Frank Reed 

by David Nolette

Frank Reed, born August 24, 1881 in Longton, Kansas, was the son of Francis Marion Reed and Mary Farley. He had at least five brothers and sisters. He was the second oldest child in the family.

Later the family moved back to Iowa. He married Amy Dugan on December 30, 1912. Amy's sister Inez said that Frank was kidnaped on the night of the Wedding. While they were living with his parents, they built a small house on his father's land. That's where my mother Jennie was born in 1917. Later they moved back in with his parents. Apparently Frank's Dad like to read because my mother said her mother told her that she was always careful to keep the children from losing his place in a book.

One day Frank's Dad went out in the fields but didn't come back. When they found him, he was in bad shape. He had had a stroke and died a few days later without regaining consciousness. After his father died Frank no longer had any interest in staying on the farm. Amy's folks had moved to Deer River, Minnesota in 1918. So in 1921 they moved to Deer River.

Soon they found a permanent home in Zemple which is a community connected to Deer River. Here Frank lived the rest of his life. This is the home my mother Jennie remembers growing up in. The first five children were born in Iowa, the next six were born here.

When he was 65 years old, he got a job in the iron mines by telling them he was 55years old. He always looked his age or older so don't how he got away with it. He worked there for ten years, retiring at the age of 75.

He always liked to work in the garden. I think he liked the solitude. Although not completely without humor, he was not a person that sat around and talked and laughed a lot. Maybe he got that from his mother. I remember him in the morning, sitting by the wood kitchen stove slowly putting on his socks and shoes. After he put one sock on, he might swear and then wait to put on the other. I don't know what he was mad about. Maybe it was old age.

He had some heart problems in his later years. A few years before he died, he became senile. He had the delusion that he had money. After breaking his hip he died a few days later on April 30, 1965.

David Nolette, written sometime in 1990's
Copied from history pages and added to biography page, Feb 5, 2006

Source:
My own first hand knowledge and records I have found