Enos Reed
Enos Reed was born on October 15, 1836, in Union County, Ohio, to James Reed and Asenath McWilliams. His father died around 1845, and his mother eventually married Thomas Long. The family moved to Iowa in 1853, and he eventually began working as a teacher. In 1860, he travelled to present-day Colorado in search of gold. As he later noted, however, he returned home several months later “with less of the yellow metal than I took with me.” By 1860, he was working as a farmer in Pleasant, Iowa.
 
He married Louisa Walker in Lucas County, Iowa, on April 2, 1862, and they had at least seven children: Olive, born around 1863; Alice, born around 1868; Almeda, born around 1870; Scott, born around 1873; Ida, born around 1876; Alma, born around 1880; and David, born around 1884.
 
He enlisted in the Union army on August 9, 1862, and he mustered in as a private in Company K of the 34th Iowa Infantry on October 15. He was promoted to corporal on November 10, 1862, then to sergeant on April 10, 1863. He became a commissary sergeant on March 1, 1864. The regiment took part in the siege of Vicksburg and the Battle of Fort Blakeley. He remained devoted to the Union, declaring the war a “gigantic struggle for our national life.” He mustered out on August 15, 1865.
 
The family moved to Liberty, Kansas, around 1866. He worked as a farmer, and by 1870, he owned $4,000 of real estate and $600 of personal property. He also served as the county’s superintendent of public instruction. They moved to Palmyra, Kansas, in the 1870s. He supported the Republican Party, and he ran (unsuccessful) for a seat in the state legislature in 1892. He applied for a federal pension in February 1894 and eventually secured one.
 
He served as commander of the State Soldiers’ Home, and one writer described him as a “ministering comrade to veterans of the Union.” In 1908, he switched to the Democratic Party, a decision that reportedly severed “many political ties with former brave and close comrades.” His wife died in 1911, and by 1920, he was living with his son Scott in Blue, Missouri. He died there on February 26, 1925.
1789
DATABASE CONTENT
(1789)Reed, Enos1836-10-151925-02-26
  • Conflict Side: Union
  • Role: Soldier
  • Rank in: Private
  • Rank out: Sergeant
  • Rank highest: Sergeant
  • Gender: Male
  • Race: White

