Thomas REED

Other Events and Attributes:

• Will: 04 Jan 1752
• Will Proved: 13 Mar 1758

Thomas married Mary OLMSTEAD on 09 May 1694 in Norwalk, Fairfield, Connecticut, USA. Mary (daughter of John OLMSTEAD and Mary BENEDICT) was born about 1675. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Mary REED was born on 02 May 1695 in Norwalk, Fairfield, Connecticut, USA; died on 19 Jan 1792 in Stamford, Fairfield, Connecticut, USA.
2. Eunice REED was born on 26 Feb 1696/7 in Norwalk, Fairfield, Connecticut, USA.
3. Thomas REED was born on 07 May 1699 in Norwalk, Fairfield, Connecticut, USA.
4. John REED was born on 07 Aug 1701 in Norwalk, Fairfield, Connecticut, USA.
5. Elizabeth REED was born on 07 Oct 1703 in Norwalk, Fairfield, Connecticut, USA.
6. Ann REED was born on 06 Jul 1706 in Norwalk, Fairfield, Connecticut, USA; died on 09 Feb 1709/10.
7. Temperance REED was born on 16 Oct 1708 in Norwalk, Fairfield, Connecticut, USA.
8. Elias REED was born on 10 Mar 1711 in Norwalk, Fairfield, Connecticut, USA.
9. Nathan REED was born on 13 Aug 1713 in Norwalk, Fairfield, Connecticut, USA.

Notes:

Name:
The immigrant Reed ancestor was Captain John reed, who was born in England in 1633. In the English revolution he was for some time an officer in Cromwell's army. Born and raised in the tumult of that upheaval in behalf of representative government it is not surprising that he caught the full force of its spirit, and at the earl age of sixteen he became a soldier, rendering important service to the cause.

A souvenir of this service which his descendants would hold priceless could they now recover it--the sword he wore--was preserved in the family for more than a century, but was finally lost sight of.

All traditions agree that he was eminent for the strong will and high-toned moral character for which Cromwell's officers were renowned. He was from Cornwall, England, and is supposed o have belonged to the large family of Reeds in Dorsetshire, one of whom, Col. John Reed, is mentioned in the parliamentary records as having held the Castle of Pool against the King's army.

It was well known that men who had been prominent in the Cromwell regime found England to be an unsafe place for such as they as soon as the throne was re-established in 1660, and this may have been what decided him to emigrate. Coming to this country in 1660 he settled first at Providence, Rhode Island, where he married Mrs. Ann Derby, a widow who had three children by her first husband, Francis Derby, and she became the mother of John Reed's five children.

He was doubtless a man of considerable means, and in 1684 he removed to Norwalk, Connecticut, having purchased a large tract of land there. In time the locality took its name from his family, and became known as "Reed's Farms." Establishing himself in the western part of the town he built his house on a favorable site a short distance easterly of the Five Mile River, a creek which forms the western boundary of the town. it stood on the north side of the old post road, and nearly two miles from Long Island Sound. the site is nearly four miles west of what is now the city of South Norwalk.

After the death of his wife, the date of which is not recorded, John Reed married again, this time also a widow, a Mrs. Scofield of Stamford, Connecticut. he died in 1730 at the age of ninety-seven, and was buried in his own field.

John married Ann ?. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]