Hampton Homer Reed and Virginia Isner Reed?

After careful facial recognition consideration and estimating the date of the photo that this image was cropped from to be early-to-mid 1880s, I have concluded that these two individuals are most likely Hampton Homer Reed and perhaps his wife Virginia Isner or a visiting cousin. While I am 95% sure of this, can anyone confirm or disprove my conclusion?

If anyone has old photos of Reed or Reid family, or unknown photos from Barbour CO., Upshur Co., Taylor CO., WV and/or Rockingham Co., VA, please send them my way.

John W. Reid Confusion

It appears there is some confusion in the Civil War Records regarding John W. Reid, since it appears that two John W. Reid's fought with the Captain Carpenter's Alleghany Artilery. One was a Sargeant and the other a Private. First, Sergeant John William Reid was from Stephensburg, Frederick CO., VA, who transferred to the Alleghany Artillery after his battery led by Wilfred E. Cutshaw merged with Carpenter's in Sep 1862. John William Reid was living in Stephensburg, Frederick Co., VA in 1860 and toiled the land as a farmer, so he was clearly not a carpenter in Augusta Co., VA. Sergeant John W. Reid was living with his family in Opequon, Frederick Co., VA after the war in 1870 through at least1880, and likely lived the rest of his life in Frederick Co., not Grottoes, Rockingham Co., VA. John William Reid apparently sometimes went by the name William, and was listed on the 1880 census as J. William Reed.

I believe Private John W. Reid to be the son of William and Lucinda, or possibly a nephew. It became clear that the two John's were separate given that the Civil War Records showed event dates that conflicted with one another. For example, Private John W. Reid was imprisoned at Fort Delaware while the Sergeant was still in service. I used the Civil War Records to construct the following timeline of some of Private John W. Reid's key Civil War events.


16 Jul 1861 - Enrolled as a Private for 1 year service with Captain Edward M. Dabney’s Company C “Lechter Guard” of the VA 52nd Infantry of the Virginia Volunteers in Staunton, Augusta Co., VA. Company C was based in the Mossy Creek area.

30 Jul 1861 - Mustered in by Major M.G. Harper in Staunton.

15 Aug 1861 - Absent without leave.

Nov – Dec 1861 Absent without leave.

13 Apr 1862 - Drafted from the Augusta Militia, enlisted as a Private for 3 years of service by Captain Joseph Carpenter into the Allegheny Rough Artillery in New Market,

17 Apr 1862 - Deserted near Harrisonburg, Rockingham Co., VA.

30 Nov 1863 - Arrested by U.S. Troops in Beverly Co., WV.

6 Dec 1863 - Listed as a POW at the Atheneum Prison in Wheeling, WV. He was listed as a carpenter who last resided in Augusta Co., VA, 27 years of age, 5’10”, fair complexion, blue eyes, and dark hair. He was listed as Private of Captain Joseph Carpenter’s Company.

7 Dec 1863 - Sent by Captain W.C. Thorpe to Camp Chase in Columbus, OH.

8 Dec 1863 - Arrived at Camp Chase.

29 Feb 1864 - Transferred to Fort Delaware, Delaware.

4 Mar 1864 - Arrived at Fort Delaware.

20 Apr 1865 - Paroled by Major General E.B. Parsons near Newtown, VA.


Finally, a word on the sourcing of Private John W. Reid's birth/death information was taken from the Virginia Regimental Histories Series.

John Reid Found?

I am not certain I have found William and Lucinda's son John, but the information that I will lay out now does give me some hope.

Civil War Records indicate that a John W. Reid (b. 28 Jun 1833 - d. 6 Oct 1899) was enlisted in the Alleghany Rough Artillery on 13 April 1862 in Augusta Co., VA where he was residing and working as a carpenter. Supposedly, he deserted four days later in Harrisonburg, Rockingham Co., VA. At the time of his death he was living in Grottoes, Rockingham Co., VA. Another record indicates that in Staunton, Augusta Co., VA he enlisted in Company C of the Virginia 52nd Infantry on 16 Jul 1861.

Now this birthdate is off from the 1827 date given in the 1850 census, but we all know that it seems back then it was hard to have a consistent burthdate from record to record. That said, it still muddies the water a bit.

The rest of the information, however, is what got me excited. First, we know that William was a carpenter, so his son would likely pick up the trade.We also know that Reid/Reed family members resided in the Staunton area of Augusta Co., like Walter Newman Reed's family. Next the fact that he deserted in Harrisonburg and then died in Grottoes is significant given their proximity to McGaheysville.

Any thoughts?

Missing Children of William and Lucinda Reed

Well, now, with the probable discovery of the path of Benjamin Franklin Reed, we are down to three children of William and Lucinda whose histories are missing. From Lucinda's obituary, at the time of her death, we know that one child was still in Virginia (William Grey Reid), one child was in New Orleans (Maggie Stockton), one was in Arkansas (?), four were in West Virginia (James, Benjamin, Sarah Bartlett, and ?), and one had died prior to Lucinda (?).

The three left were Lucinda Radabaugh, Elizabeth, and John.

Since Lucinda Radabaugh's husband, Simon, remarried in 1878 in West Virginia, and we know from census records that Lucinda Radabaugh was living in 1870 in Upshur Co., we can assume that if she were living still in 1873, which we do not yet know, she can be counted as one living in West Virginia. So Lucinda was either the deceased child or living in West Virginia.

So if Lucinda Radabaugh was still living in 1873, either John or Elizabeth were the deceased child, and either John or Elizabeth was living in Arkansas. If Lucinda was deceased, of course, of John and Elizabeth...one would have been in West Virginia and one in Arkansas.

Anyone out ther have additional clues?