Since I posted that message I have been to the Dunklin County Courthouse and have found the marriage licenses of Lavinia Jane Reed and her first husband who were married at the home of her father John S. Reed which was quite a find for me. I have also ordered death certificates for Lavinia and my great grandfather Alfred Jackson Reed. John Reed was listed as father but no mother. I have since had my mother tested with the Family Finder test which revealed a relationship with several Gentry families from Indiana. There was a marriage license between John S. Reed and Rhoda Gentry so I believe Rhoda was john S. Reed's wife. I am looking for their death certificates but have turned up nothing. Lavinia married at John's house in 1873 bbut by 1880 his children were living with other people and he was not on the census.