William Reed
and his wife Avis Chepman
and Some of Their Descendants
Fourth Generation

THOMAS⁴ REED (William³, James², William¹ ) was born at Middleboro, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, on 15 March 1722/3 a son of William and Elizabeth Reed,^[1] and died after 1790. He married at Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts on 21 October 1744 ANNA ROGERS.^[2]

It cannot be proven that Thomas Reed born at Middleboro on 15 March 1722/3 is the Thomas Reed who married Anna Rogers at Dartmouth on 21 October 1744. Alicia Crane Williams studied the evidence thoroughly, and in her article, "Reed Families of Middleborough, Swansey and Dartmouth" (Mayflower Descendant v. 40, no. 2, July 1990, pp. 123-32) concluded:

No primary documentation has been found to prove that Thomas Reed of Dartmouth was this man [Thomas Reed b. Middleboro 15 March 1722/3], but his age, his occupation (cordwainer, closely associated with the Middleborough Reed branch) and the process of elimination appear to make this connection likely. It is also possible that he may be an illegitimate son of Susanna Reed (James², William¹). ^[3]

Thomas and Anna (Rogers) Reed lived in Dartmouth, where he was described in legal documents as a yeoman and cordwainer. He purchased his homestead in Dartmouth in 1754.^[4]

The last mention of Thomas Reed in Bristol County records is dated 1779. The 1790 Census reported a household that could be this family, at Dartmouth, consisting of one adult male and one female.^[5] This household does not appear in 1800.

Thomas Reed and his wife Anna Rogers had the following children:

1. MARGARET⁵ REED b. at Dartmouth on 19 December 1745;m. at Rochester, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, on 29 November 1772 SAMUEL HATHAWAY, b. at Dartmouth on 6 July 1747, d. at on, child of Elnathan and Hester Hathaway.^[6]
2. ELIZABETH⁵ REED b. at Dartmouth on 18 February 1747 m. there on 1 June 1774 JAMES WALKER CATHELL.^[7]
3. SUSANNA⁵ REED b. at Dartmouth on 19 February 1749; m. there on 18 November 1769 SAYER BULLOCK, b. at Rehoboth, Bristol County, on 8 November 1744.^[8]
4. MARY⁵ REED b. at Dartmouth on 26 March 1752; m. there on 16 December 1769 CONSTANT MOSHER Jr..^[9]
5. RHODA⁵ REED b. at Dartmouth on 13 October 1754.^[10]
6. THOMAS⁵ REED b. at Dartmouth on 3 March 1757; m. there on 9 March 1780 SARAH SHERMAN.^[11]
7. SARAH⁵ REED b. at Dartmouth on 30 July 1759; m. there on 13 December 1781 LEMUEL BORDEN.^[12]
8. ANNA⁵ REED b. at Dartmouth on 5 January 1762.
9. LEMUEL⁵ REED b. at Dartmouth on 10 October 1764; d. there between 1 February 1849 and 2 June 1857; m. there on 23 August 1787 REBECCA MOSHER, b. there on 23 December 1767, d. there on 17 March 1844, child of John Mosher and his wife Rebecca Chase.^[13]

¹George Ernest Bowman, transcriber, Middleborough, Mass.: Births, Marriages and Deaths. Originally published in the Mayflower Descendant, v. 1-39 (1899-1937). Reproduced at American Ancestors. in Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620-1850 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2016)., v. 1, p. 34.
²Vital Records of Dartmouth, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 (Boston: New England Historical and Genealogical Society, 1929, 1929, 1930), v. 2, p. 383; Bristol County Marriages.
³Alicia Crane Williams, "Reed Families of Middleborough, Swansey, and Dartmouth," Mayflower Descendant, 40 (1990): 127.
⁴Alicia Crane Williams, "Reed Families of Middleborough, Swansey, and Dartmouth," Mayflower Descendant, 40 (1990): 130.
⁵First Census of the United States: 1790, population, Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts, roll 4, p. 194, Thomas Reed; digital images, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 13 January 2016); NARA microfilm publication M637; Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C..
⁶Vital Records of Dartmouth, Massachusetts, v. 1, pp. 114, 194. Vital Records of Rochester, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 (Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1914), 2:173.
⁷Vital Records of Dartmouth, Massachusetts, v. 1, p. 194; v. 2, p. 380.
⁸Vital Records of Dartmouth, Massachusetts, v. 1, p. 195; v. 2, p. 383. James N. Arnold ed., Vital Record of Rehoboth, 1642-1896 (Providence, Providence County, Rhode Island: Narragansett Historical Publishing Co., 1897), p. 564.
⁹Vital Records of Dartmouth, Massachusetts, v. 1, p. 195; v. 2, p. 324.
¹⁰Vital Records of Dartmouth, Massachusetts, v. 1, p. 195.
¹¹Vital Records of Dartmouth, Massachusetts, v. 1, p. 195; v. 2, p. 383.
¹²Vital Records of Dartmouth, Massachusetts, v. 1, p. 195; v. 2, p. 383.
¹³Vital Records of Dartmouth, Massachusetts, v. 1, pp. 170, 194; v. 2, p. 381; v. 3, p. 57 (private record, deaths entered in a list of members of First Christian Church in Dartmouth, as printed in "A Sketch of Elder Daniel Hix," by S. M. Andrews). "Reed Families of Middleborough, Swansey, and Dartmouth," 130.

Arnold, James N. ed. Vital Record of Rehoboth, 1642-1896. Providence, Providence County, Rhode Island: Narragansett Historical Publishing Co., 1897.

Bowman, George Ernest, transcriber. Middleborough, Mass.: Births, Marriages and Deaths. Originally published in the Mayflower Descendant, v. 1-39 (1899-1937). Reproduced at American Ancestors. in Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620-1850 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2016).

United States, Department of the Census. First Census of the United States: 1790, population. Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2016.

Vital Records of Dartmouth, Massachusetts: to the Year 1850. Boston: New England Historical and Genealogical Society, 1929, 1929, 1930.

Vital Records of Rochester, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850. Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1914.

Williams, Alicia Crane. "Reed Families of Middleborough, Swansey, and Dartmouth." Mayflower Descendant 40 (1990): 123-32.