John Wesley Reed

1804 - 1889  (84 years)

• Name	John Wesley Reed
  Born	25 Jul 1804	Rogersville, Hawkins Co. TN
  Gender	Male
  Died	09 Jun 1889	Avondale, McDowell Co. WV
  Notes	Source: "Reed and Related Families of Tazewell County, Virginia and McDowell County, West Virginia", by Juanita S Halstead. In a hillside cemetery overlooking the site of the old Reed homestead on Crane Creek in McDowell Co., WVA are the graves of John Wesley Reed, Sr and his wife Nancy (nee Christian) Reed. The tomstones at these graves are still legible and reveal the following vital data: "J. W. Reed, Sr., born at Rogersville, Tennessee, July 25, 1804, died June 18, 1888; Nancy, wife of J. W. Reed, born October 18, 1812, died December 2, 1887." Avondale, WVA is now the post office address at this location; Amanuel Reed, the youngest son of J. W. and Nancy Reed, was the first postmaster there. A search for additional data pertaining to John Wesley's birth in Rogersville, Hawkins County, TN proved to be fruitless. Apparently many of the early records for that county had been lost some years ago. Every source searched in Hawkins County failed to be helpful. Family lore says that John Wesley Reed was raised by a Hoover family in Kentucky---one cousin said that he was told that this was near Lexington. There were several Hoovers in Jessamine County, KY, a county contiguous to Fayette County in which Lexington is located, about the time that John Wesley was growing from infancy to boyhood, but no connection could be established with these families. A search of the Floyd County, KY records located some court minutes in re John Wesley Reed. In 1816, when John Wesley was twelve (12) years of age, Abraham Beavers was ordered by the court to show cause why he should not take John Reed into his care as an apprentice to learn the shoe making trade. Later, minutes show that Abraham did take him in. This blends in with family lore in that Amanuel Reed, aforementioned son of John Wesley, used to make the shoes for members of his family. Apparently this knowledge was handed down from John Wesley to his sons. Another record in the Floyd County minutes in 1821 indicates that John Wesley has left Abraham Beavers, and an order was issued for his return. At that time, he was referred to as "John Reed "alias "Hoover." This certainly proves he was using the name "Hoover" part of the time; and it also indicates that family lore was correct in saying that he was "raised by Hoovers in Kentucky." We must remember, at this point, that in 1816 he was a 12-year old boy and ready to begin to learn a trade. But where was he during the first 12 years of his life? No additional court minutes could be found with reference to his leaving Abraham Beavers. Those of us in the family had been told through the years that he left where he was living in KY because of ill-treatment, and he would not return to KY even though he had told some of the family that he probably had an inheritance due him in that state. So far, no further records have been found for him in KY. Additional research is in process now to see if we can pick up his trail in KY after 1821. He did make his way to Tazewell County, VA where, on 30 June 1830, he married Nancy Christian, a daughter of Thomas Christian and Louisa (nee Harman) Christian---this ceremony was performed by William McGuire. There is one John Reed found in Tazewell County records in 1805 when a litigation is filed between this John Reed and Canfield Taylor. Since we know that our John Reed was born in 1804 in Rogersville, TN, this had to have been another John Reed---and, there were other Reeds in Tazewell County who were related to Lyles Dolsberry. When Hannah Harrison's property was sold on 17 July 1830, our John Reed made two purchases from this estate. One can easily surmise from this that he bought items which he and Nancy needed to set up housekeeping. In December 1834, John Reed was chosen as a magistrate for Tazewell County, VA. This seems to indicate that he was respected by county residents because in those days the position of magistrate was held in higher esteem than what it is today. He had accumulated fairly large holdings in real estate---records of land grants have been found to substantiate this fact. While this land, at that time, was in Tazewell County, in 1858 when McDowell became a county, John Wesley and his family, for the most part, were now residents of this (McDowell) new county. Before he died in 1888, he found himself in a new state because WVA became a state in 1863. He and Nancy had several children and their history will be covered in the "Reed Family History" now being compiled by this writer. The parentage of John Wesley is still lost in the pages of time, but it is the hope of this writer that the right page will be turned one of these days to reveal the answer to this puzzle.
  Person ID	I9905	Master File
  Last Modified	19 Apr 2012

  
  

  Family	Nancy Jane CHRISTIAN,   b. 3 Oct 1812, Sinking Waters, Tazewell Co. VA ,   d. 2 Dec 1887, Avondale, McDowell Co., WV  (Age 75 years)
  Married	13 Jun 1830	Tazewell Co. VA
  	U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 Name: Nancy Christian, born in VA in 1812. Spouse Name: John Wesley Reed, born in TN in 1804. Marriage Year: 1830 Marriage State: VA Virginia, Marriages, 1785-1940 Name: John Reed Spouse's Name: Nancy Christian Event Date: 13 Jun 1830 Event Place: Tazewell, Virginia Indexing Project (Batch) Number: M01695-4 System Origin: Virginia-EASy GS Film number: 34214 Reference ID: Page 103
  Children	1. Jackson Reed,   b. 29 May 1831, Tazewell Co. VA   2. Nancy Jane Reed,   b. 04 Dec 1832, Tazewell Co. VA ,   d. 11 Jan 1911, Avondale, McDowell Co. WV  (Age 78 years)   3. John Lindsey Reed,   b. 17 Mar 1834, Tazewell Co. VA ,   d. 1850, Victor, Iowa Co. IA  (Age 15 years)   4. Daniel Reed,   b. 02 Oct 1835, Tazewell Co. VA ,   d. 1850  (Age 14 years)   5. Wesley Reed,   b. 10 Jun 1837, Tazewell Co. VA   6. Mathias Harman Reed,   b. 01 Mar 1839, Tazewell Co. VA ,   d. 1843, Tazewell Co. VA  (Age 3 years)   7. Thomas Mastin Reed,   b. 13 Feb 1841, Tazewell Co. VA ,   d. 1843, Tazewell Co. VA  (Age 1 years)   8. Elias Friendly Reed,   b. 19 Jun 1843, Tazewell Co. VA ,   d. 14 Jan 1844, Tazewell Co. VA  (Age 0 years)   9. Louisa Reed,   b. 30 Dec 1844, Tazewell Co. VA   10. Amanuel REED,   b. 09 Nov 1849, Tazewell Co. VA ,   d. 08 Jul 1923, McClure, Dickenson Co. VA  (Age 73 years)   11. Henry James Reed,   b. 11 Aug 1847, Tazewell Co. VA   12. Moses David Reed,   b. 31 Mar 1852, Tazewell Co. VA ,   d. 05 Jul 1854, Tazewell Co. VA  (Age 2 years)
  Last Modified	20 Feb 2014
  Family ID	F6481	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart