Serendipitous Photo

I can't resist sharing this montage I created quite by accident this week.  I was viewing the video of my sister created by the funeral home last August, and as one picture faded into the other, I hit PrtScr and captured this wonderful shot.  

The older picture was taken in the Spring of 1974.  The more recent one was taken about two years ago.  Both are excellent likenesses of my sister Ellen and her husband Henry.  One is from the beginning of their life together, and the other is towards the end.  I just love it! 

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.

John William Cook Reed (1860-1928)

John William Cook Reed (1860-1928) was the oldest son of James Henry Reed and Mary A. Cook and a great-grandson of Samuel and Mary Reed.  In 1988, he married Nan Jerusha Beard (1861-1935).  Nan was a daughter of Thomas Beard and Catherine "Kate" Chitty.  They are my great-grandparents.  

JWC and Nan Reed about 1920

JWC Reed (in hat) is seated beside Nannie.  In front are their sons Osborne (my grandfather), Rupert (in glasses), and Harold.  Standing in the back is Mary Louise Beard (1852-1935), Nannie's sister.  

The Sons:  Rupert Lide Reed (1892-1965), John Osborne Reed (1894-1965), Harold William Reed (1898-1941). 

JWC and Nan had twin daughters born December 11, 1888.  One apparently died at birth.  Florrie Mae Reed was almost five years old when she died on October 3, 1893.  The twins are buried at Restland Cemetery in Bamberg, South Carolina. 

Nan Jerusha Beard Reed

Thank you to Cousin Brad Wise (5-great grandson of Samuel and Mary) for this photo of JWC Reed and his son Harold taken in the 1920s.  We are told this was their general store.  

1961 Reunion of Descendants of 
JWC and Nannie Reed

at Barnwell State Park.

The two gentlemen in the center are Osborne and Rupert.  

To the left of my grandfather is my grandmother Carrie and then Lula Walters Reed (Aunt Lou), Uncle Rupert's wife. 

Hattie Perry Reed, Uncle Harold's widow, is to the right of Uncle Rupert sitting on the arm of the chair where her mother Edna Perry is seated.  

That's me behind and between Granddaddy and Uncle Rupert.

James Henry Reed (1826-1901)

James Henry Reed was the oldest son of John and Julia Odom Reed and a grandson of Samuel and Mary Clark Reed.  

He was my great-great-grandfather. 

 James married Mary A. Cook about 1859.

The handwriting is my grandfather's.  I have learned in my research that James's wife's name was Mary, not Martha.  

These portraits were identified and entrusted to my care by my grandmother Carrie Strickland Reed around 1978.  Two more portraits she identified that day are below.  

Grandmother said that this couple was John and Cintha Beard and that they were the parents of Nan Jerusha Beard Reed, my great-grandmother.  (Grandmother spelled "Cintha" twice for me to make sure I had it right.)  

Thirty years later, after months of research, I determined that Nan's parents were Thomas Beard and Catherine "Kate" Chitty.  There was a John and Cintha Beard in the area at the same time, but I have been unable to determine their connection to my family as yet.  

Are these people John and Cintha or Thomas and Kate?  At the moment, I am assuming they are Thomas and Kate.  

Where did Grandmama get the names John and Cintha?  It's one of the first questions I'll ask her next time I see her! 

These four portraits started my genealogical journey.  What a wonderful journey it continues to be!

Cousin Bruce Odom led me to James's birthdate and middle name that he found in the family Bible of Benjamin Odom, Jr.  (James's mother's brother).

Sharon Crowley (my fifth cousin twice removed) found his grave in a family plot in a field off of Gardenia Road in northern Barnwell County. 

I am forever indebted to Bruce and Sharon for helping me pass this important milestone in my journey.