W7: Sarah Wheeler Sanders(1823-1919)

Sarah Wheeler Sanders was born on April 6th, 1823 to David Sanders and Amy Wheeler in Whately, MA.  She was the youngest of four children.  The family went by various versions of their surname, including Sanders, Saunders, and Sanderson.  Her father was a mill owner and she lived with her family through 1840.  Family history says she was a graduate of Mt. Holyoke.

She married Benjamin Franklin Reed on February 26th, 1845 in Whately, MA.  They were married in the Congregational Church by Jonathan Judd.   Benjamin moved into her parents house and there are mill records showing that Benjamin purchased supplies off of David Sanders.  Their first daughter, Jane Caroline, was born on February 12th, 1846 and their second, Lucy Amy Reed was born on February 5th, 1848.  The 1850 census shows Sarah, Benjamin, and Jane all living with Sarah's parents and sister, Lucy.  There is no listing for Lucy Amy.

They had another girl in 1850, Mary W..  I suspect the W stood for Wheeler but have no proof.  She died on November 3rd, 1852.  Their last child, Albert David was born on October 17th, 1852.  The 1855 State census has the family still living with Sarah's parents and sister.  The family has an Irish maid named Mary Grace, age 24.  Once again, there is no listing for Lucy Amy.  We know that Sarah's sister, Lucy was involved in the Underground Railroad, so there is a very good chance that Sarah was as well.

Sarah is still living with her parents, sister, husband and children in 1860.  There is still no record of Lucy Amy.  They have a 22 year old maid from England named Sarah Barrett living with them.  Sometime after this, her husband vanished.  The last record we have of him is a civil war draft registration showing that he is in New York in 1863.

Her father, David Sanders, dies on June 1st, 1863. In 1864, Sarah is dismissed from the 2nd Church in Whately.  It may be that this has to do with her move to Northampton.    By 1865, the family has moved to Northampton and Sarah is living with her mother, sister, Jane and Albert.  They have a different servant, Ellen Sullivan, from Ireland.  At this point, Sarah is listed as being a widow and this is status remains in the records until the 1900 census.  She joins the Edward's Church on February 25th, 1866.

The family is still together in 1870.  They have a 19 year old servant, Maggie Shannon, from Ireland.  The family seems to be reasonably well off.  Sarah's personal income is listed as $2000 and her sister's is $5000.  Lucy also has a Real Estate income of $7000 and therefore likely owns the house.  Albert has turned 18 and has changed his last name to Sanders from Reed.  In the 1873 city index, Sarah is living at 17 West Street.  She continued living at this house until 1883. On March 13th, 1874, Sarah's mother Amy passed away.  In 1874, her son married and moved to Easthampton, and in 1879, her daughter Jane married and moved out of the house.

By 1887, Sarah moved to 59 West Street with her sister.  Her daughter Jane's family moved into 19 West street.  The 1900 census, shows her living with her sister in the 59 West Street house.  they have a boarder, Amy S. Lane, who is a teacher.  Sarah is listed as being divorced.  Sarah's sister, Lucy, dies in 1910 and Sarah move's in with her daughter Jane at 67 West Street.

Sarah wrote a series of letters to her daughter Lucy in the early 1900s which can be read here.

Sarah died on February 13th, 1919 in Northampton, MA and is buried at the High Street Cemetery in Haydenville, MA. 

Here we move from facts to family story.  The story has it that Benjamin Franklin Reed left Sarah and ran off with a spiritualist.  Eventually he came back and Sarah made him divorce her and make an honest woman out of the spiritualist.    There seems to be some support in the records for this.  Benjamin is know to have gone to New York by 1863 and we loose tract of him.  The records show Sarah listed as a widow after that until 1900, when she is shown as being divorced.  I haven't been able to find the 1880 census record for her.  So, maybe she thought Benjamin was dead after 1863 and found out he was still alive and divorced him by 1890.  It would be worthwhile to find the divorce records  to see if they can tell use more.  David Albert changing his surname to Sanders in 1870 could also be a clue to this scandal or it could be something to do with the money in the Sanders line of the family. There is also a story of a person showing up at the door as another child of Benjamin's and Sarah refusing to meet them. This could mean there is another branch of the Reed family out there but there is no evidence of this.

