"Was there a Catholic in the Family?"

Grandpa Wicker's cousin, Helen Williams Bateman, commented to me several times that someone in the Williams family was a Catholic (pretty unusual in Southeast Missouri Bootheel) and she wanted me to look into it.  I finally found it.

My great grandmother was Macy Williams (Helen's aunt).  Macy's mother was Mary Ann Pullam.  Her mother was Ally Jane Vaughn.  Her mother was Nancy Dyer the daughter of William Dyer.

Some families have stories about someone being an Indian Princess or on the Mayflower, but my family has stories about someone being Catholic.  Well, I did finally find that there is a possibility through Nancy Dyer's step mother.  So, my 4 great grandmother's step mother was a Catholic and possibly she also converted Nancy, who was born in 1811, the same year her mother Gracie McG(K)ee Dyer died.

I found this story on Ancestry: William Dyer Family from "History of Union County, Kentucky" 1886.

"If any family in Union County deserves the reputation of being a Union County family, it must be the Dyer family.  the founder of the stock was one of the first settlers, and he raised a large family, all of whom, except one, married and raised families.   Most of these children lived and died in Union County, and there are now probably more members of the Dyer family within Union County than any other race.

This family was founded by Wm. Dyer, a blacksmith, who was born in Virginia in 1780.  He came to Union Country in 1804, and settled where Morganfield now stands.  He married Gracie/Grizzell McGee in Virginia, before coming here.  His first four (sic) children were by her.  Family lore says that the family of William Dyer and the family of John Mason came to Kentucky together, by way of flat boat to Henderson County, Kentucky.  However, it was 1804, that the families arrived at the mouth of the Lost Creek after their trip down the Ohio River and pushed themselves up on shore and selected their home sites.  Per the 1810 census, the dyers had a household of three sons and one daughter under 10 years of age and four adults.  It is believed that Gracie McGee died around 1811.

William Dyer served in the War of 1812, so must have left his family of children with a neighbor or kin while he was away.  He served for six months as a private in the 11th Regiment of the Kentucky Militia under Slaughters; part of the time he was hospitalized at Baton Moure, Louisiana.  In 1816, William Dyer married Anna Harris and had six children with her.  the new Mrs. Dyer was a Catholic and raised their children in this faith.

Wm. Dyer is said to have been one of the men who located the county seat of Morganfield.  Tradition as it that he in company with other commissioners, were reclining on the bank near the spring, slightly feeling the effects of fatigue and Jeremiah Riddle's whiskey, when Mr. Dyer threw his cane up the hill toward where the Court House now stands, and proclaimed oracularly, that there would be the county capital.  He was a man of impulse, but integrity.

An illustration of this is seen in an incident of his life, that is related as follows:  A neighbor of his, by the name of Gwinn, had a horse that was constantly breaking into Dyer's cornfield.  After sending word to Mr. Gwinn several times to keep the trespassing horse off his corn, Mr Dyer shot the offending animal and then sent the price of the horse down to Morganfield to its owner.  Mr. Dyer died in 1832.  All his children died rather young.  There seems to have been considerable consumption in the family.  His trade has staid (sic) in the family.  His sons, John and Nathan, were good regular blacksmiths, and Harvey and James did the work for their farms.  John Will, the son of John Dyer and John Nathan, is the only one now in the business."  Additionally, the Dyer family also passed on to their inlaws the trade of blacksmithing.  This trade was shared with Roland Cecil Sr.  as he married Mary Huldah Dyer.

Supposedly, when William Dyer died, he was buried on the family property.  However, in 1966 a Waller Young owned the property and said that he never saw a tombstone there in the 20 years that he had lived on the property.  He did recall plowing throw (sic) the land where the old Dyer blacksmith shop had once stood.

Thanks to familyhistorycrw on Ancestry.com for these stories.

