William Oliver Reed

William Oliver Reed may have been born Benjamin Rode, on 9 Jan 1909 with parents John R. Rode and Elizabeth Doyle. This is according to the church baptism records. No record is given of a baptism of William Oliver Reed. In the 1810 census of Kaskaskia in John Doyle's household, the marks agree with the following members of his household: John Doyle, his daughters Elizabeth and Charlotte, (Elizabeth is a widow at this time living at home and Charlotte is unmarried), a boy that is the right age to be William Oliver/Benjamin and a girl the right age to be Eugenie Oliver/Eliza Virginia. John D. Lee states that William Oliver died when he was two years old. That would fit with William/Benjamin dying about the same time Ralph Lee and Elizabeth Doyle Reed marry. John D. Lee would never have known his brother. (Renee Durfee)