I was born and raised in the VA suburbs of Washington, DC of parents who migrated from Nebraska (father) and Florida (mother) to find work during the Great Depression. I moved to Nashville in 1998 where I currently reside.

My father's ancestor William Reed (1587-1656) arrived in Boston in 1635 on the ship Defense (just missing the Great Colonial Hurricane). His descendants lived in New England for most of the following 200 years. His descendant and my ancestor Supply Reed (1754-1846) fought in the Revolutionary War and afterward was granted land in Acworth, New Hampshire where he is buried (I found his grave on Find A Grave). I am descended from his son John Reed, who was one of Joseph Smith's first converts (1830) and moved west with the Mormons. The movement fragmented following Smith's assassination, and John Reed remained in Iowa. His great-grandson William Reed (1893-1977) moved to northwestern Nebraska, where my dad was born.

My mother's ancestors include Rev. Reuben Philips (1795-1887), whose father also fought in the Revolutionary War and who spent his life on horseback as a circuit-riding preacher, school teacher and teacher of "singing schools" in the southern Appalachian mountains. I also found his grave on Find A Grave.

I was born and raised in the VA suburbs of Washington, DC of parents who migrated from Nebraska (father) and Florida (mother) to find work during the Great Depression. I moved to Nashville in 1998 where I currently reside.

My father's ancestor William Reed (1587-1656) arrived in Boston in 1635 on the ship Defense (just missing the Great Colonial Hurricane). His descendants lived in New England for most of the following 200 years. His descendant and my ancestor Supply Reed (1754-1846) fought in the Revolutionary War and afterward was granted land in Acworth, New Hampshire where he is buried (I found his grave on Find A Grave). I am descended from his son John Reed, who was one of Joseph Smith's first converts (1830) and moved west with the Mormons. The movement fragmented following Smith's assassination, and John Reed remained in Iowa. His great-grandson William Reed (1893-1977) moved to northwestern Nebraska, where my dad was born.

My mother's ancestors include Rev. Reuben Philips (1795-1887), whose father also fought in the Revolutionary War and who spent his life on horseback as a circuit-riding preacher, school teacher and teacher of "singing schools" in the southern Appalachian mountains. I also found his grave on Find A Grave.