, Mississippi.
Daughter of Napoleon Bonaparte and Sophrania Pauline Porter Cook.
She died December 4, 1966 in Coushatta, Red River Parish Louisiana.
Susan Samantha Cook was survived by siblings
George Clayton Cook, Roberta "Bert" E. Cook, and Ina Cook Bryan.  

Written down the side of this clipping was
"Banny" died Dec. 4th, 1966  Would have been 96 years old Dec. 6th
Buried December 5 One day before her birthday. 

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. 

Diana

© 2017


Sources

Ancestry.com. Public Member Trees [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2006. Original data: Family trees submitted by Ancestry members.

Family photographs and documents from the collection of Marguerite Cook Clark. Accessed April 28, 2014, September 14, 2014, and November 9 to 11, 2016. Used with permission.

From the Files of Marguerite Cook Clark: Some Descendants of Millard Fillmore Cook

Son of Millard Fillmore
and Fannie Thomas Cook

I scanned Marguerite Cook Clark's photos and/or newspaper clippings pertaining to three Bienville Parish Cook families. The family of Napoleon Bonaparte and Sophronia Pauline Porter Cook (her father's immediate family), the family of Joseph W. and Josie Bryan Cook (Josie was her grandmother's sister), and the family of Millard Fillmore and Fannie Thomas Cook. 

Public Member Trees at Ancestry.com indicate that Joseph W., Napoleon Bonaparte, and Millard Fillmore Cook might be first cousins. I say might be as we should always do our own research to substantiate the facts.  

If these trees are correct, these three men are grandsons of Phillip Henry Cook, Sr. and his wife Mary Campbell Irwin. The fathers of these men would be John Hancock Cook (Napoleon Bonaparte Cook), Samuel Boggs Cook (Joseph W. Cook), and Jacob Oscar Cook (Millard Filmore Cook). 

Today's post contains obituaries of some descendants of Millard Filmore Cook and Fannie E. Thomas Cook. At Find A Grave, their children are listed as June Millard, Seaborn Arledge, Annie Laurie, Claude T., Fred F., and Herbert Clarence Cook. 

Son of Millard Fillmore
and Fannie Thomas Cook

Son of Fred F. Cook and Beatrice Wood Cook

         Daughter of Fred F. Cook and Beatrice Wood Cook

If you want to know more about the Millard Filmore Cook family, you should check out Newspapers.com (You can get a free 7-day trial.). Seaborn Arledge Cook was the editor of The Bienville Democrat. Issues from the years 1919 to 1922 can be found at this site. These issues are a virtual diary of this Cook family's comings and goings during those years. 

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. 

Diana

© 2017

Sources

Ancestry.com. Public Member Trees [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2006. Original data: Family trees submitted by Ancestry members.

Family photographs and documents from the collection of Marguerite Cook Clark. Accessed April 28, 2014, September 14, 2014, and November 9 to 11, 2016. Used with permission.

Millard Filmore Cook (1857 - 1934) - Find A Grave Memorial. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Aug. 2017. <https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=24279585>.


Newspapers.com - Historical Newspapers from 1700s-2000s.  Web. 23 Aug. 2017. <https://www.newspapers.com/>.

From the Files of Marguerite Cook Clark: Sophronia Pauline Porter Cook

Sophronia Pauline Porter Cook
Daughter of  Larkin Lancelot "Landlot" Porter
and Elizabeth Pauline Bounds

 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. 

Diana

© 2017

Source

Family photographs and documents from the collection of Marguerite Cook Clark. Accessed April 28, 2014, September 14, 2014, and November 9 to 11, 2016. Used with permission.

Sharp, Sherry. Saphronia Paulina Porter. Our Family History. Web. 13 Aug. 2017. <http://sherrysharp.com/genealogy/getperson.php?personID=I41520&tree=Roots>.

From the Files of Marguerite Cook Clark: Anne Cook Martin

Anne Cook Martin daughter of Napoleon Bonaparte Cook
and  Sophronia Pauline Porter Cook
1880 - 1965

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. 

Diana

© 2017

Source

Family photographs and documents from the collection of Marguerite Cook Clark. Accessed April 28, 2014, September 14, 2014, and November 9 to 11, 2016. Used with permission.