Obituary of Matthew Gilmore Reed - Knox County, Illinois From Chetopa, Kansas, newspaper, May 24, 1931 ********************* Matthew Gilmore REED, aged 89 years 2 months and 15 days, father of J.A. REED of Chetopa, Kas. and a resident of Weir, Kas., for 40 years, died suddenly Sunday evening at the home in Weir. Mr. REED had been in his usual health Saturday night and early Sunday morning but about noon Sunday suffered a heart attack. Upon receiving word of it at noon J. A. REED and wife left here just afternoon and were present when the end came. Mr. REED is survived by his wife, two soms, J. A. REED of Chetopa and William (Wallace) REED of Weir; three daughters, Mrs. M.D. Clark of Dallas, Tex., Mrs. Mary Libby of Weir and Miss Stella REED of the home; eight grandchildren and four greatgrandchildren. Funeral services and burial were at Weir yesterday afternoon. Matthew G. REED was born in Lanarkshire, Scotland, March 9, 1842, and came to America in 1859. He was located at Galesburg, Ill., (Knox Co.) when the civil war began and enlisted in the northern army in 1861. He served four years and three months and when discharged located in Maryland, where he was employed as a miner in the deep coal mines. He was married to Elizabeth Lochead in Maryland and they came to Kansas 40 years ago. They settled in Weir upon arrival in Kansas and that had since been the home. Twelve children were born to Mr. and Mrs. REED but all but five have passed away. Mr. REED had seen great changes made in the mining industry. He followed deep mining almost all of his life, in Scotland, Illinois, Maryland and Kansas, from the days when there were practically no safeguards for the men underground until the modern days when almost every precaution is taken to make the work safe. He was the oldest member of the Odd Fellows lodge in Weir, having been a member of the order 66 years. *********************************************************************************** Submitters note: GG uncle Matthew served in Co. H., 33rd Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry. I have no history of the unit--he has a photo at Carlisle, PA U.S. Army Military History Institute ------------------------------------------------------------------------- USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Virginia Greenup Seaholm Horicon, Wisconsin