Benjamin Ream was born in September 1855, in Schuylkill Haven, Pennsylvania. He was the son of John Ream, born circa 1816 , and Sarah Maria Ream (born Reichert), who was born in 1823.

Benjamin was my great grandfather. His son, Grover Cleveland Ream, was my maternal grandfather.

He married Hattie R. Ream (born Fike), who was born on July 25, 186 , in Indiana. They were married in 1881 and had nine children: Rebecca, Winfield, Grover, Lucy, John, Harriet, William, Josephine and Frederic.

Benjamin’s occupation was a carpenter. Throughout his life, he lived in various places including South Manheim Township, Schuylkill, Pennsylvania, and Ann Arbor city Ward 7, Washtenaw County, Michigan. By 1920, he had moved to Metzger, Washington, Oregon.

I am particularly interested in this blog to find out where he worked in lived in Ann Arbor, MI.

These are the records I found for his connection to Ann Arbor.

1888-1889 worked for Jacobus & Son as a carpenter. His employer’s business was located at 92 E. Catherine, Ann Arbor. This is an address that no longer exists. I suspect that it may have been part of a purchase by the UM Health System for the Catherine Street Hospital.

In an Ann Arbor directory from 1898 and 1899, it lists the home residence of Benjamin and Harriet as simply the east end of Wells, Ann Arbor, MI.

From a quick search on the internet, I found out that their beautiful Queen Anne Victorian home on Washtenaw no longer stands. This would have been in the area between Church Street and S. Forest Avenue. The house was removed decades ago and became part of the property of the U of M.

Benjamin Ream’s birth in the mid-19th century came at a time when America was rapidly changing. Born into an era of industrialization and just before the Civil War, his Pennsylvania roots placed him in a state that was a hotbed of political and economic activity.

Marrying Hattie R. Ream on May 28, 1881, Benjamin started his own family during a period of reconstruction and national healing following the Civil War. Their children’s names, including my maternal Grandfather named Grover Cleveland, suggested a connection to the broader political landscape, as Cleveland was elected President of the United States twice during this era.

As a carpenter, Benjamin Ream belonged to a profession that supported the nation’s growth and expansion westward. His movement from Pennsylvania to Michigan and eventually Oregon followed a pattern of migration as Americans sought new opportunities in different parts of the country. This period saw significant urbanization and the development of infrastructure, which would have provided ample employment for skilled tradesmen.

Harriet “Hattie”, his wife, died at the age of 61 in 1926 after a brief illness. My mother would only have been 1 year old when Hattie (her paternal grandmother) passed. I have found a copy of her death certificate.

Passing away in 1928, Benjamin Ream lived through some of the most transformative years in American history, including the end of the frontier, the Gilded Age, World War I, and the beginning of the modern era.

His death in Metzger, Oregon, marked the end of a life that spanned both coasts and reflected the dynamic changes of the United States during his lifetime. He is buried in Ann Arbor, MI. where he shares a grave with his wife Harriet.