Recovering Black History in the Monadnock Region - Keene

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Part of RBH Report Keene for the Reed family

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Reed Family
Keene, NH

BACKGROUND SUMMARY
William Reed and family were living in Keene, NH as early as 1790. Their background is
unknown. In 1790, the family is listed in the census with William Reed as head of household,
probably indicating that they were a free black family in Keene. The family most likely included
William, Peggy, son WIlliam Jr. and another child. William Jr. died the following year in Feb.
1791 but another son, born that July was named William Jr. as well. During the 1790s, the
family had four children: William (1791), Susy (1793), Cela (1796), and Abel (1799). In all of the
children’s birth records mom Peggy is listed as housewife and no occupation is given for
William.
Two more children were born to the family in the early 1800s: Margaret/Peggy (1801) and
Andrew (1804). Daughter Susy died in 1813 at the age of 19. At some point by the 1820s, the
family moved to Salem, MA. Mom Peggy (Steadman) Reed died in Salem in 1822.
During the 1830s, some of the children were married. Andrew married Abra Bassett, female of
color, in 1830 and Margaret married a South American immigrant Jacob DeFrease in 1836. The
DeFrease’s had a son Jacob H. A. Defrease in 1839.
During the 1840s, Abel Reed’s baby died as did Margaret (Reed) DeFrease’s husband. This
brother and sister continued to live in Salem, MA until their deaths along with other siblings
William Reed Jr. and Andrew Reed.
In the 1860s, Margaret also became a grandmother as her son Jacob HA DeFrease and his
wife Sarah (Cables) had a boy George in 1860 and a girl Clara in 1865. Jacob moved his family
to Beverly, MA sometime in the 1870s where he worked as a barber. His mother Margaret
eventually joined him in the 1880s, where she died in 1883. Jacob DeFrease died in 1886 at
the age of 47.

FAMILY TIMELINE
1790: William Reed is a free person (race unknown) living with three ‘other free’ persons (race unknown).
One of the other people in the household is most likely his wife Peggy (Stedman) Reed.1

1

1790 US Federal Census

Jennifer Carroll

1791: 24 Feb 1791 William Reed, colored, died in Keene, NH. This was most likely the child of William
and Peggy Reed.2
1791: William Reed Jr. was born 25 July 1791 in Keene, NH, son of William and Peggy Reed. The family
is listed as black in the birth record. Peggy is listed as housewife under 'occupation' but William does not
have one listed. This is a transcribed record from 1905 under Frank Whitcomb's term as city clerk.3
1793: Susy Reed was born 24 Sept 1793 in Keene, NH, daughter of William and Peggy Reed. The family
is listed as black in the birth record. Peggy is listed as housewife under 'occupation' but William does not
have one listed. This is a transcribed record from 1905 under Frank Whitcomb's term as city clerk.4
1796: Cela Reed was born 24 Jul 1796 in Keene, NH, daughter of William and Peggy Reed. The family is
listed as black in the birth record. Peggy is listed as housewife under 'occupation' but William does not
have one listed.5
1799: Abel Reed was born 27 Apr 1799 in Keene, NH, son of William and Peggy Reed. The family is
listed as black in the birth record.6
1801: Peggy Reed was born 18 Aug 1801 in Keene, NH, daughter of William and Peggy Reed. The family
is listed as black in the birth record. Peggy is listed as housewife under 'occupation' but William does not
have one listed. This is a transcribed record from 1905 under Frank Whitcomb's term as city clerk.7
1804: Andrew Reed was born 16 Dec 1804 in Keene, NH to William and Peggy Reed. All listed as black.8
1813: Susy Reed, colored, aged 19, died in Keene. Cause unknown. Family and marital status not
listed. Susy was the daughter of William and Peggy.
1818: Celia Reed’s child E. Reed died 27 Feb. 1818, 1 month old in Keene. (in First Church Records, E.
Reed, according to Town of Keene history p.220)9
1820: A William Reed is living in Salem, MA, North Fields, colored man aged 27-45, with a woman of
color aged 27-45. Could this be the same William Reed?
1822: Peggy Read/Reed, wife of William Reed, died 15 Jan 1822 at the age of 70. She died of apoplexy
in Salem, MA. This may be the Reed family of Keene who seemed to have moved to Salem by at least
1830.10