Sarah Broyles James Grayham

Cousin Dwight found some documents of Grahams in Washington Co. MO.  The first is a law suit involving Sarah Broyles Graham, window of James Graham who is suing Israel McGready of Greene Co, TN for the slave Sam:

County of Washington November Term 1821
Sarah Graham administrating full and singular the goods and challets, rights, **** and effects of James Graham, deceased, by her attorney over claims of Israel McGready of a ****, that he under to the said Sarah administrating as aforementioned a certain negro man named Sam, about thirty three years of age, & about five feet five inches high, of great value, to wit, of the value of six hundred dollars of lawful money of the respected States, which he unjustly retains from her. For that whereas the said Sarah heretofore, to wit, on the first day of September last, at Washington aforesaid, was unjustfully ***** of a certain negro man named Sam, about thirty three years of age and about five fee five inches high, of great value, to wit, of the value of six hundred dollars of lawful money of the United States, as of the property of James Graham deceased, in his capacity of administrating as aforementioned, and being so predisposed thereof, she the said Sarah afterwards, to wit, on the day and year aforementioned at the county aforesaid, casually lost the said negro out of her protection, and the same aftermath, to wit, on the said first day of September last at the county aforementioned came to the protection of the said Israel by finding; yet the said Israel well knowing the said negro to be the just property of the said Sarah in her capacity of administrating aforementioned, and of right to belong and appertain to her, in such capacity, hath and as right **** the said Negro to the said Sarah after requested so to do, but hath hitherto wholly refused to do, and hath retained, and still doth retain the said Negro from the said Sarah, to wit, at Washington aforesaid. To the damages of the said Sarah causing of six hundred dollars, and therefore she requests of.
Thomas J. Brickey

This is significant because it shows that this Graham family was in Washington Co. Mo. in the early 1800's.  Coupled with DNA showing that I and another 5th cousin are related to members of the Broyles family, show a probably relationship with them.  This Graham family had also married into the McCarrell family and into the Long family (not sure yet if it is the Bromfield or Ware Long famiy though---both were from Culpeper) Other documents make another connection---lead mines.

Benjamin Williams and Mahala Watson

Genealogy can be pretty dry and reading legal documents can be tedious.  But every now and then we run across facts and can just imagine the emotions and conditions which led to the events.  But we will start at the very beginning.  May I introduce my great-great-great grandparents.  Sorry, there are no photos---those would be pretty rare for this class of people during the early 1800's.

Benjamin Williams and Mahala Watson were both born in Kentucky around 1810.  The first record we have is their marriage in 1827 in Hopkins, KY.

The 1830 census is more of a tally with only the "head of the household's" name.  There were 2 white adults between 20-29 (one male, one female) living in Benjamin's household.  I always like to see who else is on the page because there are often relatives.  William Williams was on the same page and in the same age range.  When we later found out his wife was Malinda Watson, we were pretty sure they were related through the husbands and/or the wives.  Carol Williams Huff found an obituary which showed that Malinda only had one daughter whose name was Mahala.  That is another indication that they were related---she might name her daughter for her sister.

The children started arriving by 1834 with Martha Williams (m. Matthew Harris), Polly Williams born in 1836 and Thomas Jefferson Williams in 1838. The next census in 1840 is still a tally with 1 boy under 5, 2 girls between 5-9 and 2 adults between 30-39 living in the household of Benjamin Williams.  Next door is living a Samuel Watson who was born around 1813, but we don't know if this was Mahala's brother, but he is likely a relative.

Family Bible of Valentine Fry

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NOTES FROM THE FAMILY BIBLE OF VALENTINE FRY certified to be a true copy of the original document 9-27-1994 County of Wythe, State of VA.  Mary N. Cassell Notary Public. (Was commissioned Mary N. Brown (or Bison) Commission expired 7-31-95.

"This holy Bible is the property of Valentine Fry of Wythe County, Commonwealth of Virginia. United States of North America. Western Continent, thereof.  This Bible got 14 years before this date this Sat. the 22nd Dec. y 1839.  ?? A hint, and a dash, to the knave; and a rub to the careless. B. Knaves; I pray, do not, let any be mean enough to steal this holy book, or any other, or any thing else: for fear of Sin, Shame, and disgrace. Therefore, let the knave who know's himself, not truly honest. to take the hint, and the dash. for  a caution hereafter.  how, careless, do not keep this holy book, or any other loan to you; for fear of Shame, and censure, and no reliance hereafter, to be given to thee.  Moreover, If this book, or any other thing else should be stolen, or left gone by a loan, or otherwise, no matter how, if the honest hearted should find the same, or anything else, no matter how, he knows his duty is to make it known's, which show's the honest heart; with love to work divinely.  And in returning the same to the owner, let it be he, or she, they let the world be known's that they have found the same that the owner of the same may pay your demands, if it be within the bountys of reason; And is no charge, or demands the more; I should you augment with love, and gratitude for your kind honesty.    ____for your negligence.  This is the end of the hint, and the dash to the knave, and the rub to the careless. Therefore, let both look up, and see the  owner's name in full view, before your eyes. that you may make your escape from the above statements, as a prescription of your well wishes in a good cause.   Search the Scriptures for proof of the Same, in this 39th vse. of the 5th chap. St. John.  F.B. The time of life is the time to serve the Lord and therein, to commence the same devotion, is the vigour of thy youth, and there to continue untill death for your preservation, beyond the grave.    Proof in Ditts.?

