A Tale of Three Siblings

My mother, Martha Reed, was, like me, the youngest of three.  She was born in 1916, her sister Margaret in 1914, and her brother Donald in 1913.  Their father, Benjamin Franklin Reed, died in a railroad accident in 1917, just two months before my mother's first birthday.  Mom and Aunt Margaret were taken away from their mother, Ruth Ella Nave, by the Reed family and adopted within the family.  Aunt Margaret described it to me as the Reeds having "ganged up on" Ruth Nave and taken the two girls away.  Mom was adopted by the oldest brother, Perry Wilmer Reed, and his wife Mary LeSourd.  Aunt Margaret was adopted by Don Francis Reed and his wife, Grace McElroy.  Mom's brother Donald remained with his mother.

 

Somehow, probably through family connections, the three siblings stayed in touch, and in their middle years, all ended up in Florida.  Uncle Donald was in the Tampa Bay area.  Aunt Margaret was in Orlando.  Mom was in Jacksonville.

 

The photo on top, below, shows my grandmother Ruth Nave with Donald and Margaret, about 1920.  Mom had already been picked up by Perry and Mary Reed, who lived in Pensacola, Florida.  The photo on the bottom is the siblings reunited in the 1950s, in Florida.

 

Ruth Nave with Donald and Margaret, abt. 1920

Martha Reed, Donald Reed, Margaret Reed abt. 1955