Obituary

Feb. 19-Feb 21 1919

Daily Hampshire Gazette

MRS. SARAH SANDERS REED

At the age of 95 years, ten months and ten days, Mrs. Sarah Reed departed this life on Wednesday.  To quote an old friend of hers, "She did not have far to go; it was only stepping into the next room." She is survived by a daughter, Mrs. J. D. Wright, a son, A D. Sanders of Evenston, Ill., five grandchildren, and two great grandchildren.

It is almost 56 years that Mrs. Reed has been a resident of Northampton and, for most of this period, on West Street.  Some there still remember her and her sister, Mrs. Sanderson, always in their church pew at the hour of worship, whatever the weather conditions, until invalidism overtook, first one, and then the other.  Wherever these sisters were there came friends from a distance, the neighborhood dropped in, young and old were drawn by the sociability, intelligence, high principle, and welcoming hospitality that overflowed parlor, porch, and even the invalid's chair.

Mrs. Reed outlived her husband and all her father's family, but whatever sorrows swept over her life, her face wore an unaltered look of peace..  She was naturally endowed with a sweet disposition and an unusually equable temperament.  Those who were fretted or neglected loved to sun themselves in her uniform cheerfulness.  And more; there was a certain rarity in her character.  She seemed not to know the vocabulary of complaint, of lamentation, foreboding or fault-finding.  She had a long memory for the absent, the ill, for birthdays, family anniversaries, for the afflicted homes.  Her war experience was up to date.  For three years the Red Cross officers have been receiving scores of articles knit by her hands.  She encouraged her grandson, Sgt. David Wright, to go overseas, and was greatly elated when a letter from a soldier who by marriage became her grandson, announced his release from a  German prison. 

Benevolence was one of the lines of longitude on Mrs. Reed's chart of life.  She gave liberally, appreciation, sympathy, affection, gratitude, and of her means dispensed to the limit, for the needs of the world.  Her supreme desire was for the Church of Christ and his wide kingdom.  Not all the active members of  Edwards church have been so constantly watching, so eagerly inquiring, so earnestly praying, as this shut-in member, for the coming of the new pastor.   Last summer, and on into the cold autumn days, Mrs. Reed enjoyed long automobile rides with her devoted son and, to the end, retained her mental faculties, her love of life, flowers. ??? friends; and the secret of the Lord was with her. 

Ella C. Parson

Branch

• Generation 3 (2nd Great Grandparents): Benjamin Franklin Reed and Sarah Wheeler Sanders

  • Generation 2 (Great Grandparents): David Joy Wright and Jane Caroline Reed

    • Generation 1 (Grandparents): David Sanders Wright and Florence Edna Smith

      • Generation 0: Robert Ervin Putnam and (Florence) Caroline Wright

Descendants

Descendants

• Generation 3: Sarah Wheeler Sanders(1823-1919)(W7) and Benjamin Franklin Reed(1819-UNKN)(W6)

  • Generation 2: Jane Caroline Reed(1846-1936)(W3) and David Joy Wright(1851-1908)(W2)

    • Generation 1: Edward Nims Wright(1884-1947)

    • Generation 1: David Sanders Wright(1887-1967)(W1) and Florence Edna Smith(1892-1937)(S1)

      • Generation 0: Catherine Sanders Wright(1920-2017) and William Leonard Grandia(1912-2005)

      • Generation 0: David Joy Wright(1922-1991) and Rita Mary McFarland(Unkn-2015)

      • Generation 0: Charles Merrick Wright(1924-2008) and Charlotte Ruth Davis(1931-2023)

      • Generation 0: George Edward Wright(1927-2019) and Hope Gilson(1929-2012)

      • Generation 0: Florence Caroline Wright(1930-2016)(W0) and Robert Ervin Putnam(1927-2011)(P0)

    • Generation 2: Lucy (Lilly) Amy Reed(1848-1918) and John Dresser Lawrence(1847-1907)

    • Generation 2: Mary W. Reed(1850-1852)

