Wordless Wednesday: Weaving Reed and Vallandigham

Today started out with a loud crash with the resulting shaking of the house, for it was the day a red oak tree with close to 50 rings (that I could count) had to come down.  It was a mind shaker as I thought about all the years this mighty tree had proudly stood tall and shaded the house.  It had finally given up the chase of life, hence, it was time to reshape the landscape.  As I watched it fall, an overwhelming sadness came over me as I wondered about the small time in history this tree had lived.

Of course, shaking the old brain did lead to revisiting past sources and clues, just to see if any old research can reshape the family landscape.

In my files of old, I found this clip transcribed from Commemorative Biographical Record of the counties of Wayne and Holmes, Ohio, Illustrated, in which the biography of the Honorable William REED is given.  As I already knew, he was married to Maria(h) D HENRY(1834-1897).  I also knew who his parents were- William REED and Maria COOKE of Washington Co, PA.  Maria COOKE is said to be the daughter of David COOKE, a trustee of Washington College.  Dates seem off right now in my mind.

What has me befuddled are the parents of Maria(h) D HENRY, or rather her mother.  Her parents were Samuel Smith HENRY (bat 1786-1853) and second wife Jane COOKE.  Good ole Uncle Samuel was born and raised in Lower St Clair Twp, Allegheny, PA.  Jane COOKE....  now was she the daughter of David COOKE or maybe James COOKE(1758-1830)?  David COOKE did have seven children.  Were there 2 David COOKEs in the area?  Still a mystery to solve!

What left me speechless today was the sentence "Judge William Reed spent his early life in Columbiana County, Ohio, receiving his rudimentary education in the public schools.  He later entered Washington College, from which he graduated in the class of 1845.  He at once entered upon the practice of his profession, his able instructor being C. L. Vallandigham whose reputation is so widely known."

Why wordless?  Because Maria(h) D HENRY's father, Samuel Smith HENRY, was first married to Eleanor LAIRD.  Eleanor LAIRD was the aunt of Clement Laird VALLANDIGHAM(1820-1871). To intertwine this tree branch even further, VALLANDIGHAM's parents raised the half sister to Maria(h) D HENRY after the half sister's mother, Eleanor, died when Margaret Eleanor HENRY was an infant.

See, I told you on July 7th the story of Clement, the only American to be exiled from the Union, was deep in my family tree.  More later on him.

Ahh, genealogy.  Perhaps bright light will shine and a new tree will surface out of the dense forest of the past.




Sources:
http://www.ohiogenealogyexpress.com/holmes/holmesco_bios_r.htm
http://ancestorsatrest.com/cemetery_records/cross-creek.shtml
Cushing, Thomas. A Genealogical and Biographical History of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania

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