Joseph W Reed and Matilda E Chambers (couple 12)

[Mom's paternal grandmother's maternal Grandparents]
[Sarah Obeira Breeden > Ida Eugenia Reed > Reed/Chambers]

Joseph Washington Reed
BIRTH: 8 March 1840, Weakley, Tennessee, United States
DEATH: 27 July 1925, Weakley, Tennessee, United States

Matilda Elizabeth Chambers
BIRTH: 21 January 1855, Weakley, Tennessee, United States
DEATH: 15 Aug 1926, Weakley, Tennessee, United States

Joseph Washington Reed was born 8 Mar. 1840 at Conner's Weigh Station in Weakley County, TN, as his parents Wilson Reed (1802-1870ish) and Louiza Spence (perhaps Smith? (?-1840)) were on their way from Pasquotank County, North Carolina to Missouri.  Louisa died in childbirth, and Wilson left his newborn baby with the Conner's, an upstanding family who we speculate were previous acquaintances of the Reeds, and went on to Howell County, Missouri.  To join the rest of his family who had already made it there.  The Connors had a slave who was said to have nursed her boy, Sam, on one breast, with JW on the other.  Wilson Reed is rumored to have married again and raised a second family in Howell County, MO.  The story goes that later JW went to Missouri to find his father, and got to be friends with his half-brother Alonzo, and later Alonzo came to visit him in Weakley County.

There is a Wilson and Martha Reed in the 1860 Census, who later passed away prior to 1870.  From that relationship,  the presumed half-siblings of JW are: Eliza J (1846-?), Alonzo (1848-1876), and Thomas M (1851-?).  The oddity is that these three children are recorded to have been born in Tennessee, which doesn't quite match the family lore.

[There is more information to sift through, here, as there is a W. Reed in the 1850 Census for Weakley County, and there were already many Reeds all around the area.  Supposedly, they already had relatives in Missouri and they were on their way to get or meet up with them.   For now, the Wilson Reed that I've connected with in FamilySearch matches the timeline, with the half-siblings birthdates and family lore of Alonzo coming to visit.  I will continue to poke around to see if I can find more to verify that this Wilson Reed and half-siblings are the *right* ones.]

As an adult, JW was a blacksmith by trade, and moved around a little bit in the Weakley (TN), Graves (KY), and Obion (TN) county area, all in close proximity.  He lived in Feliciana, Graves County Kentucky in 1870 as a blacksmith, then  District 16 Obion County in 1880 as a blacksmith, then District 17, Weakley, TN in 1900 farming.  By 1920 at age 79, the Census records him as no occupation (retired!), though his son William J lives 3 doors down and is a farmer.  They lived on McConnell Road.

Another part of the family lore about J.W. Reed was that he was a 'valiant soldier in the army of the Southern Confederacy', and that he was later buried with his badge from the Civil War.  He was in the 9th Tennessee Infantry Regiment, and fought in battles such as Shiloh and Stones River.

 The story is told that he was at Belmont-Columbus, KY, with his battalion in 1865.  He was sitting behind a log eating a can of sardines.  It seems that a cannon jammed, blew up, and killed 4 or 5 men.  He walked to Shiloh and was shot just before Captain Johnson got killed.  Pirtle, Tom, Franklin, and Will Baukum pulled him off the battlefield, put him in a boxcar, and sent him down the Mississippi.  He had a guinea ball 2-3 inches into his hip.  Joe Mack Reed used to sit in his lap and JW would tell him about it...and Joe Mack would feel around for the guinea ball, which by the time JW died, had worked it's way into his thigh.

It was said that he drank too much....he always said that he retired about 50 and started rocking his last 15 or 20 years.  He quit drinking when he quit working.

His first wife Victoria Scofield ( they married in Nov. 1865) had 3 children.  Martha Olena "Lena" (1866-1896), Georgia Victoria (1868-?), and Joseph Wilson (1871-1872) 1. Georgia Victoria, who married John C. Stone May 9, 1899, and Martha Olena who married James I . Carter, Jan. 12, 1893. Olena had no children.  Victoria Scofield died of TB, as did their son, Joseph Wilson Reed, who died in infancy and was buried in KY.

After the death of Victoria, JW Reed later married Matilda Elizabeth Chambers 12 Jan. 1876 by James Pirtle.  Matilda had been raised in Civil District 17, the sixth of nine children to James Wesley Chambers (1821-1882) and Margaret Horton Lacewell (1822-1880).  Her parents had been children of some of the very first settlers in West Tennessee, born there soon after land grants were made available in 1818.  (Post forthcoming on land grants and settling West Tennessee.)

They ended up settling back in Civil District 17 (just north of Latham), where they lived and raised their family.

They had six children ( including Ida who married James Priestley Breeden, parents of Obeira, who married Everett Shanklin).

Ida Eugenia (1877-1953)
Samuel James (1879-?)
William Joseph (1882-1975)
Martin Alonzo (1884-1968)
Margaret Louisa (1887-1977)
Minnie Ina (1890-1977)

 Joseph Washington Reed died July 27, 1925 at age 85.  He was buried with his badge from the Civil War.   Matilda was a member of the Methodist Church in Palmersville, and was later buried there after her death on 15 August, 1926 at age 71.

From his Obituary:

Joseph Washington Reed was born March 18, 1840; died July 27, 1925; aged 85 years, four months, and nine days.  In November, 1865, he was married to Victoria Scofield, who preceded him in death many years.  To this union were born three children-- a son, who died in infancy, and two daughters, Mrs. J. I. Carter, and Mrs. J. C. Stone, both deceased.  On Jan. 12, 1876, he married Elizabeth CHambers, who, with their children-- Messrs. Sam, Will and Mart Reed and Mrs. J. P. Breeden, Mrs Cecil Hall and Mrs. Roy Brown--their companions and a number of grand children, survive to mourn the loss of this loved one.  

Uncle Joe was a valiant soldier in the army of the Southern Confederacy, a loyal citizen in his community and a genial, obliging neighbor.  Truly it may be said of him that he numbered his friends by his acquaintances.  He did not unite with any church, but made a public profession of his faith in Christ in August, 1924.  

All that loving hands could do to relieve his suffering was done by his faithful children and patient, loving wife, but the Lord whom Uncle Joe trusted claimed him, and his spirit gently winged its flight back to God who gave it.  Now, all who love the memory of this dear departed one and all who trusted in the mercies of a  loving Savior, should rejoice that there is now no more suffering, but eternal rest and peace for Uncle Joe--

His Neice, Mrs. R. F. Farmer.