Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/237

Rh from " Six Months in a Convent ; or. The Narrative of Rebecca Theresa Reed. Who was under the In- fluence of the Roman Catholics about Two Yrars," etc., and " Supplement to ' Six Months in a Con- vent,' confirming the Narrative of Rebecca The- resa Reed by the Testimony of more than One Hundred Witnesses" (Boston, 1835). See also " The Memorial History of Boston," edited by Jus- tin Winsor (vol. iii., Boston. 1881), for details of the destruction of the Ursuline convent.

REED, Thomas B., senator, b. in Kentucky: d. in Lexington, Ky., 26 Nov., 1829. Although his early educational advantages were limited, he was able" to study law. On being admitted to the bar he began to practise at Lexington, Ky., and had already acquired some reputation in his pro- fession before removing to Mississippi territory. There he found a wide field for the exercise of his talents in the solution of the intricate questions that arose from the variety of land-tenures and the difficulty of applying the rules of common law to the novel conditions of frontier life. Mr. Reed settled at Natchez, and made his appearance in the supreme court of the state in the first criminal case that was brought before that tribunal, " The State against the Blennerhassetts," which he argued for the defence at the June term in 1818. His reputation at the bar continued to increase, and in 1821 he was elected attorney-general of the state, discharging the duties of the office for four years with ability. He was elected U. S. senator from Mississippi in the place of David Holmes, resigned, and served from 11 March, 1826, till 3 March, 1827. His legal knowledge and his familiarity with the fundamental principles of the government soon at- tracted attention. His speech on what was known as the "Judiciary question" was much applauded by senators and warmly commended by the press. He was re-elected for the full term, but died while on his way to Washington to take his seat.

REED, Thomas Brackett, legislator, b. in Portland, Me., 18 Oct., 1839. He was graduated at Bowdoin in 1860, and studied law, but was ap- pointed acting assistant paymaster in the navy, 19 April, 18G4, and served until his honorable dis- charge, 4 Nov., 1865. He was soon afterward ad- mitted to the bar, and began to practise at Port- land. In 1868-'9 he was a member of the lower branch of the Maine legislature, and in 1870 he sat in the state senate. Prom the latter year until 1872 he was attorney-general, and in 1874-'7 he served as solicitor for the city of Portland. He was elected a member of congress in 1876, and has been re-elected until the present time (1898). Mr. Reed is the leading Republican representative, and has been several times speaker of the house.

'''REED. William''', philanthropist, b. in Marble- head, Mass., in 1776 ; d. there, 18 Feb., 1837. He became a merchant in his native town, and was elected to congress as a Federalist, serving from 4 Nov., 1811, till 3 March, 1815. He was active in educational and religious matters, acting as presi- dent of the Sabbath-school union of Massachusetts and of the American tract society, and as vice- president of the Education society. He was also one of the board of the Andover theological semi- nary and a trustee of Dartmouth college. Of 168,000 that was given by him in his will to benevolent objects, $17,000 were left to Dartmouth, $10.000 to Amherst, $10,000 to the American board of foreign missions, $16,000 to two churches in Marblehead, and $5,000 to the library of An- dover theological seminary.

REEDER, Andrew Horatio, governor of Kansas, b. in Eastoa, Pa., 6 Aug., 1807 ; d. there, 5 July, 1864. He spent the greater part of his life in Easton, Pa., where he practised law, and was a Democratic politician, but declined office till 1854, when he was appointed the first governor of Kansas. Gov. Reeder had come to the territory a firm Democrat, but the conduct of the " border ruffians " shook his partisanship. He prescribed distinct and rigid rules for the conduct of the next legislature, which, it was then believed, would de- termine whether Kansas would be- come a free or a slave state. But all h is precautions came to naught. On 30 March, 1855, 5,000 Missouri an s took possession of nearly every election - district in the territory. Of the total number of votes cast 1,410 were found to be legal and 4,908 illegal, 5,427 were given to the pro-slavery and 891 to the free-state and other candidates. But on 6 April Reeder issued certificates of election to all but one third of the claimants, and the returns in these cases he rejected on account of palpable defects in the papers. As a lawyer he recognized that he had the power to question the legality of the election of the several claimants only in those cases where there were protests lodged, or where there were palpable defects in the returns. Notices were sent throughout the territory that protests would be received and considered, and the time for filing protests was extended so that facilities might be given for a full hearing of both sides. In nearly two thirds of the returns there were no protests or official notice of frauds, and the papers were on their face regular. In the opinion of Gov. Reeder, this precluded him from withholding certificates, and he accordingly issued them, notwithstanding his personal belief that the claimants had nearly all been fraudulently elected. His contention always was that any other course would have been revolutionary. This action endowed the notoriously illegal legislature with technical authority, and a few weeks later, when Gov. Reeder went to Washington, D. C., to invoke the help of the administration, the attorney-general refused to prosecute, as Reeder's own certificate pronounced the elections true. One of the first official acts of this legislature was to draw up a memorial to the president requesting Gov. Reeder's removal, but before its bearer reached Washington the governor was dismissed by President Pierce. He then became a resident of Lawrence, Kan., where the freestate movement began. Its citizens held a convention at Big Springs, a few miles west of that town, on 5 Sept., 1855. Gov. Reeder wrote the resolutions, addressed the convention, and received their nomination, by acclamation, for the post of territorial delegate to congress. These resolutions declared that " we will endure no longer the tyrannical enactments of the bogus legislature, will resist them to a bloody issue," and recommended the "formation of volunteer companies and the procurement of arms." On 9 Oct., at a separate election, Mr. Reeder was again chosen delegate to congress. Under the newly framed territorial constitution, which was known as the Topeka constitution,