Patriarch & Matriarch of the Puryear Family
Edward "Ed" Puryear
(1840 - bef. 1910)
Julia Rogers Puryear
(1855 - 1913)

     Three grandchildren of Bill and Sarah Reed married into the Puryear Family of Tate County, Mississippi.  Robert Puryear, the son of Lucious Puryear Jr. and Armintha Reed Puryear, started the Reed-Puryear Family Reunion.  Bill & Sarah Reed's grandson, Leonard Reed, married Lydia Puryear.  Armintha and Leonard were the children of Pleas Reed, and Lucious and Lydia were the children of Lucious & Cora Wilson Puryear.  Additionally, Bill & Sarah Reed's granddaughter, Sarah Jane Deberry, married Willie Puryear, the oldest son of Lucious & Cora Puryear, but they later divorced.

     The roots of the Puryear Family have been traced back to Mecklenburg County, Virginia in the early 1800s. There, in or around 1840, a slave named Marinda Puryear gave birth to a healthy boy named Edward. Their enslaver, Achilles Puryear, took them to Tate County, Mississippi in the 1850s. According to the late Mrs. Mattie Lou Puryear Love, Marinda also had another son named Shed who was sold to a different owner and was never seen again. Edward remembered and told his family that he was pure African, a heritage he was very proud of.

     In 1873, Edward married a half-Indian girl named Julia Rogers. According to the 1900 census, she was born in 1855 in Missouri.  However, there is evidence that Julia was born in the state of Kentucky.  The identity of Julia's parents is unknown.  Edward and Julia became the parents of seven children: