Alfred Amberson Rea

1854 - 1913  (59 years)

• Name	Alfred Amberson Rea
  Born	16 Sep 1854	Oshkosh, Winnebago, Wisconsin, United States
  Gender	Male
  Died	16 Dec 1913	City Hospital, Buffalo, Erie County, New York
  Person ID	P44551833	My Genealogy
  Last Modified	10 Feb 2010

  
  

  Father	James Azel Rea,   b. 1827, Rea Homestead, Amberson Valley, Franklin, Pennsylvania, United States ,   d. 31 Mar 1894, Alaska, Kent, Michigan, United States  (Age 67 years)
  Mother	Lucinda A. Barber,   b. 25 Oct 1831, Bath Township, Summit, Ohio, United States ,   d. 20 Aug 1883, Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota, United States  (Age 51 years)
  Married	11 Apr 1852	Summit County, Ohio, United States
  Family ID	F105	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Alla L. Hill,   b. Wisconsin, United States
  Married	4 Dec 1879	Sparta, Monroe County, Wisconsin
  Divorced	Yes, date unknown
  Children	1. Bernice R. "Kittie" Rea,   b. 20 Jun 1887, Viroqua, Vernon County, Wisconsin ,   d. 7 May 1958, San Diego, California  (Age 70 years)
  Last Modified	21 Jul 2019
  Family ID	F111	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  May have attended the University of Notre Dame, in Notre Dame, Indiana. An Alfred A. Rea was found in a list of early students of Notre Dame. The listing reads: "Rea, Alfred A. - WI Oshkosh - - 1868/69." The dates, 1868/69 seem improbable as his years of attendance, as he was only 13 to 14 years old at that time. However, the early Notre Dame was a university in name only. It encompassed religious novitiates, preparatory and grade schools and a manual labor school, but its classical collegiate curriculum never attracted more than a dozen students a year in the early decades (the school was founded in 1850). Based on the ratio studiorum used by the Jesuits at St. Louis University, this curriculum included four years of humaninities, poetry, rhetoric and philosophy, plus offerings in French, German, Spanish and Italian and various forms of music and drawing. It is not impossible, then, since Notre Dame included a grade school at the time, that Alfred did attend at the age of 13. According to the 1869 Holland's Oshkosh City Directory, Alfred, then 15, was working for his father at the Empire House hotel. His title is abbreviated "Bds.," which, according to the directory's Explanations of Abbreviations, stood for "boards," meaning he was assigned the task of check new patrons into their rooms. His cousin William Bishop Rea was also working at the Empire House at the time, as "Cashier and Bds." Alfred is found living in Viroqua, Wisonsin in 1880 and, living with him is his younger brother Clyde, who was apparently sent to live with him while their mother, Lucinda, was dying of a long illness. According to the 1880 census, Alfred was a hotel keeper, age 23, his wife, Alla, was 22 and Bernice was not yet born. Alfred went to Buffalo, New York, at some point in his life. I am wondering if he remarried and raised a new family there. It's not unlikely, as he was only 26 when he fathered Kittie and, given his reputation as a gambler, he may not have been mature enough then to be a family man, whereas, later in life he may have been. An interesting coincidence is that the Rea family James Azel Rea may have been staying with near Akron in the late 1840s came to Akron from Canada, and prior to that, from New York. Add to this the fact that there are still Reas in Buffalo today and it seems there must have been some Rea cousins that Alfred had gone to see or stay with in Buffalo. He may even have fathered the line whose descendants are s still living there. Most interesting of all is that Alexander Rea of Pennsylvania founded the town of Alexander, New York in 1812 after pioneering the area in 1802. Over one hundred families lived in Alexander at one time. Intriguing is the fact that Alexander is located about 25 to 30 miles east of Buffalo on route 20. Aside from that, there are Rea families now living in North Tonawanda, which is just north of Buffalo. Also interesting is that Toronto, Ontario is within less than 100 miles of Buffalo, as the crow flies. According to the 1910 census, there was an Alfred Rea living in Yates (now Yates Center), Orleans County, New York. He was living on the farm of George Wallace, as a boarder, while working as a laborer at a cold storage facility. There was no other family with him. Yates Center is located about 50 miles or so northwest of Alexander and about the same distance from Buffalo. Since no Reas were shown in the 1900 census of New York, it may be that Alfred arrive in New York after 1900 and before 1910.