Reed Ownership (1803 -1854)
Documentary research conducted to date indicates that the property containing the Reed Farmstead site was originally part of a land tract that was granted to Jacob Baker by the Commonwealth of Virginia on July 19, 1790. Jacob and Jemima Baker subsequently sold a 50-acre portion of this tract to William Reed on July 13, 1803.
The William Reed family established a farmstead at this location during the first decade of the 1800s. In 1807, William married Hannah Musgrove; and for the next 40 years or so, William and Hannah occupied the small farm. Records to date indicate that they raised six children - Sarah, Isaac, William, Thomas, David, and Elizabeth Reed. At the time of William Reed's death in early 1848, it appears that only Sarah and Isaac (who served as a school teacher in the area) continued to live on the farmstead. During his lifetime, William also acquired approximately 500 additional acres in the vicinity of the farmstead.
Throughout the Reed occupancy of the farmstead, sources such as William Reed's estate inventory, recorded at the time of his death, indicate that a variety of crops were grown on the land. Among these were hay, flax, oats, rye, and corn. Additionally, such common barnyard animals as cows, sheep, pigs, and horses were also pastured on the farmlands. The estate inventory as well as the subsequent auction inventory offer a momentary glimpse into the everyday lives of this early western Virginia farm family. Items such as a bee stand, fox traps, churns, "crout" (i.e., sauerkraut) tub, grain cradle, rifle gun and pouch, loom and tackle, swingling mill, flax wheels, among other items, provide some insights as to the kinds of domestic and farming-related activities that were carried out by the Reeds. 
For example, the loom and tackle, swingling mill, and flax wheels all indicate that the Reeds, like many area farmers of the late 18th through the mid-19th centuries, cultivated flax and processed it into linen, possibly for both use on the farmstead and sale to others in the region.
Following William Reed's death, his farmland holdings were partitioned, and the parcel containing the farmstead buildings was reconfigured to form a 59-acre tract. In 1852, this tract was subsequently conveyed to Daniel F. Link and his wife Sarah (probably the daughter of William and Hannah). Daniel Link had worked on the Reeds' farm as a laborer only a few years earlier. Daniel and Sarah sold the property in 1854 to Andrew and Fannie Garrett. Over the next 10-15 years following William Reed's death, the Reed's children, including William, Thomas, Isaac (and possibly Sarah), moved from Hardy County. Thomas eventually settled in Ohio, as did Sarah (if she indeed was the wife of Daniel Link). William moved to Hampshire County, West Virginia. It is unclear at this time where the other children settled.
Garrett Ownership (1854 - 1882)
Andrew Garrett died in April of 1857, leaving the land on which the farmstead was located to his wife, Fannie, via his last will and testament. Andrew Garret's estate inventory describes some of his possessions. It is likely that Fannie Garrett, or members of the Garrett family occupied the site until ca. 1883, when the land containing the farmstead was sold to James M. Warden as a result of a chancery suit between Thomas Reed (probably the son of William and Hannah) and the heirs of Andrew Garrett. After that time, it appears that the farmstead was abandoned, or at minimum, actual habitation of the site ceased; and thereafter was used for pasture. Whether or not any outbuilding(s) continued to be utilized by the Warden family remains conjecture.
Both documentation and recent Phase III artifact recovery clearly indicates a ca. 1803 – 1883, minimum two-family, occupation for this locus. This is contrary to the original hypothesis that the site was only occupied by the Reed family.
Civil War Findings at The Reed Farmstead Site
Pre-History of Reed Farmstead Site.
|
|