Reed / Means / Dehart

Don's great-great-grandfather, William Reed (Billy), was born in Kentucky in 1824 according to 19th century census records. Stories passed down put him in Tennessee at age nine, when he left home alone, headed for Texas. He encountered a mounted traveller who asked "Where you going, son?"

"Texas."

"Walkin'?"

"Yep."

"Well jump up behind me here, that's where I'm goin'."

We don't know the name of the benefactor. Billy told about being in Alabama, on the way to Texas, on "the night the stars fell", November 12, 1833. That night he witnessed the most intense meteor shower in recorded history, as an estimated 240,000 meteors bathed the sky in brilliant, awe-inspiring light.

The Reed's have called Texas home since Billy made that trip. His son, Thomas William Reed (Tommy) married Mary Etta Dehart in 1887. Tommy's son, Thomas William Reed, Jr. (Will), married Katie Laura Means in 1911. The Dehart family came to Texas from South Carolina, via Mississippi. The Means family came to Texas via Mississippi and Pennsylvania.

Below are some links to Reed and Means family information.

• Will, Tommy and Billy Reed
• Reed and Means Family Photos
• Our Combined Family Trees
• Genealogy Report on the Descendants of William Reed
• Genealogy Report on the Descendants of James C. Means
• Genealogy Report on the Descendants of John Jackson Dehart