Susannah "Reed"

Most of the records I have for my great-great-great-grandmother, Susannah Parker, give her maiden name as Tilghman. A few weeks ago, though, I came across death certificates for two of her children which listed her as Susannah Reed. This presented a puzzle for me to solve, and I always love a good puzzle.

When Susannah married Zebedee Parker in 1819, the marriage record listed her as Susan Tilghman. I had assumed this was her maiden name, but these death certificates made me wonder. Perhaps she had been married before and Tilghman was her married name.

Another piece of the puzzle was a census record from 1850. At that time Susannah was widowed and living in Carroll County with several of her unmarried children. Also listed in Susannah's household that year was a 79-year-old woman named Margaret Reed. When I first came across this record years ago, I had wondered if Margaret was Susannah's mother. She was the right age (about 25-30 years older than Susannah), but I had wondered where the Reed name came in if Susannah was a Tilghman.

I did some research in the Maryland Marriages database to see if I could find a marriage record for a Susan or Susannah who married a Tilghman, but to no avail. I also went back and looked at Susannah's obituary from 1892, but the obituary definitely said that her maiden name was Tilghman.

I was stumped until a day or two later when I had a sudden inspiration. Perhaps it was Susannah's mother who was married more than once, not Susannah! I went back to the Maryland Marriages database and did a search for a woman named Margaret who married a man with the last name of Reed. Bingo! I was ecstatic when a record came up for a marriage between John Reed and Margaret Tilghman in Baltimore County in January 1821 (just one year after Zebedee and Susannah were married)! Further research revealed that John and Margaret were married by the same minister that married Zebedee and Susannah.

Now that I know who Susannah's mother was, I need to figure out who her father was. I've made some progress on that side as well, but I'll save that for another blog.