2

New Hampshire, U.S., Death and Disinterment Records, 1754-1947
NH US BIrth Records, Keene, 1791
4
NH US BIrth Records, Keene, 1793
5
NH US BIrth Records, Keene, 1796
6
NH US BIrth Records, Keene, 1799
7
NH US BIrth Records, Keene, 1801
8
NH US BIrth Records, 1804
9
New Hampshire, U.S., Death Records, 1650-1969; 1818
10
Massachusetts, U.S., Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988
3

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Recovering Black History in the Monadnock Region project: Roxbury

1824: The Keene newspaper on April 16, 1824, announced who had letters waiting at the post office.
Peggy Reed is listed as having a letter waiting for her indicating she resided in Keene. Not sure if this is
the mother or the daughter.
1830: The 1830 census lists a family of color in Salem, MA, headed by William Reed. The household
includes: 3 boys and 2 girls under age 10, one girl 11-23; one male and one female aged 24-36; and one
male and one female aged 26-35.
1830: Andrew Reed, negro, married Abra Bassett, negro, in Salem, MA, on 25 Nov 1830. This is possibly
William and Peggy’s son, who died in Salem years later. His sister Margaret was also in Salem in the
1830s.
1836: Margaret Reed married Jacob Defrese on 7 Dec 1836 in Salem, MA. She would have been 35
years old at the time.11
1839: Margaret and Jacob Defrese had a son, Jacob H. A. Defrese.
1840: The 1840 census lists no Reeds that are of color.
1842: child Ann Elizabeth Reed, 5 week old daughter of Abel M. Reed, died on May 19, 1842 in Keene.12
1845: 7 month old William K. Reed, colored, died on 13 Feb 1845 in Keene. He was the son of Abel
Reed. This may be the grandson of William and Peggy Reed. No mother is listed.13
1847: Margaret (Reed) Defrease’s husband Jacob Defrease died on 18 Sept 1847 in Salem, MA, at the
age of 30 years (b.1817). He had a heart complaint and was born in the country Suriname. He is listed in
the negro section of vital stats-deaths for Salem14
1855: Margaret (Reed) Defrease was living as a widow at 11 Endicott Street in Salem, MA15
1855: Andrew Reed was a 58 year old black laborer in Salem, MA.
1860: George Henry Bruce Defreace was born 8 Dec 1860 in Beverly, MA to Jacob H. A. Defrease and
Susan A. Cables. Jacob is listed as a hairdresser in Salem and born in Boston.16
1860: Andrew Reed was a laborer in Salem, MA, black. Could not read. Born in NH. No family. Living
with George A. Thompson, 18 year old white shoemaker.
1863: Jacob H. A. Defrease was listed as a 24 year old married colored man working as a barber in MA in
the Civil War draft registration record.17

11

Massachusetts, U.S., Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988
First Church records, May 19, 1842 (in Town of Keene listing in town history p220).
13
New Hampshire, U.S., Death and Disinterment Records, 1754-1947
14
Massachusetts, U.S., Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988
15
U.S., City Directories, Salem, MA 1855
16
Massachusetts, U.S., Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988
17
U.S., Civil War Draft Registrations Records, 1863-1865
12

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Recovering Black History in the Monadnock Region project: Roxbury

