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Reed, Daniel, the first of the family to settle in Orleans county, was born July 26, 1786, at West Chesterfield,
Hampshire county, Mass., the son of Samuel and Betsey (Smith) Reed. Samuel served during the last three years of
the Revolution. He was a son of Ezekiel Reed. In 1803 Daniel, when only seventeen, came to Jefferson county. where
he remained one summer, then returned to Massachusetts and married Lucy Bates. The following spring he and his
wife moved to the Black River country, where he took up land and cleared a home. On account of ill health he was
compelled to return to Massachusetts. where he remained until the winter of 1812-13, then came to Orleans county
and took up sixty eight and a half acres of land in the town of Murray, to which he added later and then sold at
an advance. He became one of the leading farmers of the town. He was soon followed to Orleans county by his brothers
Samuel and Joseph and two sisters, Mrs. Betsey Nash and Mrs. Susan Steams, who later went to Ohio and Wisconsin.
Daniel Reed was a public spirited man and helped in every way to open up the new country. With two others he laid
out and cleared the direct road from Sandy Creek to Lake Ontario. He was instrumental in laying out the straight
road from Holley to the Ridge. Settlers moving into the country often found a shelter at his home until their own
log cabin was ready. As the forests were cut down and the sun shone full on the stagnant pools of water it became
very sickly. Sometimes every member of the family was sick at the same time. There were hardly well ones enough
to care for the sick in the settlement. During one fall Mr. Reed watched with the sick over thirty nights, and
often walked two miles to the sick neighbors' houses after a hard day's work. His wife died August 3, 1814, the
first death in Orleans county. She left four children: Fordice, Daniel W., Lucy and Horace, the last, a babe nine
weeks old. Leaving Fordice with his brother Samuel and taking the three youngest children and his brother's wife
to care for the babe, he retraced his steps to Massachusetts. There he married his second wife, Mercy Nash, and
returned to Murray in 1817. Their children were: Mercy and Napolean B. The hardship of a new country brought on
a lingering disease and his second wife died May 2, 1821, and in the same year he married Manila Knapp. Their children
were: Alonzo, Susan M., Samuel, Sylvester F., Nelson K.; Juliaett and Ellan R. His third wife, Marilla Reed, died
June 2, 1862, and his own death occurred February 28, 1864. In politics Mr. Reed held strong anti slavery views,
often saying "Liberty and slavery can never grow together, one will destroy the other." Although he had
never belonged to the "Underground Railroad" his sentiments were so well known by those who did, that
many a fugitive slave was sent to him for directions, counsel and aid, which was never refused. He was an organizer
and a deacon of the Holley Baptist church, which office he held at his death. He gave $600 toward the building
of the old church, besides work with men and teams. All his children lived to grow up, and most of them settled
in Orleans county. Fordice was a carpenter and settled in Murray. He married Eunice Swan. Daniel W. married Electa
Hubbard, of Massachusetts, and settled in Murray. He was a member of the old State militia and color bearer. He
was highway commissioner of the town at one time. The children of Daniel W. and Electa Reed were: George M., who
died young; Pamelia, who married John Seeley, and Fordyce D., who settled in Michigan. Daniel W. died April 1,
1885. His second wife was Martha Weatherbee. Lucy married Cyrus Stearns and settled in Murray. Horace settled in
Murray. He married Mahala Hitchcock. Napoleon B. married Czarina H. Glazier and settled in Murray. Mercy married
Owen Moffit and settled near Mukwonaga, Wis. Alonzo married Celia A. Sprague and settled in Murray. Celia A. died
March 28, 1858, and November 8, 1860, he married Abigal E. Halsenburg, Susan M. married Amos R. Sprague and settled
on Narrow's Prairie, Sauk county, Wis. Samuel married Sarah M. Partridge, of Massachusetts, and settled in Murray.
Sylvester F. married Louisa M. TJnderhilL Nelson K. settled in Ridgeway, June 1,1853. and married Julia A. Weeks,
who died May 22, 1862; and second Juliaette A. Dikeman, who died September 17, 1888. He married third Mrs. Ann
H. Smith, April 7, 1892. Juliaett married Martin C. Dawes and settled in Owosso, Mich. Mr. Dawes enlisted in the
20th Regiment, Michigan Infantry, in 1862, and served to the close of the war. He was promoted captain of Company
I, 20th Michigan. Daniel Reed and two sons. Horace and Samuel, and two grandsons, Lyman A. Reed and Sabastian Stearns,
in Company C, 105th N. Y. Volunteers, and one grandson, Marion Stearns, in the 2d Ohio Battery.
From:
Landmarks of Orleans County, New York
Edited by: Hon. Isaac C. Signor
Assisted by: H. P. Smith and others
D. Mason & Co., Publishers
Syracuse, N. Y. 1894
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