Rufus S. Reed and Dolly Oaks

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Husband Rufus S. Reed ¹

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           Born: 11 Oct 1775 - Uxbridge, Worcester Co, MA 1
     Christened: 
           Died: 1 Jun 1846 1
         Buried: 

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         Father: Col. Seth Reed (Abt 1744-1797) 2 3
         Mother: Hannah [Unk] (Abt 1747-1821) 1

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       Marriage: 1798 1

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   Other Spouse: Agnes Irvine (      -      ) 1 - 1801 1

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Wife Dolly Oaks ¹

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           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 1798 1
         Buried:  - Walnut Creek, Erie Co, PA

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         Father: Jonathan Oaks (      -      ) 1
         Mother: 

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Children

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General Notes: Husband - Rufus S. Reed

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While the rest of the family took to farming, his taste was altogether for business, in which he was extraordinarily successful. He started a store in 1796, which did a big trade with the Indians, the soldiers and the settlers. In 1797 he began an extensive fur trade with the Indians, which proved to be very profitable. His boats were running constantly on the lake, loaded with store goods one way and furs the other. He secured large Government contracts for supplying the western posts with beef, pork, flour and whisky. His business becoming too large for him to conduct alone, he associated Giles Sanford in the mercantile branch, and the partnership continued many years. In 1817-18, he erected a grist mill and distillery on Parade Street, near Fifth. Seven years later he built another distillery on his farm, near the corner of Parade Street and the Buffalo road. He purchased large bodies of land and fed many cattle, which he either killed or drove to the Eastern market. He became an extensive owner of lake vessels, and was the foremost man in enterprise in the whole lake country. As a specimen of his genius, it may be stated that the law forbade the sale of ardent spirits to the Indians by the gill, quart or barrel. Mr. Reed evaded the statute, and preserved the peace of his conscience by having a hollow stick made, and selling the liquid by the yard.

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Notes: Marriage

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In 1798, he left Buffalo by lake with a lot of goods in small boats. The party stopped in the evening at the mouth of Smoke's Creek (now Hamburg, New York), where Mr. Reed informed the men that he had a matter of business to attend to some three miles back in the country. He was gone all night, and returned in the morning accompanied by his wife.

1 —, History of Erie County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: Warner, Beers & Co., 1884), Pg 942.

2 —, History of Erie County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: Warner, Beers & Co., 1884), Pg 941.

3 —, Nelson's Biographical Dictionary and Historical Reference Book of Erie County, Pennsylvania (Erie, PA: S. B. Nelson, Publisher, 1896), Pg 584.