Avis Read

Avis Deacon 19 was a passenger of the ship Alice from London, 1635 (http://www.olivetreegenealogy.com/ships/tova_alice1635.shtml)

Avis DEACON (CHEPMAN?) was born in 1616 in Of Knole, Somerset, , England. She died after 19 December 1670 at the age of 54 in Weymouth, Norfolk, Massachusetts.1068 She has Ancestral File Number HLTD-61.

Spouse: William READ. Avis DEACON (CHEPMAN?) and William READ were married on 08 October 1635. Children were: Margaret READ, Esther READ, Ruth READE, Thomas REED, Mary REED, John REED, James REED.

Widow Avis Reed received a grant of 10 acres in the First Division and 30 acres in the Second Division of land in Weymouth on 14 December, 1663. The last mention of her in a written record was on 19 December, 1670, when a neighbor's deed made reference to her bordering land. She died some time after that date.

Came to America in the "Alice" in 1635

Widow Avis Reed received a grant of 10 acres in the First Division and 30 acres in the Second Division of land in Weymouth on 14 December, 1663. The last mention of her in a written record was on 19 December, 1670, when a neighbor's deed made reference to her bordering land. She died some time after that date. Children

1. MARGRET2 REED bp. at Long Sutton, co. Somerset, England, on 20 January, 1635/6 m. on 11 May, 1657 JOHN VINING
2. HANNAH2 REED b. in 1637
3. RUTH2 REED b. in 1642 (Aldridge, 13) d. at Weymouth on 17 August, 1663 (record literally reads: 18th month, 17th day, 1662) (VR Wey 2:371) m. at Weymouth on 19 December, 1662, JOHN WHITMAN Jr.
4. THOMAS2 REED b. at Weymouth, abt 1645
5. MARY2 REED b. in 1647 d. at Weymouth on 16 April, 1655 unmarried
6. JOHN2 REED b. prob. at Weymouth, abt. 1649 d. at Dighton, Ma., on 13 January, 1720/21 (VR Taun 3:171) Residence: Taunton, Ma. m. BETHIAH FRYE
7. WILLIAM2 REED b. bef 1655
8. JAMES2 REED b. at Weymouth bet 1657-1660

Links

• http://maxfield5.tripod.com/reedw1.html Sources
• Aldridge, Bertha Bortle Beal. Reed Descendants: Thirteen Generations, Including the Ancestors of Paul Reed 1605-1955; Also Other Lines of Descendants of His Immigrant Ancestor William Reed, Born 1605 England. Batavia, NY: LaVerne Cooley, 1955. P. 11. (abbreviated above as Aldridge).
• Chamberlain, George Walter. History of Weymouth, Massachusetts. Part 2 (vols. 3 and 4). Weymouth, Ma.: Weymouth Historical Society,1923. P. 568.
• Savage, James. Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England. Boston, 1860. Vol 3, P.519
• Vital Records of Taunton, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850.
• Vital Records of Weymouth, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850. Boston: NEHGS, 1910.

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Biography

Avis Chapman AKA Chepman (variously called Avis Deacon) Reed (spelled "Reed" in The American Genealogist article by Robert Charles Anderson)<ref name="TAG53">Anderson, Robert Charles, "Ancestry of President Calvin Coolidge" The American Genealogist. (Vol 53, Page 165) New Haven, CT: D. L. Jacobus, 1937-. (Online database accessed February 4, 2015. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009 - .)</ref>

Caution, Multiple William Read/Reeds

There were two William Reed/Reads in early Weymouth. They have been badly mixed by many authors, and this confusion has also found its way online. Please see the profile for Avis' husband, William Reed, for further information. The other William Read married Susan Hayme and Ruth Crooke.

Robert C. Anderson in his Great Migration, warns that there were multiple William Reads living in Boston and Weymouth at the same time, and that their biographies are so confused that Anderson chose not to deal with the problems.<ref name="And">Anderson, Robert C., Great Migration 1634-1635, R-S. Page 30 (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2012.) Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009, accessed August 24, 2014</ref> He said the works of Pope and Savage "muddled the records."<ref name="And"/> The one work he recommends is by Donald Lines Jacobus', The Granberry Family and Allied Families, Including the Ancestry of Helen (Woodward) Granberry.<ref name="And"/> He called Weymouth History by George Walter Chamberlain "less successful, but still useful," and Jacob Whittemore Reed's History of the Reed Family in Europe and America, (Boston 1861) "worthless."<ref name="And"/>

Uncertain Origin

Avis is described as "of Knole, County Somerset, England" in The Granberry Family and Allied Families ..., by Jacobus.<ref name="Jacobus">Jacobus, Donald L., and Waterman, Edgar F., The Granberry Family and Allied Families, Including the Ancestry of Helen (Woodward) Granberry ..." (Pages 301-02) Hartford: E. F. Waterman, 1945, HathiTrust.org accessed February 4, 2015</ref> Other than this, very little else is known about her early life. Current genealogists agree that her maiden name was Chapman (or "Chepman" in marriage record). However, some older works reported her maiden name as Deacon.

Birth date 1617 is a guess, based on marriage in 1635.