1864: Clara A. DeFrease was born to Jacob & Sarah (Cables) DeFrease in April 1864 and died six
months later of cholera in Oct 1864, in Beverly, MA.18
1865: Jacob H. A. DeFrease was 24 years old, black, and working as a barber in Salem, MA. He is listed
as a legal voter and born in MA. His wife Susan A. was 23 years old, mulatto, and also born in MA. Their
son George H. A. DeFrease was 4 years old and listed as mulatto.19 Everyone on the street is listed as
black.
1869: Andrew Reed, 66 year old widow and working as a laborer, died in Nov 1869 of paralysis in Salem,
MA. His parents were William Reed and Peggy Stedman.20
1869: Jacob H. DeFrese Jr. was listed in the Essex, MA city directory under the hairdresser section and
is listed as working in Beverly.21
1869: William Reed, son of William and Peggy (Stedman) Reed, died 25 Feb 1869 in Salem, MA. He was
married at the time and working as a laborer. He was 78 years old.
1870: [Jacob] Henry DeFrease was a 21 year old black barber residing in Salem, MA, with his son
George H. B. DeFrease, listed as a 9 year old black student. Both were born in MA. Also in the
household was Helen Leslie, 21 year old black woman, born in New Brunswick and keeping house.22
1880: Margaret (Reed) Defrease was a 56-year old widowed woman, boarding in the home of R.
Rebecca S. Wilson at 11 Cedar Street in Salem and working as a washerwoman. She was listed as
black. She cannot read or write.23
1880: Jacob H. Defrease [Jr], 42 year old black male, lived in Beverly, MA with his wife Sarah, a 26-year
old mulatto woman and son George H. Defrese, a 19 year old mulatto. Jacob was working as a barber.
His wife was keeping house and his son was a waiter. Jacob was born in MA as was his son. Sarah was
from New Brunswick, Canada24.
1881: Margaret DeFreest, widow, was living at 14 Cedar Street, Salem, in her own home. Also living with
her was Jacob DeFreest, hairdresser.25
1882: Salem city directory indicates that Margaret DeFreest moved to Lynn, MA. Lynn city directory for
1882 lists Margaret DeFrease, widow, at 2 Ezra Street. She is also listed in Lynn and Salem in late
1870s-early 1880s.
1883: Margaret Reed Defrease died on 24 Oct 1883 in Beverly, MA. She was an 82 year old widow of
color who was born in Keene, NH in 1801. She died of old age.26
18

Massachusetts, U.S., Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988
Massachusetts, U.S., State Census, 1865
20
Massachusetts, U.S., Death Records, 1841-1915
21
1869 Essex County, MA, business directory
22
1870 US Federal Census
23
1880 US Federal Census
24
1880 US Federal Census
25
U.S., City Directories, Salem, MA, 1881
26
Massachusetts, U.S., Death Records, 1841-1915
19

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Recovering Black History in the Monadnock Region project: Roxbury

1886: Jacob H. A. Defreace, aged 47, died on 15 April 1886 in Beverly, MA. He was married and working
as a barber. He is listed as colored. Jacob's father was Jacob H. Defreace who was from Suriname,
South America. His mother was Margaret Reed from Keene, NH.
??? 1891: U.S., Adjutant General Military Records for Massachusetts in 1891 lists a Corporal George
Defrease Co. L, 6th regiment, 2nd class27
1891: George H. DeFrease, colored male, married mulatto woman Martha M. Murphy on January 6, 1891
in Boston, MA. It’s a first marriage for both. George was born in Beverly, MA, and was working as a
janitor. Martha was born in Camden, SC, and was working as a dressmaker. His parents are listed as
Jacob H. and Susan C. Defrease. Her parents are Benjamin and Martha M. Murphy.28
1900: George and Martha Defrease were living at 11 Burbank Street in Boston in the 1900 census. They
did not have any children as of yet. George worked as a coachman. A lodger, 31 year old Eugene
Holmes, resided with them and worked as a waiter in a restaurant. All three are listed as black. George
was renting his house.29
1920: George and Mattie Defrease lived at 10 South Huntington in Boston. No children. THey had two
boarders living with them from Russia.
1923: George Defreace died in 1923 in Boston according to the MA death index.
1930: Martha Defrease was a 66 year old black woman lodging in the home of James and Sarah Martin.
She is listed as widowed and born in SC. Her father was from AL and mother from SC.

ITEMIZED RESEARCH FINDINGS
Census Records

REPOSITORIES VISITED
ONLINE RESOURCES USED
Ancestry.com
Keene Evening Sentinel. http://keene.advantage-preservation.com/
27

U.S., Adjutant General Military Records, 1631-1976– MA- 1891
Massachusetts, U.S., Marriage Records, 1840-1915- MA- 1891
29
1900 US Federal Census
28

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Recovering Black History in the Monadnock Region project: Roxbury

FURTHER RESEARCH RECOMMENDATIONS

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Recovering Black History in the Monadnock Region project: Roxbury