History of the Reed family in Europe and America

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5. Rev. "William Reed, second child of "William and Silence,
and grandson of Jacob and Sarah, was born in Abington,
June 8, 1755. Being in early life religiously disposed, he
desired a liberal education, with the purpose of entering the
Christian ministry. He graduated at Harvard College in
1782 ; and in April, 1784, was ordained as pastor of the
Congregational Church in Easton, Mass. In May, 1784, he
married Olive Pool * (born Jan. 28, 1767), third daughter of
Samuel Pool of Bridgewater. The children of Rev. William
and Olive were — (1.) Mehetabel, born in Easton, June 20,
1785 : she married Jacob Deane of Mansfield in 1808.
(2.) William, born Dec. 12, 1787. (3.) David, born Feb. 6,
1790. (4.) Olive, born in April, 1792 ; died in August,
1793. (5.) Jason, born Oct. 14, 1794. (6.) Daniel, born
March 22, 1797. (7.) Seth, born Aug. 22, 1799. (8.) Ly-
man, born Dec. 28, 1801. (9.) Lucius, born Oct. 27, 1805.
Mr. Reed died Nov. 16, 1809; having been the pastor of
the church in Easton upwards of twenty-five years. His
ministry, though not distinguished by unusual instances of
religious excitement, was a successful one, considering its
limited duration. The number of church-members was
much increased ; and his labors were believed by disinte-
rested observers to have had an important influence in effect-
ing a decided reformation in the moral character of the town,
whose reputation in the surrounding places had for some
years been low. The staid and reliable character of the
first settlers had not, with some honorable exceptions, been
maintained by their descendants. Many of them had fallen
* I find frequent marriage alliances to hare been formed, and a quartering of
arms, between the Keeds and Pools in the fourteenth century. The name was
then Pole; and the alteration of the orthography is in keeping with the manner in
"which the etymology of words has been, in many cases, entirely lost. Pool is a
corruption of De la Pole, Lord Chancellor under Richard II., and whose sister mar-
ried a Reed; a large amount of property coming into the hands of the Reed Family
by that marriage.