Genealogy Jottings

This past week I traveled to Virginia on a sad journey to attend the memorial service for my nephew Tyler William Reed (1988-2014). He died at too young an age, just twenty-five. He had no children.

With him, the line of male Reeds descending from my grandfather, Owen Herbert Reed (1896-1935), has “daughtered out”. I have two Reed brothers, but one has never married and the other is left with two adult daughters. We have no Reed first cousins.

Nevertheless, we can find other more distantly-related male Reeds out there. The line continues through a couple of my grandfather’s brothers. Our Reed name will live on despite the terrible tragedy of Tyler’s death.

We have survived such losses before. Previous generations in Coles County, IL also felt the sting of the unexpected death of a promising young man. Like me, the aunts of these Reeds mourned their untimely passing:

• Albert M. Reed (1866-1890) the youngest son of my great-great grandfather Caleb Reed, died at age 23 after an illness,
• Daniel T. Reed (1836-1859) and William Fred Reed (1844-1875), Caleb Reed’s nephews, died at ages 23 and 28, respectively, and
• William Reed (1822-1845), Caleb Reed’s younger brother, died of unknown causes at age twenty-three.

Those left behind sadly wonder why we had to lose all these men before they had the chance to live their adult lives. It seems so unfair. We search for answers. Perhaps my sorrowful brother, speaking this week at his only son’s memorial service, offered some explanation when he said, “Father Knows Best”.