George B. Reed Explained

George Reed
State:Wisconsin
State Senate:Wisconsin
District:19th
Term Start:January 2, 1865
Term End:January 2, 1871
Predecessor:Joseph Vilas
Successor:Carl Schmidt
Office1:County Judge of Manitowoc County, Wisconsin
Term Start1:January 3, 1853
Term End1:January 1, 1855
Predecessor1:Ezekiel Ricker
Successor1:George C. Lee
Order2:1st
Title2:Village President of Manitowoc, Wisconsin
Term Start2:May 12, 1851
Term End2:April 1852
Predecessor2:Position established
Successor2:James Bennett
Office3:Member of the
Term Start3:October 4, 1847
Term End3:May 29, 1848
Alongside3:Leonard Martin
Successor3:Position abolished
Party:Democratic
Birth Date:9 November 1807
Birth Place:Middlesex County, Massachusetts, U.S.
Death Place:Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
Death Cause:Newhall House Hotel Fire
Restingplace:Forest Home Cemetery, Milwaukee

George B. Reed (November 9, 1807January 10, 1883) was an American lawyer, railroad executive, Democratic politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He served six years in the Wisconsin State Senate, representing Manitowoc County, and also served as county judge and the first village president of Manitowoc, Wisconsin. He was known as the "father of the Wisconsin Central Railroad" which connected Lake Superior to Milwaukee. He was also the co-founder and namesake of Reedsville, Wisconsin, in Manitowoc County.

Most of Reed's siblings were also notable politicians or married to notable politicians. His brothers were Orson Reed, Harrison Reed, and Curtis Reed. His youngest sister was Martha Reed Mitchell.

Biography

Born in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, as a child he moved with his parents to Westford, Massachusetts, and then to a farm in Vermont in 1823.[1] He went on to study at Middlebury College and then studied law in Rutland, Vermont.[2]

He moved to Milwaukee, Michigan Territory, in 1834, possibly from Chicago. He is believed to have been the first attorney to move to the Wisconsin Territory, and was for many years an advisor to Solomon Juneau.[3] He was soon joined by his parents and siblings.

George Reed followed his brothers Orson and Curtis to the area that is now the town of Summit, Waukesha County, Wisconsin, in the late 1830s, and took up a farm there. While living in Summit, he was elected to serve as a delegate to Wisconsin's first constitutional convention in 1846. After the rejection of that constitution, he was elected to represent Waukesha County in the addition sessions of the 5th Wisconsin Territorial Assembly.

He moved to Manitowoc, Wisconsin, in 1850; while in Manitowoc, Reed served as a two-year term as county judge and was elected as the first village president of Manitowoc upon its incorporation as a village.[4]

In 1854, Reed and Jacob Lueps bought a portion of the town of Maple Grove and had it surveyed and platted. These 56 blocks became the village of "Mud Creek", later renamed Reedsville after "Judge Reed" (as he was widely known).[5]

Reed served as a Democratic member of the Wisconsin Senate from 1865 to 1870.

Reed was involved in the railroad business. He died in the Newhall House Hotel fire in Milwaukee in 1883.[2] [6]

Personal life and family

George B. Reed was the second child and eldest son of the eight children born to Seth Harrison Reed and his wife Rhoda ( Finney). The Reed family were descendants of the colonist Philip Reade, who came to the Massachusetts Bay Colony from England in the 1660s.[1] Nearly all of George Reed's seven siblings were notable in some way:

George Reed married Juliette Sherwood Bulkley on August 10, 1836. They had at least four children together.

References

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Notes and References

  1. Book: Reed, Jacob Whittemore . History of the Reed Family in Europe and America . 1861 . John Wilson and Son . 279 . June 14, 2023 .
  2. Web site: Reed, George 1807 - 1883 . . 8 August 2017 . June 14, 2023 .
  3. http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.FalgeHistv02 Falge, Louis, editor-in-chief. History of Manitowoc County, Wisconsin Chicago: Goodspeed Historical Association, 1912; vol. 2, p. 576
  4. http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.Monograph36 Ehlert, Edward. Manitowoc County Historical Society: occupational monograph 36, 1978 series. Courts and the legal profession in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. From about 1820 to the present Manitowoc: Manitowoc County Historical Society, 1978; p. 9
  5. http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.manReedsville Zarnoth, Dorothy, ed. History of Reedsville to 1976 Brillion, Wisconsin: Zander Press, [1976?]; p. 2
  6. 'The Convention of 1846,' Milo Milton Qualife, Wisconsin Historical Society: 1918, Biographical Sketch of George Reed, pg. 778
  7. Web site: Reed, Harrison 1813 - 1899 . . 8 August 2017 . June 14, 2023 .
  8. Web site: Reed, Curtis 1815 - 1895 . . 8 August 2017 . June 14, 2023 .