My Genealogy Hound

ALDEN D. REED, a prosperous farmer of Prescott, was born in South Amherst, Mass., May 22, 1852, son of Dwight A. and Mary A. (Haskins) Reed. Grandfather William Reed was an early settler in Shutesbury, where he was a farmer during the active period of his life. He owned a good farm, which he cultivated with profit, and was known as a conscientious man, fair and upright in his dealings and of broad and liberal views respecting religious differences. In politics he supported the Whig party. He lived to the age of seventy-three years. Nine of his children grew to maturity, and five are still living, all of whom are over seventy years of age. Of his four sons Dwight A., Mr. Reed’s father, is the youngest.

Dwight A. Reed was born in Shutesbury. He learned the trade of a stone mason, which, with farming, constituted his principal occupation through life. At the breaking out of the Civil War he enlisted as a private in the Fifty-second Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteers, and after one year, the stipulated term of his enlistment, he re-enlisted in the Thirty-seventh Regiment and served until the close of the war. He is now one of the oldest residents of Shutesbury, has always been a stirring, energetic man, and is a Democrat in politics. Mr. Reed, Sr., has been twice married. His first wife, who was a native of Shutesbury, died at the age of forty-two; and he is living with his second wife. He has been the father of fifteen children, of whom eleven are still living, namely: Mary; Lucy; Alden D., the subject of this sketch; Dwight, Jr.; Luther; Alfred; George; Abbie; Rector; Jennie; and Susan. Those deceased were: Willie, Eva, Ella, and Elizabeth.

Alden D. Reed was educated in the common schools of Shutesbury. At an early age he commenced work upon a farm, receiving six dollars per month for his first season’s work. He continued as a farm assistant for some years. When twenty-one years old he left home, and was employed in a shoe factory in Hopkinton, Mass., for several years. In 1878 he moved to Prescott and purchased the farm upon which he now resides. The property contains about one hundred and thirty acres of improved land, and is used in general farming and dairying. He keeps from twenty-five to thirty head of cattle, and has erected a new residence. His other buildings are kept in the best of repair.

On July 9, 1878, he was united in marriage to Ella S. Hamilton, daughter of Harrison and Lucy A. (Gilbert) Hamilton, of Shutesbury, and has had eight children; namely, Harry, Lennie, Rector, Daisy, Mary, Helen, Guy, and Maud. The last named died at the age of ten years.

Harrison Hamilton, Mrs. Reed’s father, was born upon his present farm in Shutesbury, April 21, 1819, son of Samuel and Natalie (Aldrich) Hamilton. The first ancestor of the family to settle in America was John Hamilton, Mr. Hamilton’s great-grandfather. He was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, and on his arrival in New England first settled in Pelham and later in Shutesbury, where he bought a tract of five hundred acres, for which he paid one hundred and fifty dollars. This was previous to the chartering of Shutesbury as a town, and when the locality was still part of the wilderness. A sturdy pioneer, he soon cleared a good farm, upon which he resided for the remainder of his life. He was the first Representative to the General Court from Shutesbury, and he made the journey to Cambridge in company with his wife on horseback, she returning home alone with the horse. John Hamilton was an uncle to the famous statesman, Alexander Hamilton, who met his death in a duel with Aaron Burr. Andrew Hamilton, Mr. Hamilton’s grandfather, was born in Shutesbury and was a lifelong resident of that town. He resided upon the farm cleared by his father, and became a prosperous land-owner.

Samuel Hamilton, Mr. Hamilton’s father, was born in Shutesbury in January, 1778. He followed agriculture at the old homestead successfully, and died in October, 1855. His wife, Natalie (Aldrich) Hamilton, who was born in New Salem in 1777, became the mother of seven children, of whom Harrison, Mrs. Reed’s father, is the only one now living. The others were: Fanny, Mixter, Nancy, Harriet, Merritt, and Augusta. The mother died in January, 1854.

Harrison Hamilton was educated in the district schools of Shutesbury, and in young manhood learned the trade of shoemaker, which he followed as an occupation for upward of twenty years. He resided in Bernardston for five years, and after conducting a mercantile business on Shutesbury Hill for an equal length of time he returned to the old homestead in 1865, where he has since been profitably engaged in agriculture. His farm, which is a part of the original tract deeded to his great-grandfather, has been in the family’s possession for one hundred and fifty years. Its extent now is about three hundred acres, located in Shutesbury and in other towns. His son now shares its management, and both are counted among the wealthiest farmers in their section. Mr. Hamilton is a Democrat in politics, and has been Town Clerk and Treasurer for some years. He has been Postmaster of Shutesbury and chairman of the Board of Selectmen.

Mr. Hamilton was married in 1845 to Lucy A. Gilbert, who was born in Shutesbury, June 1, 1819. She became the mother of six children, as follows: Ella S. and William G., who are no longer living; Andrew J., who is in the insurance business in Athol, Mass.; Emma L., a teacher; Ella S. (second), who is now Mrs. Alden D. Reed; and William G. (second), who resides at the old homestead. Mrs. Hamilton died in 1859.

Mr. Reed is a Democrat in politics, but has always refused public office. He and his family attend the Congregational church.