Mary Reed

The full opening of the General Index to Marriages, Clay County Court. Jesse Collins and Mary Reed are the last entry in the left column, with the later note “of James” beside her name: the clerk’s cross-reference to her father’s consent. Across the gutter are Hiram Collins’s two licenses to Elizabeth Reed and Bradley Collins’s three marriages. The right-hand page alone is also in the Gallery, as “Clay County Court marriage register, the C entries.”

Dwelling and family 29: “Mary Collins,” 46, female, M, with Matilda 20, Reuben 16, Loyd 14, Calaska 12 and Spencer 10. Every line has an M in the colour column. The only mark in the occupation column is the ditto beside Reuben, carrying down “Farmer” from higher up the page. From Molata, chapter seven.

Matilda Davis died at 1315 South Wabash Street, Kirksville, on 9 January 1918, aged 86, married, a housewife born in Indiana on 10 May 1831. Her father is given as Jesse Collins and her mother’s maiden name as Mary Reed.

“November the 25 1827. Mr Abner Baker Sir ples to grant Jesse Collens lisens to marrey Mary Reed and oblige them. James Read.” Witnessed “Stephen Read” and “Hiram Collins.” It is in James Read’s own hand, and it is the only record that names Mary as his daughter. From Molata, chapter six.

Jesse Collins and Stephen Reed bound themselves to the Commonwealth of Kentucky in £50 for “a marriage intended between the said Jesse and Mary Reed,” both signing with their marks. It goes with James Read’s consent note of 25 November 1827.

A hand-coloured map of the United States and the West in 1847, with Oregon, “Upper or New California” and Texas, an inset of Mexico, and a shield with the population of the states. Molata uses Harper’s map of the same year instead.

The country in 1847, with its canals, railroads and stage routes, insets of Oregon and the cities, and the counties’ populations from the census of 1840. Iowa had become a state only the December before, and the Collinses and Bruners were gathering in Appanoose County on its Missouri line. From Molata, chapter eight.

The eastern half of the family’s road, 1694-1827: the Collins line from Orange and Louisa counties and the Flat River, the Reeds from Surry County and the Rowan settlements, through the New River country to Clay County, Kentucky, where Jesse Collins and Mary Reed married in 1827. From Molata.

The whole road, 1694-1887: from Tidewater Virginia through Clay County to Indiana, Iowa, Missouri and Arkansas, with Bradley Collins’s flatboat of 1839, and an inset of the last legs to Colorado and Puget Sound. From Molata.

Clay County, Kentucky, shaded, in the mountain counties, with Laurel, Knox, Leslie and Owsley around it. The Collins and Reed families were there in the 1820s, and Jesse Collins and Mary Reed married there in 1827. From Molata, chapter six.