Benjamin F. Reed/Reid (b. c1805)

1850 Augusta Co. District Two and a Half Census

Benj Reid - 45 yrs - Carpenter
Sally [Sarah Payne] - 46 yrs
William [A.] - 21 yrs - Carpenter
Magdaline - 18 yrs
[George] Washington - 16 yrs - Carpenter
John - 12 yrs
Matilda - 11 yrs
Nancy - 9 yrs

1860 Augusta Co. North Subdivision Census - Burke's Mill P.O.
Benjm Reed - 64yrs [54] - Carpenter
S[ally] E. - 66yrs [56]
G[eorge] W[ashington] - 26yrs - Carpenter
J[ohn] W. - 22yrs
N[ancy] E. - 18yrs

1870 Augusta Co. District 3 Census - Mount Sidney P.O.
John W. Reed - 32yrs - Merchant
Benjamin - 64yrs - Carpenter
Sarah - 60yrs [66]
Nancy E. - 24 yrs

Matilda may have married a Francis E. Johnston, living in Augusta Co. District 1 in 1860 with child Samuel Johnston (b. c1859). A Jane Reed was living with them at the time.

Orange Co. Location

When James Harrison Reed's widowed grandmother Dicy remarried to Henry Teel in 1813, the minister was a John Goss. During this time period, Rev. Goss preached at the Blue Run Baptist Church near Somerset, Orange Co., VA, which was about six miles southwest of the Orange Co. Courthouse. As such, I am thinking that the family likely lived in the southwestern portion of Orange Co.

Furthermore, Dicy's son Benjamin married a Sarah Payne in Orange Co., and the Payne family, which included President James Madison's wife, Dolley, lived in the vicinity of Orange Courthouse and Montpelier.

Lastly, a lot of Newman family lived in this area and Benjamin had a grandson named Walter Newman Reed, which of course could be for some relation to the Newmans in southwest Orange Co. [Note: Walter was born c1859 in Augusta Co. to Benjamin Reed's son William A. Reed (b. c1829), his mother was Martha E. Smith (b. c1827).]

Rockingham Co. Reed Land

From the following record, we may be able to identify the general location of Reed property in Rockingham County, perhaps even that which may have been granted for service during the Revolutionary War. Per below, it appears that William G. Reid may have sold at the very least the mineral rights to his property. It would make sense, as the oldest son, he would have likely inherited, at least the largest portion of, the land that his father owned. We know that his younger brother James Harrison Reed lost his holdings due to the Civil War, but it isn't certain whether or not this land was connected. Of course, it is mere speculation that the tract mentioned below is the land of William G. and James' father and grandfather. It is right on the border of Greene County, which was part of Orange County until 1838. As William G. and James were both born in Orange Co. and their parents were married in Orange Co., it is plausible that they lived right on the border of Orange and Rockingham Co.

Based on the neighbors of William Reed listed in the 1840 Rockingham Co. Census, it appears that the family was already living in the town of McGaheysville. Also there were no Reed/Reid/Read names listed in the 1840 Greene Co. Census. Finally, in 1830, William's mother Dicy and brother Benjamin were in Orange Co. and William was in Rockingham Co. [Note: Dicy was born between 1770-1780.]

Also a certain tract of land containing one hundred and five A 105 acres No 20 lying between Swift Run gap and Simmon's gap on the Blue Ridge mountains adjoining the lands of Asa Baugher, Albert Shillett and others the same being conveyed by William G Reed to the National Security and Improvement Company and by said company to the Royal Land Company of Virginia which said deeds are duly recorded in the clerk's office of Rockingham county in book 13 of deeds The Royal Land Com'y of Virginia Its Purposes and Charters: Its Anthracite Coal, Iron Ore, Other Mineral Timber Lands: and Its Narrow-guage Railroads Form Chesapeake Bay to Pittsburg and the West. Their Condition, Advantages and Prospects as a Security for Its First Mortgage Seven Per Cent. Gold Bonds. With Information in Relation to the Bituminous and Anthracite Coals, Hematite, Specular and Magnetic Iron Ores ... By Royal Land Company of Virginia

Tracts 16-64 aggregating 5,652.5 acres of iron and timber lands on the Blue Ridge and Massanutton mountains and their slopes in Rockingham county Virginia leased for ninety nine years with privilege of renewal for mining purposes for a royalty of ten cents per ton of 2,240 pounds on all minerals removed The Royal Land Com'y of Virginia Its Purposes and Charters: Its Anthracite Coal, Iron Ore, Other Mineral Timber Lands: and Its Narrow-guage Railroads Form Chesapeake Bay to Pittsburg and the West. Their Condition, Advantages and Prospects as a Security for Its First Mortgage Seven Per Cent. Gold Bonds. With Information in Relation to the Bituminous and Anthracite Coals, Hematite, Specular and Magnetic Iron Ores ... By Royal Land Company of Virginia

McGaheysville

According to the "Virginia: A Guide to the Old Dominion", McGaheysville in the early 19th century was a manufacturing center that provided local needs for clothes, shoes, hats, furniture and wagons. This may have been the attraction to our William Reed, who was himself a carpenter.