Family History

The Reed Family History

Researched and written by Melvin J. Collier

Our history did not begin with American slavery. Our family roots began in the beautiful continent of Africa many decades ago.  Our ancestors were taken against their will from their homelands in West and West-Central Africa. After being forcibly transported to America, our ancestors first lived in slavery in Tennessee, North and South Carolina, and Virginia before they were taken to Mississippi.

Although our family lived near Senatobia in Tate County, Mississippi, the roots of the Reed Family have been successfully traced back to Abbeville County, South Carolina. There in 1846, the first ancestor to eventually carry the Reed name was born into slavery on the late Rev. William H. Barr’s plantation.  Our ancestor was given the name William, but he was mostly known as "Bill".  His father, who was also enslaved on the Barr farm, was named Pleasant (Pleas) Barr.  Through genealogical research, there's a preponderance of evidence that his mother was named Isabella Barr.

According to oral history, the Barr Family of South Carolina 'sold' Grandpa Bill to the Reids.  Research has confirmed that when he was just a teenage boy, he was 'sold' to Lemuel Reid of Abbeville County shortly before 1860. William Barr, Jr. 'sold' his father, Pleasant, to a man named James Giles.  Giles took Pleas away to Ripley, Mississippi in 1859. That was the last time Grandpa Bill Reed ever saw his father again, as he never knew where his father was taken, according to oral history. He had relayed to his family that his last name was really suppose to be Barr.

Genealogy research has found that Pleasant Barr lived the remainder of his life in Ripley, Mississippi until his demise in 1889, at the age of about 75.  He had re-married a lady named Amanda Young, with whom he had an additional son, Elijah Barr, who was born c. 1866. Research has also confirmed that William Barr, Jr. took Isabella and the remaining enslaved people on the Barr farm to Pontotoc County, Mississippi in 1859, leaving Grandpa Bill and his younger sister, Mary, to be cared for in South Carolina by an older sister.  According to the late Cousin Isaac Deberry, Grandpa Bill never mentioned his mother, but he often talked about an older sister who took care of him.  This sister was named Mariah.  Per the 1880 Pontotoc County census, Isabella Barr was living with Henry Clay Beckley and was reported as being his aunt.  Clay Beckley was the son of Pleasant Barr's sister, Sue Barr Beckley.

Shortly after the Civil War, Grandpa Bill Reed joined a wagon train pulled by mules that took recently-emancipated African-Americans to Mississippi. According to his grandson, the late Isaac Deberry Sr., Grandpa Bill passed on to him that someone who had been to Mississippi came on the "Reid Place" and told them that Mississippi was the "Land of Milk and Honey" where they could have a much better life.  They soon packed up their few belongings and followed this person to Panola County, Mississippi (Como).  On this wagon train were his sister, Mrs. Mary Pratt, their niece, Fannie McKee, a cousin, Glasgow Wilson, and other African-American families from Abbeville, South Carolina.  Unknown to Grandpa Bill, his father was living just 60 miles away in Ripley.  Isabella and his paternal grandmother, Fanny Barr, and other family members were less than 100 miles away in Pontotoc County, Mississippi. Sadly, Grandpa Bill never knew it and often wondered what became of them.

Shortly after his arrival in Mississippi, Grandpa Bill Reed married Sarah Partee in 1871.  Grandma Sarah, who was born around 1852 in Panola County, was the daughter of a black enslaved cook named Polly Partee. Sarah, her mother Polly, and her siblings, Judge, Square, and Johnny, had been enslaved on Squire Boone Partee's plantation in Panola County eight miles west of Como, and they continued to work for the Partee Family after slavery. Sarah’s father, Prince Edwards, was enslaved on the nearby Edwards farm owned by Squire Partee’s father-in-law, William Edwards, Sr. Genealogy research and DNA technology have confirmed that Prince was one of several sons (Peter, Jeff, Jerry, Monroe, John, York, Luke Jr.) who were born to an African named Ogba(r) Ogumba, who was given the name Luke Edwards after he was transported to America.

Bill & Sarah Reed had eleven children.  One child, a daughter, died at a very young age.  The Reed Family settled in the nearby Looxahoma community of Tate County, Mississippi sometime before 1880. Grandpa Bill Reed was a farmer and landowner.  The earliest land deed that was found at the Tate County courthouse showed him purchasing 150 acres of land in 1899.  Over time he accumulated several hundred acres of land.  Although he couldn't read or write due to the inhumane laws of slavery, Grandpa Bill Reed was considered a very smart man.  He was also a hardworking, loving family man who was able to provide a nice living for his family during that time. 

Grandpa Bill Reed died in 1937 at the old age of 91.  He lived to see 53 of his 57 grandchildren.  During the week of his death, he had been out chopping wood.  Throughout his life, he shared many stories about his life as a slave in South Carolina with his children and grandchildren.

Grandma Sarah Reed died unexpectedly in 1923 in Memphis, Tennessee.  According to Isaac Deberry, she had caught the train to see her daughter, John Ella Reed Bobo, who was married to Eli Bobo.  Shortly after her arrival in Memphis, she had a massive stroke.  Before Grandpa Bill and his sons got to Memphis to see about Sarah, she had passed away.  While they were on their way to John Ella's house, Grandpa Bill's great-niece, Lucille Hunter, met them on the street and told them the bad news.  Grandpa Bill Reed was heart-broken.  Grandma Sarah died at the age of 71.  He later married Dora Webber in 1928.

The eleven children of Bill & Sarah Reed were:

             ●  James "Jimmy" Reed

             ●  William "Willie" Reed

             ●  Lou Anna Reed

             ●  Doctor "Dock" Roger Reed, Sr.

             ●  Sarah Reed

             ●  Simpson Reed

             ●  John Ella Reed Bobo

             ●  Robert Reed

             ●  Mary Etta Reed Lee

             ●  Pleasant "Pleas" Reed

             ●  Martha Jane Reed Deberry

The Puryear Family History

Three grandchildren of Bill and Sarah Reed married into the Puryear Family of Tate County, Mississippi.  Robert Puryear, the son of Lucious Puryear Jr. and Armintha Reed Puryear, started the Reed-Puryear Family Reunion.  Bill & Sarah Reed's grandson, Leonard Reed, married Lydia Puryear.  Armintha and Leonard were the children of Pleas Reed, and Lucious and Lydia were the children of Lucious & Cora Wilson Puryear.  Additionally, Bill & Sarah Reed's granddaughter, Sarah Jane Deberry, married Willie Puryear, the oldest son of Lucious & Cora Puryear, but they later divorced.

The roots of the Puryear Family have been traced back to Mecklenburg County, Virginia in the early 1800s. There, in or around 1840, a slave named Marinda Puryear gave birth to a healthy boy named Edward. Their enslaver, Achilles Puryear, took them to Tate County, Mississippi in the 1850s. According to the late Mrs. Mattie Lou Puryear Love, Marinda also had another son named Shed who was sold to a different owner and was never seen again. Edward remembered and told his family that he was pure African, a heritage he was very proud of.

In 1873, Edward married a half-Indian girl named Julia Rogers. According to the 1900 census, she was born in 1855 in Missouri.  However, there is evidence that Julia was born in the state of Kentucky.  The identity of Julia's parents is unknown.  Edward and Julia became the parents of seven children:

·         Frances Puryear

·         Linky Puryear Jones

·         Hattie Puryear

·         Lucious Puryear, Sr.

·         Janie Puryear

·         Maggie Puryear

·         George Puryear