Genealogy Jottings

Last week I mentioned a mysterious boy in the Reed household in 1855. I remarked that Thomas B. Reed would have been the right age for this boy, but family records show that Thomas had died before 1855. Interestingly, family records show a birth and death date discrepancy for this child. According to Michael Hayden’s book The Reeds of Ashmore, Thomas was born 1850, died 11 April 1851, and was buried in the Reed cemetery. The appendix to the book, however, includes a photocopy of the family pages from the Bible that belonged to Thomas’ parents, Caleb and Jane Reed. The pages list Thomas B. b. 19 May 1853, d. 12 April 1854, three years after the dates listed by Hayden. Which set of dates is correct? Hayden does not state the source for his information. On the Bible page, the first three deaths span a 10-year period and are written in the same hand. From a photocopy, I cannot analyze the ink to determine whether the entries were made the same day. If the birth and death were recorded 10 years after the fact, a mistake is not unlikely. How can I resolve this? I wonder whether Thomas has a cemetery marker or if his death was listed in a local newspaper. I will add these research tasks to my “To Do” list.

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