REED, Barbara Frohmader

Barbara (Frohmader) Reed

This photo was located about a year ago at the Palm Beach County Fairgrounds at their monthly Antiques Show.  The front of the photo shows that the photographic studio was "Medlar Studio, Rockford, Illinois."

The back of the photo has a hand-written note which identifies the subject as "Barbra Fromander Reed." (I would later determine that the first name and maiden name were misspelled on the photo.)

The photo was probably taken around 1888 to 1892, and might have been taken at the time of her wedding or engagement. Barbara appears to be in her early twenties, so a good guess for year of birth would be around 1865-1870.

Searching in Rockford Illinois newspapers from the applicable era, I was able to find several references to the surname "Fromander", but no mention of a Barbra Fromander, nor of a Fromander girl marrying a Reed.

Ancestry.com offered only a handful of people named Fromander, and no Barbras.

Findagrave.com saved the day. By searching for anyone named Barb Reed in the county of Winnebago, Illinois (and just hoping that Barbara had not moved prior to her passing), I was finally able to identify the right person as Anna Barbara Frohmader-Reed. Armed with the correct name, I was able to go back to Ancestry.com and newspaper archives to glean more information.

Born: June 7, 1870 (per Census but headstone says 1868) in Germany
Arrived: 1872
Died: November 8, 1945 in Roscoe IL (per Social Security death index)

 

On April 15, 1890, she married Fred Reed (a grocer, born March 15, 1854 on Oswego NY, to parents Jefferson and Julia Reed, died Oct 3, 1921 in Roscoe, Illinois).

• They had children:
  Irene Reed (married Thomas J. Murray)
  Ray Reed

I cannot locate a record detailing the names of Barbara's parents, although I did see reference to her father being "John Frohmader" on a search result, but was not able to pull up a page when clicking it.

(Obits are taken from archives of Rockford, Illinois newspaper. Click on obits to see a larger image.)

1900 Federal Census, Roscoe, Winnebago, Illinois
REED, James F., head, Mar 1824, 46, born in NY or NY parents, Grocery merchant
REED, Barbara A., wife, June 1870, 29, born in Germany or German parents
REED, Irene,daughter, Feb 1893, 7, born in Illinois

1910 Federal Census, Roscoe, Winnebago County, Illinois
REED, James F., head, 54, born in NY or NY parents, Grocery merchant
REED, Anna B., wife, 38, born in Germany of German parents
REED, Irene, daughter, 18, born in Illinois, Stenographer/bookkeeper in the clothing industry

Barbara and her husband Fred Reed are buried at the Roscoe cemetery in Winnebago County, Illinois.