Avis Deacon as the name for the wife of William Reed originated with J. L. Reed's, Reed Genealogy Descendants of William Reade, of Weymouth, Mass., from 1635-1902 (1901), and was repeated in Reed Descendants: Thirteen Generations ... (1955) by Aldridge.<ref name="Kinney">Kinney, Greg, "Probably Avis Chapman - not Avis Deacon" GenForum July 22, 2000, accessed February 8, 2015</ref> J. L. Reed attributes "family legend" for his information. The association was made when it was found that Avis Deacon immigrated on the "Alice" in 1635, and her twin brother, Thomas, came over on the "Assurance" "with William Reed."<ref name="Overmire">Overmire, Larry, The Ancestry of Overmire Tifft Richardson Bradford Reed citing History of Weymouth, February 4, 2015, accessed February 8, 2015</ref> This is an obvious case of mistaking one William Reed/Read for another.<ref name="Kinney">Kinney, Greg, "Probably Avis Chapman - not Avis Deacon" GenForum July 22, 2000, accessed February 8, 2015</ref> In fact the Reads who were aboard the Assurance were expressly on board "to be transported to Virginea," and so was Avis Deacon! The 1635 voyage of the Alice also went to Virginia<ref name="ReedAH">Reed, Alanson H., The William Reade Memorial The Reade Record No. 1-16 Boston: Reade Society for Genealogical Research, 1904, (No. 2 1909, Extra number A, Page 3) accessed February 8, 2015</ref>

Family

"Avis Chepman" married 26 October 1635 at Long Sutton, Somersetshire, England to William Reed.<ref name="TAG53">Anderson, Robert Charles, "Ancestry of President Calvin Coolidge" The American Genealogist. (Vol 53, Page 165) New Haven, CT: D. L. Jacobus, 1937-. (Online database accessed February 4, 2015. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009 - .)</ref>

Children<ref name="Maxfield">Maxfield, Charles A., Some of the Descendants of William and Avis Reed of Weymouth accessed February 8, 2015.</ref>

1. Margaret Reed bpt 20 Jan 1635/6 Long Sutton; mar 11 May 1657 to John Vining
2. Hannah Reed b 1637; mar 2 Dec 1658 Weymouth to Nicholas Whitmarsh<ref name="TAG53"/>
3. Ruth Reed b 1642 (Aldridge, p13), d 17 Aug 1663 Weymouth; mar 19 Dec 1662 John Whitman
4. Thomas Reed b c. 1645 Weymouth
5. Mary Reed b 1647 Weymouth, d 16 April 1655
6. John Reed d 13 Jan 1720/2 Dighton, MA; mar Bethia Frye, daughter of George Fry/Frye of Taunton
7. William Reed b bef 1650 prob at Long Sutton, Somerset, England
8. James Reed b betw 1657-60 Weymouth

Note: The William Read born 15 December 1649 is attributed by Anderson to the other William Read of Weymouth.

Immigration

Avis and her family immigrated some time before William was made a freeman at Weymouth on 18 May 1653.<ref name="Jacobus"/> It is usually said that the family probably arrived at Weymouth about 1650.

Weymouth

Avis continued to live at Weymouth after William had died. On 6 February, 1659/60, the widow Avis Reed was granted a swamp lot.<ref name="Kinney">Kinney, Greg, "Probably Avis Chapman - not Avis Deacon" GenForum July 22, 2000, accessed February 8, 2015</ref>

Death and Legacy

Avis died after 1670 at Weymouth, Suffolk (later Norfolk) County, Massachusetts.<ref name="TAG53"/> 1483

William died between 11 January 1657/8 and 6 April 1658, at Weymouth, Suffolk (later Norfolk) County, Massachusetts.<ref name="TAG53"/> On the January date, William purchased some lumber in Weymouth, and on the April date, the town approved the widow Avis Reed's request to start a front-yard garden.<ref name="Kinney"/>

Some of her descendants are Anna Mary Robertson, aka "Grandma Moses," President Calvin Coolidge and Vice President Dan Quayle are descendants.

Sources

<references /> See also:

• Aldridge, Bertha Bortle Beal, Reed Descendants: Thirteen Generations, Including the Ancestors of Paul Reed 1605-1955; Also Other Lines of Descendants of His Immigrant Ancestor William Reed, Born 1605 England. Batavia, NY: LaVerne Cooley, 1955. P. 11-13
• Cutter, William Richard, New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of Commonwealths and the Founding of a Nation. (Page: 2081) New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1915.
• Jacobus, Donald L., and Waterman, Edgar F., The Granberry Family and Allied Families, Including the Ancestry of Helen (Woodward) Granberry (Page 297-99) Hartford: E. F. Waterman, 1945, HathiTrust.org accessed January 20, 2015 (recommended by Anderson).
• Reed, Jacob Whitmore, The Reed Family in Europe & America. (Pg 310) Boston: 1861, Archive.org accessed February 8, 2015 (Note: called "worthless" by Robert Charles Anderson).
• Reed, John L., Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirsof Worcester County Massachusetts. by New York: The Lewis publishing company, 1901.
• Reed, John Ludovicus, The Reed Genealogy -Descendants of William Reade of Weymouth, Massachusetts From 1635 to 1902. Baltimore, MD: The Lord Baltimore Press, 1901, pages: 5,14,16.