Not many in my family served in the military.  In fact several were conscientious objectors.  My grandmother Pearl’s older brother, Hugh, was the exception.

Hugh Marion Reed was born April 23, 1876, Lebanon, Marion County, Kentucky.  He reached adulthood in Indianapolis,  Indiana and spend his later years in Los Angeles, California.

According to my Uncle Henry, his uncle Hugh Reed passed for white and joined the Navy several times and was a stoker during the Spanish American War.  His uncle told them he would be so tired after his shift that he would just lay down and go to sleep until time for the next shift.  They were locked down there during the shift.

In the U.S. Army, Register of Enlistments, 1798 – 1914, it says that Hugh Reed enlisted 13 July 1898 in Indianapolis, IN for three years.  He was 22 3/12 and a Bridge builder.  He then enlisted in the U.S. Navy out of New York City on 8  December 1898.  He was discharged 2 December 1901 in Boston, MA.

In 1906 he married his wife Blanche C.Young.  They had four children.  Anna, Hugh, Thomas and Theresa.

In 1928, according to the U.S. National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, 1866 – 1938, Hugh Reed, born in Lebanon, KY was admitted 13 December 1928 with rectal prolapse.

He is mentioned in his brother George’s Will in 1946 as living in Los Angeles, CA. So far I have not found a death record for Hugh Marion Reed.