Documents - Records: 67

  • (5902) [recipient] ~ Louisa A. Walker to Enos Reed, 19 April 1863
  • (5903) [recipient] ~ Louisa A. Walker to Enos Reed, 27 September 1863
  • (5928) [recipient] ~ Louisa A. Walker to Enos Reed, 4 October 1863
  • (5929) [writer] ~ Enos Reed to Louisa A. Walker, 3 February 1864
  • (5931) [writer] ~ Enos Reed to Louisa A. Walker, 11 February 1864
  • (5932) [writer] ~ Enos Reed to Louisa A. Walker, 27 February 1864
  • (5933) [writer] ~ Enos Reed to Louisa A. Walker, 23 May 1864
  • (5934) [recipient] ~ Louisa A. Walker to Enos Reed, 18 September 1864
  • (5935) [recipient] ~ Louisa A. Walker to Enos Reed, 3 July 1865
  • (5936) [writer] ~ Enos Reed to Louisa A. Walker, 17 January 186X
  • (5937) [recipient] ~ Louisa A. Walker to Enos Reed, 5 April 1863
  • (5938) [recipient] ~ Louisa A. Walker to Enos Reed, 14 April 1863
  • (5939) [recipient] ~ Louisa A. Walker to Enos Reed, 24 May 1864
  • (5940) [recipient] ~ Louisa A. Walker to Enos Reed, 28 June 1863
  • (5941) [writer] ~ Enos Reed to Louisa A. Walker, 10 September 1863
  • (5942) [writer] ~ Enos Reed to Louisa A. Walker, 17 September 186X
  • (5943) [writer] ~ Enos Reed to Louisa A. Walker, 22 September 186X
  • (5944) [writer] ~ Enos Reed to Louisa A. Walker, 24 September 1863
  • (5945) [writer] ~ Enos Reed to Louisa A. Walker, 2 October 1863
  • (5946) [writer] ~ Enos Reed to Louisa A. Walker, 9 October 1863
  • (5947) [writer] ~ Enos Reed to Louisa A. Walker, 18 October 1863
  • (5948) [recipient] ~ Louisa A. Walker to Enos Reed, 25 October 1862
  • (5949) [writer] ~ Enos Reed to Louisa A. Walker, 1 December 1863
  • (7076) [recipient] ~ Louisa A. Walker to Enos Reed, 16 August 1862
  • (7077) [writer] ~ Enos Reed to Louisa A. Walker, 18 September 1862
  • (7078) [recipient] ~ Louisa A. Walker to Enos Reed, 9 October 1862
  • (7079) [recipient] ~ Louisa A. Walker to Enos Reed, 13 October 1862
  • (7080) [recipient] ~ Louisa A. Walker to Enos Reed, undated
  • (7081) [writer] ~ Enos Reed to Louisa A. Walker, 16 October 1862
  • (7082) [recipient] ~ Louisa A. Walker to Enos Reed, undated
  • (7083) [recipient] ~ Louisa A. Walker to Enos Reed, 19 October 1862
  • (7084) [writer] ~ Enos Reed to Louisa A. Walker, 28 October 1862
  • (7085) [recipient] ~ Louisa A. Walker to Enos Reed, 30 October 1862
  • (7086) [writer] ~ Enos Reed to Louisa A. Walker, 4 November 1862
  • (7087) [writer] ~ Enos Reed to Louisa A. Walker, 26 November 1862
  • (7088) [writer] ~ Enos Reed to Louisa A. Walker, 28 November 1862
  • (7089) [recipient] ~ Louisa A. Walker to Enos Reed, 14 December 1862
  • (7090) [recipient] ~ Louisa A. Walker to Enos Reed, 21 December 1862
  • (7091) [recipient] ~ Louisa A. Walker to Enos Reed, 28 December 1862
  • (7092) [recipient] ~ Louisa A. Walker to Enos Reed, 20 January 1863
  • (7093) [recipient] ~ Louisa A. Walker and Mary Harden to Enos Reed, 16 February 1863
  • (7094) [recipient] ~ Louisa A. Walker to Enos Reed, 23 February 1863
  • (7095) [recipient] ~ James H. Harden to Enos Reed, 7 March 1863
  • (7096) [recipient] ~ Enos Reed to Louisa A. Walker, 13 March 1863
  • (7097) [recipient] ~ Mary A. Harden to Enos Reed, 16 March 1863
  • (7098) [writer] ~ Enos Reed to Louisa A. Walker, 8 April 1863
  • (7102) [writer] ~ Enos Reed to Louisa A. Walker, 27 April 1863
  • (7103) [writer] ~ Enos Reed to Louisa A. Walker, 10 May 1863
  • (7104) [writer] ~ Enos Reed to Louisa A. Walker, 30 June 1863
  • (7107) [writer] ~ Enos Reed to Louisa A. Walker, 1 July 1863
  • (7108) [writer] ~ Enos Reed to Louisa A. Walker, 3 July 1863
  • (7109) [writer] ~ Enos Reed to Louisa A. Walker, 10 July 1863
  • (7110) [writer] ~ Enos Reed to Louisa A. Walker, 11 July 1863
  • (7111) [writer] ~ Enos Reed to Louisa A. Walker, 24 July 1863
  • (7112) [writer] ~ Enos Reed to Louisa A. Walker, 1 July 1864
  • (7113) [recipient] ~ James H. Harden to Enos Reed, 14 October 1864
  • (7114) [recipient] ~ John D. Sarver to Enos Reed, 5 December 1864
  • (7132) [writer] ~ Enos Reed to Louisa A. Walker, 6 December 1864
  • (7133) [writer] ~ Enos Reed to Louisa A. Walker, 28 December 1864
  • (7134) [writer] ~ Enos Reed to Louisa A. Walker, 2 February 1865
  • (7135) [writer] ~ Enos Reed to Louisa A. Walker, 16 April 1865
  • (7136) [writer] ~ Enos Reed to Louisa A. Walker, 27 July 1865
  • (7137) [recipient] ~ James H. Harden to Enos Reed, 17 July 186X
  • (7138) [writer] ~ Enos Reed to Louisa A. Walker, 12 September 186X
  • (7139) [recipient] ~ Asenath Long to Enos Reed and Louisa A. Walker, 25 October 18XX
  • (7140) [writer] ~ Enos Reed to Louisa A. Walker, undated
  • (15295) [writer] ~ Enos Reed to Louisa A. Walker, 12 June 1865

People - Records: 7

  • (1789) Reed, Enos is the [husband of] (1790) Walker, Louisa A.
  • (1800) Reed, Olive is the [child of] (1789) Reed, Enos
  • (1801) Walker, Samuel Scott is the [parent-in-law of] (1789) Reed, Enos
  • (1802) Walker, Sarah Ann is the [parent-in-law of] (1789) Reed, Enos
  • (2408) Harden, Mary A. is the [sibling-in-law of] (1789) Reed, Enos
  • (2409) Harden, James H. is the [sibling-in-law of] (1789) Reed, Enos
  • (2424) Long, Asenath is the [parent of] (1789) Reed, Enos

Places - Records: 2

  • (1489) [birth] ~ Union County, Ohio
  • (533) [death] ~ Missouri

Show in Map

Regiments - Records: 1

  • (555) [enlisted] ~ 34th Iowa Infantry

Groups - Records: 3

  • (1) [member/supporter] ~ Democratic Party
  • (3) [member/supporter] ~ Republican Party
  • (6) [member/supporter] ~ Grand Army of the Republic
SOURCES

Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865, available from Ancestry.com; Iowa Select Marriages Index, 1758-1996, available from Ancestry.com; General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934, available from Ancestry.com; Neosho Valley Eagle, 9 May 1868; The Lawrence Daily Democrat, 27 October 1908; The Kansas City Times, 28 February 1925; Enos Reed to Louisa A. Walker, 11 February 1864, DL1262.005, Nau Collection.