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BIRTHS From the records of my father Holy Bible  Wherein a record of 7 sons and ___Daughter and 3 died of the  ____children

As? I? Valentine, was born on Friday, 17th March A.D. 1786. and wife Mary Kath. was born on Sunday the 19th. March, A.D. 1786.  Child. Jacob was born on Sunday the 6th. April A.D. 1804

Andrew was born on Friday 13th May A.D. 1808.  Hiram was born on Thurs. 8th March A.D. 1810. Absalom was born on Sat. 16th March A.D. 1811.  Matilda was born on Sunday the  8th Oct. A.D. 1812.  Isaac was born on Sat.  19th Sept, 1814. 7) Nehemiah was born on Thurs 7th Nov. A.D. 1816. 8) Mary was born on Sunday 27th. Sept. A.D.1818. 9) Elizabeth was born on Sat. 22nd, April A.D. 1820. 10)Susana was born on Thurs. 14th of Feb. A.D. 1822. 11) Deliah was born on Sunday 28th Dec. A.D. 1823. 12) Abram was born on Sunday the 21st Jan. A.D. 1827.  13) Jane was born on Sunday 4th of Jan. A.D. 1829.  14)Margaret was born on Thurs. the 28th July A.D. 1831. 

MARRIAGES (County of Wythe) 12) Abraham married Leida? Estwood on Sat. the 1st March A.D. 1845.  13) Jane married Joseph Porter a neighbour, on Tues. 6th April A.D. 1847 Both of the County of Wythe, VA. 14) Jane, late Jane Porter married D___  ___ippi, a widower, on Thur. 28th Dec. A.D. 1848. (Both of Wythe County S. Virginia.)

DEATHS  On Monday the 2nd Sept A.D. 1833, then my husband Val Fry who was the father of 13 children. departed this life. in his perfect senses in hope of being devout.   Sunday the 12th Oct. A.D. 1845, then my Daughter Margaret Fry departed this life. in her 15th year, and in perfect senses, and supposes to be dearest? who was buried on Tues. the 14th Oct A.D. 1845 at 11 o.clock. both days beautiful.  Tues. the  20th April 1847 then Joseph Porter son in law, departed this life in his perfect senses. who married Jane.    Sunday 27th June 1847. ____the funeral of the above Margaret was preached by the Rev. W.B. Wint--- in his 47 year (Supposes)

BIRTHS  John Mitchel Fry a grandchild was born on Thurs. the 2nd March A.D. 1837.  Andrew Jackson Rosinbum? was born on Thurs. the 16th May A.D. 1839

Thanks to Suzy Fry who transcribed this information which she got from Rosa Bosch.  This was all written by Mary Yonce Fry in 1830's.  Double-click on the documents to enlarge them.

Grimes Family

1826 Inventory of John Grimes property

Grimes Court Interrogation

I'll try to transcribe the questions (above) and answers (below), but the answers are very hard to read. I'm putting them together rather than as separate documents. [Double click the documents to enlarge and zoom in---if you interpret any of this differently from me, please let me know---I welcome corrections]

McCarroll-McKibben

Someone (LM) on Ancestry.com contacted me with information on Margaret McCarroll, my g-g-g-g grandmother. We had thought for many years that her maiden name was Carroll, but another cousin(LL) had information it was really McCarroll or McCarrell. Here is what LM wrote me:

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Jaclyn: I began to research my McCarroll ancestry back in the seventies, knowing only that my GGGrandfather John McCarroll came to Louisiana in the early 1800s from Tennessee and in my search I exchange letters with one Margaret McCarroll-McCarrell of McCarrell Lane Rt. 3, Knoxville Tennessee. She wrote the following:

Grahams in early St. Louis

Burr-Hamilton Duel

So, how many John Grahams could have lived in St. Louis during the late 1700's and early 1800's? Apparently more than I expected. There were 925 inhabitants in St. Louis in 1798----most of them were French. I'd estimate only about 150 were Americans or "Bostons" as they were called. To see how the communities of Carondelet and Florissant compared, click here. Remember most of these people were French.