    • Generation 2: Albert David Sanders(1852-1947) and Rebecca Clark(1854-1935)

      • Generation 1: Albert David Sanders(1879-1949) and Edith May Richardson(1877-1963)

        • Generation 0: Harriet Sanders(1909-2000) and Theodore Henry Burgess(1910-1997)

        • Generation 0: Jean Morton Sanders(1914-UNKN)

      • Generation 1: Amy Sanders(1887-1973) and Murray Arnold Hines(1877-1969)

        • Generation 0: Roger Arnold Hines(1919-2003) and Joanne Healy(1927-2006)

      • Generation 1: Ruth Sanders(1891-1964) and George Franklin Thomson(1892-1959)

        • Generation 0: David Sanders Thomson(1925-2015) 

Sources

• 1830 United States Federal Census: 1830; Census Place: Whately, Franklin, Massachusetts; Series: M19; Roll: 62; Page: 122; Family History Library Film: 0337920

• 1840 United States Federal Census: Year: 1840; Census Place: Whately, Franklin, Massachusetts; Page: 156; Family History Library Film: 0014677

• Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988: Name Sarah W Sanders, Event Type Marriage, Birth Date abt 1823, Marriage Date 26 Feb 1845, Marriage Place Whately, Massachusetts, Marriage Age 22, Father Name David Sanders, Mother Name Amy Sanders, Spouse Name Benjn F Reed, Spouse Marriage Age 25, Spouse Father Name Simeon Reed, Spouse Mother Name Miranda Reed

• 1850 United States Federal Census: Database online. Year: 1850; Census Place: Whately, Franklin, Massachusetts; Roll: M432_316; Page: 68A; Image: . Record for Sarah W Reed

• Massachusetts, State Census, 1855: Name Sarah W Reed, Gender Female, Birth Year abt 1823, Birth Place Massachusetts, Residence Whately, Franklin, Massachusetts, USA, Enumeration Year 1855, Age 32, Household Number 220, Reel Number 10, Volume Number 14

• 1860 United States Federal Census: Database online. Year: 1860; Census Place: Whately, Franklin, Massachusetts; Roll: ; Page: 226; Image: 230. Record for Sarah W Reed

• Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988: Name Sarah W Sanders, Event Type Miscellaneous, Residence Date 6 Mar 1864, Residence Place Whately, Massachusetts

• Massachusetts, State Census, 1865: Name Sarah W Reed, Gender Female, Marital Status Widowed, Birth Year abt 1823, Birth Place Massachusetts, Residence Northampton, Hampshire, Massachusetts, USA, Enumeration Year 1865, Age 42, Household Number 1064, Reel Number 14, Volume Number 17

• 1870 United States Federal Census: Year: 1870; Census Place: Northampton, Hampshire, Massachusetts; Roll: M593_621; Page: 398B; Image: 341; Family History Library Film: 552120

• U.S., Indexed County Land Ownership Maps, 1860-1918: Collection Number: G&M_3; Roll Number: 3

• 1900 United States Federal Census: Database online. Year: 1900; Census Place: Northampton Ward 2, Hampshire, Massachusetts; Roll: T623_31077_4113839; Page: 16B; Enumeration District: 0631; FHL microfilm: 1240654. Record for Sarah W Reed

• 1910 United States Federal Census: Database online. Year: 1910; Census Place: Northampton Ward 2, Hampshire, Massachusetts; Roll: T624_593; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 0698; Image: ; FHL microfilm: 1374606., Record for Sarah W Reed

• Massachusetts, Death Index, 1901-1980: Name Sarah W Reed, Death Date 1919, Death Place Northampton, Massachusetts, USA, Volume Number 81, Page number 289, Index Volume Number 72, Reference Number F63.M363 v.721919 - Northampton - 289 81

• U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current: Name Sarah Wheeler Reed, Maiden Name Sanders, Birth Date 6 Apr 1823, Birth Place Whately, Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States of America. Death Date 13 Feb 1919, Death Place United States of America, Cemetery High Street Cemetery, Burial or Cremation Place Haydenville, Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States of America, Has Bio?Y Children Mary W Reed, URL https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/70323611/sarah-wheeler-reed