George B. Reed

George B. Reed (November 9, 1807 – January 10, 1883) was an American politician and lawyer, prominent in the early history of Wisconsin.

Background and early years

Born in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, he studied at Middlebury College and studied law in Vermont. 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.[1]

His brother Curtis Reed would become Mayor of Menasha, Wisconsin, and their brother Harrison Reed, Governor of Florida.

George Reed moved to Waukesha County, Wisconsin, to the town of Summit, where he farmed. While in Summit, he served in the first Wisconsin Constitutional Convention of 1846 and in the Wisconsin Territorial House of Representatives in 1847-1848. Eventually he moved to Manitowoc, Wisconsin in 1850; while in Manitowoc, Reed served as a two-year term as county judge of Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, and was elected as the first village president of Manitowoc upon its incorporation as a village.[2]

In 1854, Reed and Jacob Lueps bought a portion of Maple Grove township 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).[3]

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

Reed was involved in the railroad business. He died in the Newhall House fire in Milwaukee in 1883.[4][5]

References

  1. ↑ Falge, Louis, editor-in-chief. History of Manitowoc County, Wisconsin Chicago: Goodspeed Historical Association, 1912; vol. 2, p. 576
  2. ↑ 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
  3. ↑ Zarnoth, Dorothy, ed. History of Reedsville to 1976 Brillion, Wisconsin: Zander Press, [1976?; p. 2]
  4. ↑ George Reed, Wisconsin Historical Society
  5. ↑ 'The Convention of 1846,' Milo Milton Qualife, Wisconsin Historical Society: 1918, Biographical Sketch of George Reed, pg. 778
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