The Reid/Reed Surname Mystery and Those Pesky Nicknames!

Hello....

I was led to the 1930 census with Wailon Reid through a tip from a reader. The 1930 census placed him in Charleston, WV.

I know from all my research on Harry Sr that the city directory for Charleston is a wonderful source of information and there began my search.

I couldn't find the names I was looking for - Wayland or Wailon, Reed or Reid. I was a tadbit frustrated.  

So I tried searching by his wife Phoebe Ruth. There was no Phoebe, but there was a Ruth.....ah ha.

Ruth Reid's husband was listed as William R Reid. Nope, can't possibly be him.....or could it?

Before dismissing it completely, I went back to the 1930 census to look at the house number, maybe I could confirm it that way. But no luck from that angle. I did, however, notice that he was listed as a machinist in a glass factory.

Guess what William's occupation is? He's a machinist at the Libby-Owens-Ford Glass company.

So, now I have another name to add to the search - could Wayland/Wailon be a nickname for William R Reed?

Before I married into this family, I would have been utterly surprised by the nickname because there does not appear to be a connection. But, this is from the same family where Harry Jr was called Jack and Mable Louise was called Penny.

Perhaps the new name will allow me to find  the death record for Wayland/Wailon/William, whatever his name happens to be, lol.

More to come......

New, to me at least, genealogy research tool

Howdy!

I am trying to work with Evernote to help with my research. 

Since the Reed paternal line is somewhat elusive I have to kind of search around and go 'well that could be them' and then save it for later verification. 

I'm hoping that Evernote will help with that. Using my Ipad, iPhone, and Mac I can grab screenshots or copy links, all sorts of things. 

There are notebooks that you can create and then make a stack of books. So,for instance, I can make a book for the newly found line of Wayland Reed (Reid) and wife Phobe, label it RWPK to match my computer filing. Then make a stack of Reed notebooks. 

I'm really looking forward to putting Evernote through it's paces. 

I also have more Reed line revelations to share in a future post. 

I'll share more as I continue to work with Evernote. 

Later!

Census Sunday - Harry Reed Sr's Family

Greetings all,

I posted about finding Harry Sr's Death certificate (link to post) and mentioned that I thought I could be misreading the names because nothing popped up. Lo and behold, one of my readers, Allen, posted some Census information.

I had already come across the 1920 Census, where Harry Sr's dad is listed as Wayland Reid, misspelled by the Census taker.

But, he also pointed out a 1930 Census that I hadn't seen yet. Harry Sr isn't on the Census with this family anymore, since he married Agnes in 1925, but his other siblings are on there.

On the 1930 Census Wayland Reed becomes Wailon Reid - where do they get these spellings??

At first glance, I was ready to dismiss this due to the wonderful spelling, but I started to tie somethings together, not only between the 1920 and 1930 Census, but also to Harry Sr's children.

In 1920, Harry Sr's mother is Phoebe R Reed. In 1930 she is Ruth Reed. So, I'm thinking she's Phoebe Ruth Reed. One of Harry Sr's daughters is Nellie Ruth Reed. Possible named partially after her grandma?

Then there is Harry Sr's bother Paul Reed. It looks like Harry Sr named one of his sons after his brother Paul Reed.

And..........the movement of the family matches my theory.

Harry Sr, his parents, and most of his siblings were born in Virginia, but Harry Sr gets married in 1925 in Charleston, WV. My theory has always been that the Reed family moved to Charleston, at some point.

The 1930 Census puts Harry Sr's parents and siblings in Charleston, WV. I get goose bumps just writing that. :-)

My next hunt is to move Harry Sr and parents back to the 1910 Census.

So far, I've searched the matching enumeration district in 1910 and the two districts on either side of it and no dice.

I've tried searching by Harry - using Harry Reed, Harry Reid, Raymond Reed, Raymond Reed and nothing fruitful is coming up.

I've gone through a couple of other townships in the Augusta County for 1910 and nothing is coming up.

Oh, well....it took me this long to get his parent's names, I'm sure it will take me just as long to get his grandparent's names.

Until next time......