Caleb Reed, farmer and stock-raiser; P. O. Ashmore; was born in Spencer Co., Ky., Dec. 1, 1818, and was 11 years old when he came to Coles Co.; his father, Thomas Reed, was a native of Pennsylvania; removed to Kentucky with his parents when a boy, and there married Miss Anna Kirkham, a native of Kentucky, and the 18t of December, 1829, left that State with his family, consisting of a wife and five children, to found a new home in the wilderness of Illinois. They came with a five-horse team, the journey consuming nearly a month; arriving in Edgar Co., they spent a few days, and about New Year’s, 1830, came to Coles Co., and settled on the farm now owned by his son Caleb Reed; he entered quite a tract of land, owning at one time about a thousand acres. He was a strong Whig, although he never sought to lead or hold office; he was a quiet, industrious man, attending strictly to his own affairs; conservative in his operations, not given to speculation; a man who enjoyed in an eminent degree the esteem of his neighbors and townsmen; he died in December, 1854, leaving four children, three of whom are living. Caleb Reed, the only living son, has always resided on the homestead; like his father, he has never sought official positions, his farm of 430 acres requiring his entire attention. He was married Feb. 22, 1844, to Miss Jane Carter, a daughter of John and Mary Carter; she was born in Wayne Co., Ky., Dec. 15, 1824, and came to Coles Co. with her parents in 1830; of eleven children, eight are living – Samuel H. of Douglas Co.; Martha A., wife of James T. Wright, of Ashmore Tp.; George R.; Emma J., wife of J. Elbridge Dudley, of Ashmore Tp.; John C., Thomas L., Ida M. and Albert M.
