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Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/234

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REED
REED

never went to sea. On 7 Jan.. 1780, he was in- stalled at Bridgewater. Mass.. as colleague pastor of Rev. Daniel Perkins, who di'<l in 17^2. and main- tained the connection until his death. In 1794 he iected to congress as a Federalist, and he was twice re-elected, serving from 7 Dee., 1795. till 3 March, 1801. He was a follower and warm friend of George Washington and John Adams. His opinions on ecclesiastical affairs were so just and accurate as to receive the approbation of courts and judges ; the report of a church council drawn up by him was adopted in substance as the foundation of an important decision of the supreme court of Ma--achusetts. His theological views were Armin- ian. and he excelled as a metaphysician and eon- troverMalist. Although the last ten years of his life were spent in blindness, he continued to preach regularly until a short time before his death. He was a member of the Unitarian council that was called to consider the case of Rev. Abiel Abbott. He received the degree of D. D. from Brown uni- versity in 1803. Besides eight occasional sermons, Dr. Reed published ' An Apology for the Rite of Infant Baptism" (1806). His son, John. IrirMa- tor, b. in West Bridgewater, Mass., 2 Sept., 1781 ; d. there, 25 Nov., 1860, was graduated at Brown in 1803, where he was tutor from 1804 till 1806. He was also for one year principal of the Bridgewater academy. He afterward studied law. was admitted to the bar, and began to practise at Yarmouth, Mass. He soon became popular and was elected to the 13th congress as a Federalist, and re-elected to the 14th, serving from 24 May, 1813, till 3 March, 1817. Four years later he was again elected, this time as a Whig, and he was successively re-elected until he had served from 3 Dec., 1821, till 3 March, 1841. making in all nearly twenty-four years of congressional experience. He was sometimes face- tiously alluded to by his political opponents .is t In- "life-member." In 1844 he was elected lieuten- ant-governor of Massachusetts, with George X. Briggs at the head of the ticket. Both served until 1851, when both retired to private life. Gov. Reed received the degree of LL. D. from Brown in 1845. Another son, Caleb, journalist, b. in West Bridgewater, Mass., 22 April, 1797; d. in Boston, 14 Oct., 1854, was graduated at Harvard in 1817, studied law, was admitted to the bar, and practised at Yarmouth, Mass., until 1827. He then became a partner in the firm of Cyrus Alger and Co., carry- ing on an iron-foundry at South Boston. This connection he maintained until his death. He was a believer in the doctrines of Swedenborg, and for more than twenty years edited the " Xew Jerusalem Magazine," devoted to their promulgation. He published " The General Principles of English Grammar" (Boston, 1821). Another son, Samp- son, editor, b. in West Bridgewater, Mass., 10 June. 1800 ; d. in Boston, Mass., 8 July, 1880. was grad- uated at Harvard in 1818, and studied theology at Cambridge, but, becoming a convert to the doctrines of Swedenborg, he abandoned the design of pre- paring for the ministry, and engaged in business. He subsequently edited the ' New Church Maga- zine," and was co-editor of the "New Jeru.-alnu Magazine." He was the author of "Observations on the Growth of the Mind " (Boston, 1826 ; Lon- don, 1839 ; 5th ed., Boston, 1859).


REED, John, mine-owner, b. in Germany about 1760; d. in Cabarrus county. N. C.. about 1M-. He came to this country as a Hessian soldier, and after the war of the Revolution settled on a farm in Cabarrus county, X. C. But little is known of his history, except that he seems to have been giMs.-ly ignorant on many subjects regarding which he would naturally be presumed to be well informed. Thus he lived to be more than eighty years old before discovering that he was entitled to become a citizen of the United .States. He was then nat- uralized at Concord. X. C. Reed was the owner of the first gold-mine that was discovered in this country. In 1799 his son Conrad, while shooting fish with a bow and arrow in a small stream, called Meadow creek, near his father's house, found in the water a piece of glistening yellow metal, which he carried home. It was about the size of " a small smoothing-iron." His father did not recognize it, and, a silversmith at Concord proving equally ig- norant of its value, it was for several years used as a convenient door-weight. Finally it was sub- mitted to a jeweler at Fayetteville, X. C., who, by fluxing, produced from it a bar of gold from six to eight inches long. In 1803 a piece of gold weighing twenty-eight pounds was found in the same stream. Other pieces were afterward gath- ered ranging in weight from sixteen pounds down to the small' -t I'.-irtk-les. In 1831 quartz veins were discovered, and Reed died a wealthy man.


REED. John, clergyman, b. in Wickford, R.I., in 1777: d. in Poughkeepsie. X. Y., 6 July. 1845. He was graduated at Union in 1805, studied the- ology, and was ordained deacon, 27 May, 1806, by Bishop Benjamin Moore, and priest, 17 June, 1808. His first charge after ordination was St. Luke's church, Catskill, X. Y. In August, 1810, he was called to the rectorship of Christ church, Pough- keepsie, X. Y.. and occupied that post for the re- mainder of his life. He received the degree of D. D. from Columbia in 1822. Dr. Reed was a man of good abilities, and devoted himself chiefly to pastoral work. 'He published a small work in de- fence of the Episcopal constitution of the church, and a few occasional sermons.


REED. John, jurist, b. in Adams county. Pa., in 1786 ; d. in Carlisle, Pa., 19 June, 1850. He was a member of the class of 1806 in Dickinson college, but left that institution before graduation. He studied law and was admitted to the bar of V, .-!- moreland county. Pa., in 1808. In 1815 he was elected state senator, and from 1820 till 1829 he was judge of the 9th judicial district of Pennsyl- vania. From 1834 until his death he was professor in the law department of Dickinson college. In 1839 he received the degree of LL. D. from Wash- ington college. Pa. He wrote " The Pennsylvania Blackstone " (3 vols., Carlisle. 1831), " a medley of English, Federal, and local law."


REED. Joseph, statesman, b. in Trenton. X. .1.. 27 Aug., 1741 ; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., 5 March, 1785. He was graduated at Princeton in 17o7, and then studying law with Robert Stockton, was admitted to the bar in 1763, after which he spent two years as a law student in the Middl? Temple, London. On his "-"turn in 1705 he followed his profession in Trenton, and in 1767 was appointed deputy secretary of Xew Jersey, but in 17?n he went again to England, where he married Esther De Berdt. daughter of Dennis De Bcrdt i</. r.). agent of Massachusetts. He returned to this country in October, and settled in Philadelphia, where he followed his profession with success. He took an active part in the popular movements in P< niisylvania, was confidential correspondent of Lord Dartmouth, who was then coli ni.il .-> retary, and strove to persuade the mini.-try to measi i tion. He was appointed a member of the committee of correspondence for Philadelphia in November. 1774. and in January. 177~>. was president of the 2d Provincial congress. On the formation of the Pennsylvania associated militia after