And, yet, there seemed to be more Grahams in St. Louis than probably any other Anglo name and a lot of them were associated with duels.

There was James A. Graham---a bright lawyer from Pennsylvania who died in 1811. According to Fred O Wyant in his article "Dueling Masons":

John Graham's Probate II

Filed 18 April 1814 John Graham Estate Inventory

Although it pains me to say this, Dwight is probably right. This is not the estate of William Graham's father but of his brother. There is a cemetery record for "Old Cathedral" that says "Jean 22 Dec. 1813 s/Jean & Marie McGauley" Translated into English that should read "John. . .son of John and Mary McGauley"

Buried nearby was "Margurite Graham 1 June 1818 18 yr wife of N. 23 Oct. 1807" I'm not sure what a lot of that means, but I do know that John Graham, Sr. had a daughter Margaret that eloped. The marriage only lasted a few years, because her husband Michael Connel re-married in 1819. So, that might have been her grave.

John Graham's Probate I

We were pretty excited when David M. found this at the Carondelet Historical Society. I included a lot of the page so others can see the names listed on this same page: Chouteau, DeMun, Labaddie, St. Cyr, Soulard,Valle, Howdershell---all names of places, streets in the St. Louis area.
I was little nervous that this wasn't really our William Graham, but the document below convinced me---who else would be living around Big River in Jefferson County?

Jacob Stein and William Graham

There are several hints that William Graham was a well-respected member of his community. But, having Jacob Stein /Stine as the executor of his estate is the best one. Although we don't know why William Graham died in Carondelet rather than in Jefferson County where his farm was, we have recently found a possible clue.

Jacob Stein (Click here for more information on him) and William Graham lived in Carondelet which was separate from St. Louis at that time.
It was a French river town. Although we don't know where William Graham lived, we do know where Jacob Stein lived in the 1840's.

Samuel Long, Part One

Samuel Long (1795-1862) was the brother of my ancestor Thomas Long (1792-1837). They came to Missouri from Allen County Kentucky around 1816-1817 with two of their sisters. After their father Bromfield Long died, their mother Elizabeth Mitchell Long came to Missouri to live with Samuel's family. The narrative below was written by Alfred Long one of Samuel's descendants.
This first part of the narrative was very exciting when I first read it because I believed that the Thomas Long mentioned was my ancestor. I wrote to one of Samuel's descendants, we compared family names, photos and were pretty sure we were related. DNA last summer confirmed our suspicions.

Rev. James Graham

Reverend James Graham (pictured above) is often cited as the father of our ancestor William Graham. While we believe they are probably related (they are from Cumberland Valley, Pennsylvania and, as Dwight pointed out, he resembles Theodore (William's son) pictured below), there are several reasons Rev. James Graham can not be our ancestor.

The documents that say Rev. James Graham is William Graham's father also say that Rev. James Graham was born in 1756 (which worked out great since William Graham was born in 1784), but Rev. James Graham, first full-time pastor to Beulah Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh was born in 1775. I feel pretty certain this is a correct date since I found a great deal of information about him in Annals of Old Wilkinsburg and Vicinity, with much of the information from his grand-daughter Martha Graham. According to her, his installation as pastor of the Beulah Church, "took place October 16, 1804. This was James Graham's twenty-ninth birthday." His installation date is a matter of church record.

The year of his death is also inaccurate---it's often stated as 5 June 1848, but again this book Annals of Old Wikinsburg and Vicinity, describes his death:

Riding home from a visit to a parishioner June 12, 1845, James Graham's horse was frightened and he was thrown, receiving injuries on head and knee from which he never recovered. He rested at the house of John Shaeffer near which the accident occurred. . .

After riding home to reassure his family he was all right, he fell asleep and never regained consciousness. He is buried in the Beulah Cemetery and his tombstone has the date June 12, 1845.

In fact, Reverend James Graham had no sons named William. By his first wife Elizabeth Martin: Mary, Robert, Matilda, Eliza, James and Priscilla. By his second wife Rachel Glenn: Rebecca and "a little son Thomas."(I assume that means he died young. Although he is not in that cemetery, there is nothing more about him in the chapter. But, someone had to be Martha Graham's father. . . ). By Rev. James Graham's third wife, Martha McCullough (often named as the mother of William Graham), he had two daughters Margaret and Rachel---no sons. His only sons were James, Robert and Thomas.

