At one time I doubted that he even existed, and nearly deleted him from my tree. Then I found 3 sources confirming that Adam Reese did have a younger brother named William. Born in Columbia, Herkimer, New York, in 1832, William Henry lived with the family in Reeseville, Wisconsin before getting married in 1856. He and his wife Sarah took their 4 Wisconsin born children as far West as possible, to little Port Orchard on the Kitsap Peninsula, southwest of Seattle. His Washington State Death Record in Seattle in 1908 correctly names his parents, Samuel Reese and Elizabeth Bell. Amazing. Colonial New York and 20th century Seattle are separated by just one generation.
William and Sarah's daughter Ruby Amelia, born in Reeseville, Wisconsin marries a good man in Seattle, William Winston Wilcox and has 9 fine children with him. I have found photos of Ruby and William and one of Ruby surrounded by her 9 good looking children. In the photo, Ruby has an open book on her lap. What's with the book? Could it be a bible? ...probably... but it is too slim to be my bible, I think.
William's son William Ellis Reese has less luck. His two sons, Ellis and Dewitt are a couple ne'r-do-wells. Wisconsin born Dewitt is a musician who amazingly joins the Canadian Army, deserts after a few months, returns to the USA, registers for the draft in 1917 in Coos, Oregon, but claims exemption because he is a Canadian citizen and his mother's sole support. On the same day in June 1917, his brother Ellis, who works as a bill poster in Spokane, Washington State also claims exemption from the draft because he is his mother's sole support. Their mother, I assume, dies in poverty. But I have not confirmed that.
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