John Osborne Reed (1894-1965)

John Osborne Reed was born on May 8, 1894, a son of John William Cook Reed and Nan Jerusha Beard.  He was born in Barnwell County (in a section of what is now Allendale County) and grew up in Barnwell, South Carolina.  He was my grandfather. 

 The photo above was taken on January 24, 1962, shortly after Granddaddy retired from the South Carolina Highway Department where he spent his entire career as a Civil Engineer. 

Osborne as a teenager, about 1910

Osborne's Portrait as a Junior at the University of South Carolina in 1921 

As a Senior at USC in 1922

Osborne's senior year entry in the USC year book in 1922.  The "little trained nurse" referred to was Carrie Belle Strickland.  

Osborne entered the University of South Carolina in the fall of 1916.  He registered for the draft on June 5, 1917.  

Ancestry.com. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.  Registration Location: Barnwell County, South Carolina; Roll: 1852495.

Osborne served in the United States Navy in World War I.  For more information on his service, click here. 




After the war, Osborne returned to USC in the fall of 1919.  

My grandmother told me that the first time she saw Osborne Reed, she thought he was the ugliest man she had ever seen!  He had been working and was disheveled and dirty, and his red hair and freckles did not appeal to her at all.  

That feeling did not last long.  By February 3, 1922, they were issued marriage license number 12627 in Richland County, SC.  They were married at Tabernacle Baptist Church, Columbia, SC, 1517 Gregg Street at the corner of Taylor and Gregg Streets.  (A Benedict College Community Development Building is located there now.)

Carrie Belle Strickland was a daughter of David Newton Strickland (1850-1918) and Martha Ann Cupstid (1855-1933).  She grew up in Swansea, SC, in the Bull Swamp area.  

 Carrie Belle Strickland 

(photo taken abt 1917 at Southland Studio 

in Birmingham, AL)

Carrie's nursing training was at St. Vincent's Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama.

Miss Carrie Belle Strickland, Registered Nurse

Carrie Strickland 
(photo dated 9/20/1920)

 The Reed Family about 1944

L-R, back:  Bob, Florrie, Carolyn, Bill

L-R front: Joe, Osborne, Carrie

 Relaxing on their lawn about 1950

 

 Osborne and Carrie's first grandchildren were born on July 16, 1948:  

John Osborne Reed, III, and 

James McLeod Reed (my brothers). 

Granddaddy with John, Pete, and Jim about 1951.  

On the front steps with Granddaddy are John, Marilyn, Jim, and Pete, about 1952

Grandmama was wonderful about labeling her photos.  

Lots of Reeds at Christmas Time 1958:  Left to Right, Front:  John, Ellen, Mary Ella holding Cindy; Seated on couch:  Pete, Marilyn, Grandmama holding Eddie, Granddaddy, Jim

Standing in back:  Phil, Dianna.

In this picture taken about 1964, the loving look Granddaddy gives here says it all.  He still remembered that "little trained nurse."  

Granddaddy died on March 30, 1965.  He is buried at Lexington Memorial Gardens in Lexington, SC.  

 

Grandmama Reed died on August 27, 1983.  She is buried at Lexington Memorial Gardens, too.