George B. Reed

George Reed
George Reed
Member of the Wisconsin Senate; from the 19th district
	In office; January 2, 1865 – January 2, 1871
Preceded by	Joseph Vilas
Succeeded by	Carl Schmidt
County Judge of Manitowoc County, Wisconsin
	In office; January 3, 1853 – January 1, 1855
Preceded by	Ezekiel Ricker
Succeeded by	George C. Lee
1st Village President of Manitowoc, Wisconsin
	In office; May 12, 1851 – April 1852
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	James Bennett
Member of the House of Representatives of the Wisconsin Territory for Waukesha County
	In office; October 4, 1847 – May 29, 1848 Serving with Leonard Martin
Preceded by	Joseph Bond & Chauncey G. Heath
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Personal details
Born	November 9, 1807; Middlesex County, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	January 10, 1883 (aged 75); Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
Cause of death	Newhall House Hotel Fire
Resting place	Forest Home Cemetery, Milwaukee
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Juliette Sherwood Bulkley (m. 1836)
Relatives	Orson Reed (brother); Harrison Reed (brother); Curtis Reed (brother); Martha Reed Mitchell (sister); Abram D. Smith (brother-in-law); Chloe Merrick Reed (sister-in-law); Alexander Mitchell (brother-in-law); John L. Mitchell (nephew);

George B. Reed (November 9, 1807 – January 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 (née 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:

Julia Ann Reed (1806–1881) married physician Thomas J. Noyes who was the president of Milwaukee's first medical society, and the first doctor at Menasha, Wisconsin.
Orson Reed (1809–c.1890) was a member of the Wisconsin Senate and Assembly and served as sheriff of Waukesha County.
Mary Augusta Reed (1811–1866) married attorney Abram D. Smith who became one of the first elected justices of the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Harrison Jackson Reed (1813–1899) was one of the original owners of the Milwaukee Sentinel and an early editor of the Wisconsin State Journal, and then became one of the founders of Neenah, Wisconsin. Later he moved to Florida and, during reconstruction, he became the 9th governor of Florida.^[7]
Curtis Reed (1815–1895) was the founder of Menasha, Wisconsin, and served two terms in the Wisconsin State Assembly—one of which was concurrent with Orson Reed's term in the Assembly in 1853.^[8]
Martha Reed (1818–1902) married the prominent Milwaukee banker and congressman Alexander Mitchell and became a philanthropist. Their son John L. Mitchell was a U.S. senator; their grandson, Billy Mitchell, is considered the father of the United States Air Force.
Herbert Reed (1822–1875) was a railroad depot agent in Iowa County, Wisconsin.

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

References

^ ^a ^b Reed, Jacob Whittemore (1861). History of the Reed Family in Europe and America. John Wilson and Son. p. 279. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
^ ^a ^b "Reed, George 1807 - 1883". Wisconsin Historical Society. 8 August 2017. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
^ Falge, Louis, editor-in-chief. History of Manitowoc County, Wisconsin Chicago: Goodspeed Historical Association, 1912; vol. 2, p. 576
^ 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
^ Zarnoth, Dorothy, ed. History of Reedsville to 1976 Brillion, Wisconsin: Zander Press, [1976?; p. 2
^ 'The Convention of 1846,' Milo Milton Qualife, Wisconsin Historical Society: 1918, Biographical Sketch of George Reed, pg. 778
^ "Reed, Harrison 1813 - 1899". Wisconsin Historical Society. 8 August 2017. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
^ "Reed, Curtis 1815 - 1895". Wisconsin Historical Society. 8 August 2017. Retrieved June 14, 2023.

Wisconsin Senate
Preceded by Joseph Vilas	Member of the Wisconsin Senate from the 19th district January 2, 1865 – January 2, 1871	Succeeded by Carl Schmidt
Political offices
New village government	Village President of Manitowoc, Wisconsin May 12, 1851 – April 1852	Succeeded by James Bennett
Legal offices
Preceded by Ezekiel Ricker	County Judge of Manitowoc County, Wisconsin January 3, 1853 – January 1, 1855	Succeeded by George C. Lee