His son James died in 1849; this same document states that, "Eliza and James Graham, Jr. had four daughters, Martha, Evaline, Elizabeth and Margaretta. James died of typhoid fever when his youngest daughter was 6 weeks old. And, his son Robert "never married."

To read this document, click here. Then, search "Rev. James Graham", you can see what pages look interesting and can go to those pages. Or, you can simply scroll down to the chapters on "Beulah Church II", "Graham Family", "The Death of Reverend James Graham."
There may well be a James Graham (1756-1848) who had a son named William, but it wasn't this James Graham. And, this Martha McCullough was not his mother, either.

I wish I could say poor research led genealogists down this wrong path, but I've gone down that path, too. The internet and digitizing old documents has changed research tremendously---I'm excited to be able to find new and interesting information about my family each day on the internet.

William Graham's Will

William and Margaret Graham are perhaps my most interesting ancestors (4 greats). They are Catherine Caroline Brown Long's (Milton's wife) grandparents. Their daughter (Catherine's mother)was Mary (Polly) Graham Brown who was born in Missouri around 1811.

Originally they were just names, but I gradually began to realize that almost everyone with Jefferson County pioneer blood is related to them (some, like cousin Rick, is related to them three or four ways). Although we aren't sure where they came from, they were definitely early settlers since Missouri wasn't a state until 1821.

At first, we thought William had died before 1830 because Margaret is the head of the household in the census (above). But, then we found William's will dated 1835:

Col. George Alderson's Family History

In 1860, Col. George Alderson wrote his family history. It was later published in the newspaper and re-typed. I believe the underlined words and names were misspelled, and Allie Millard (a notary public) typed it corrected the mistakes in 1935. Double click on each page to enlarge---use the back arrow to come back. This blog is longer than usual because there didn't seem to be a good place to break the pages.

Alderson History from Family Bible

This first page taken from the Alderson Family Bible, first tells a little about Polly and Joseph Alderson but then lists the children of Jennett Mc Cleary and Colonel George Alderson (married July 1813): John Marshall Alderson (high sheriff of Greenbrier), Jane Creigh Alderson (married James Remley and moved to Iowa), Thomas Creigh McCleary Alderson (a merchant in Russel,VA), Margaret Alderson, Jonathan Newman Alderson(died at 20 while preparing to study medicine), Joseph Allen Alderson (successful lawyer and in the Virginia legislature), Mary Newman Alderson, Peggy Katy Alderson(married William Aston a lawyer and former VA legislator), Sabina Isabella Alderson(died at 14 while her father was in Richmond with the Legislature), Sarah Martha Alderson (". . .gave her father the slip and married William Zall. They went to Missouri), George Alderson, Jennet George Alderson and several infants that died unnamed. To read the pages, double-click on the photos to enlarge them. Italics information from a document written in 1860 by their father Col. George Alderson. After Jennet McCleary Alderson died, he married Eliza Ann Davis(daughter of Captain Charles Lewis Davis, of Ameherst VA. She is related to the Ellises and Floyds) and had more children: Jennet Creigh Alderson (grown and at home), Georgia Ann Alderson (married S. McClung, "a well-doing farmer of Nicholas"), Rebecca White Alderson (grown and at home), George Henry Clay Alderson (my husband's great-grandfather), Josephine Davis Alderson, Alice Ellis Alderson, Francis Lewis Alderson, Overton Davis Alderson, Lewis Newman Alderson plus several unnamed infants. Do you get the feeling they were running out of names? (4 had the name George/Georgia, 3 were Creighs, 2 Davises, 2 Lewises, 2 Jennets) But my favorite is Jennet Creigh who was named for his first wife!

In another document, Col. George Alderson mentions that the other children are all minors and adds: ". . .I have lost in my family an affectionate wife and twelve children, beside eight servants, three grown and five children."


I photographed these pages at the Fry Family Reunion in 2009. It seems that I'm missing a few pages. Col. George Alderson (father of George Henry Clay Alderson) wrote this in 1860. This page 5 does mention William Morris. Click here for more information and his daughter-in-law "Caty Carroll" who was married to William Morris, Jr.Page 6 discusses William Morris, his son and his grandchildren. It also mentions John Mathews of Lewisburg.
Page 7 discusses George Alderson uncle of the man pictured at the top of the page (nephew of William Morris) and his father Elder John Alderson and the development of the Greenbrier Church. Most of the rest of the document is about the Alderson family.

William Farncome: 35th Regiment

Barbados

If you are interested in genealogy, a great occupation for an ancestor is the military--records are kept of their every move. One of my ancestors was in the British army, and we know where he was every year. Double click on the photos, maps, documents to enlarge, then use the back arrow to come back. Pauline Reid, a distant cousin in England, has researched our common ancestor William Farncombe who was Annie Reed's grandfather:

As I mentioned Alasdair (my husband) and I visited The National Archive at Kew last Friday specifically to see the muster rolls for William whilst he was in the 35th Regiment. I got such a thrill from handling documents that are now 200 years old - even if they are rather musty.

Anyway, William enlisted in the 2nd Battalion at Lewes, East Sussex on 19th November 1805, when he was 14 years, 6 months old. He got the huge amount in those days of £16, 6 shillings on enlisting - the army were desperate for recruits because of the ongoing Napoleonic war.

Map of the Seige of Flushing

He seems to have stayed in this country and mostly in the south of England until 1809 when the Battalion was involved in a battle at Flushing in Holland.

Following this William and a lot of other men were transferred to the 1st Battalion and from May 1810 to June 1813 he was on Zante, a Greek Island in the Mediterranean. He was promoted to corporal on 13th June 1813.

More Morgan Notes

Again, I do not know who the author of these notes are and I'm not 100% sure who they are about, but I can try to identify the individuals. They are on small pieces of paper that look like they were torn off a notepad. The person who wrote these would have been of Grover, Garner, Paul, Lowell, Clifford, Mason's generation.
Grandfather above would have been Harvey Morgan, Grandmother Martha Jane Gunnoe.
Great-grandfather would have been Jonathan Morgan who was born in 1794 and died in 1891! I have no idea who the great-great Grandmother was. It is safe to say it was not Elizabeth Ealy who immigrated from Wales. I also doubt that it was Rachel Blankenship's mother---her family tree can be found on the internet. So, that leaves one of Nancy Harvey's grandmothers or someone on the Gunnoe side.

I'm not sure what the references to the Halls are above.

I did find some notes (in my handwriting) probably taken while talking to Grover Morgan.

• Harvey George had 2-3 wives

• Jasper lived in Pikeville, Ky
• H.B. Morgan's grandfather came home from the Civil War on a little horse---horse gave out and he carried it. [I'm thinking his grandfathers would have been too old, but. . .]
  
• 80--Landville on Guyandotte between Gilbert and Man
• Not far from Davy toward Guyandotte River (Hammond, Woosley, Morgan Valley)

Sorry, I'm not sure what the last two mean---I suspect I asked where something was (possibly the places in parenthesis) and those were the answers.

Early Morgan history in Western Virginia

(Double click above to see where Wolf Pen is)

If you need a more detailed family tree, click here or scroll down the page.

From the Reference Book of Wyoming County p. 422 "the numerous families of Morgan in Wyoming, McDowell and Logan Counties are direct descendants of Abraham Morgan, born in Wales, who married Elizabeth Ealy before he emigrated to Virginia before 1775, landing at Old Point Comfort. They settled in Bedford County, Virginia, where they reared their family, of whom we have the names Jonathan, David, Samuel, Thomas, Polly and Betsey. . .Thomas married Rachel Blankenship in Tazewell County, Virginia, and lived for a short time in Bluestone. About 1804, he settled on Indian Creek. . .he is the progenitor of all of the Morgans in Wyoming County."

"Old Point Comfort" Wikipedia

Two More Reed-Farncombe Family Stories

These are both from Kathleen Weaver, our Wisconsin cousin who initially contacted me about William Reed's identity. To read this, double click on the document. To come back to this page use the back arrow.
As with the other "Family Stories", there are some things that are true and some which probably aren't. We don't believe William and Mary were married in St. Thomas Virgin Islands although they may have lived there. Pauline Reid(pictured below) is an English cousin descended from William Reed/Farncombe's brother Edward. She has seen the church records and says they were married in St. Thomas, Winchester, England. Below, Pauline is standing beside the grave of one of William Reed/Farncombe's brothers.