Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 09.djvu/65

 REDWOOD

REED

REDWOOD, Abraham, philanthropist, was born on the island of Antigua. W.I., in 1710. His father, son of Abraham and Mehetable (Lang- ford) Redwood, who was born in Bristol, Eng- land, 1665, and owned a large sugar plantation in Antigua, known as Cassada Garden, removed to the New England colonies in 1713; lived in Salem, JMass., and Newport, R.I., and died at Salem in 1728. Abraham, Jr., attended the scliools of Philadelphia, and in 1727 settled on his father's estate at Portsmouth, R.I., known as Redwood farm, which came into his possession on the death of his elder brother, Jonas Langford Red- wood. He there cultivated rare plants, shrubs and trees. He was married abovit 1730 to Martha Coggeshall of Newport. He gave £500 for the purchase in London of standard books, and in 1750 the Redwood Library company, Ne%vport, was formed, and an edifice was built. During the Revolutionary war a large number of the volumes in the library were destroyed, but these were afterward replaced. He also gave £500 to the Society of Friends, of which he was a mem- ber for the establishment of a school in Newport, and a like sum to found Friends school in Prov- idence, organized, 1784, long conducted by Augus- tine Jones (q.v.). His son. Jonas Langford, mar- ried Abigail Godfrey; their son, Abraham, be- came a benefactor of the Redwood library, and his coat of arms and portrait are on the walls of the library building. Abraham Redwood the elder died in Newport, R.I., March 6, 1788.

REED, Elizabeth Armstrong, author, was born in Winthrop, Maine, May 16, 1842; daughter of Alvin and Sylvia (Morrell) Armstrong; grand- daughter of William and Hannah (Legrow) Arm- strong, and of Benjamin and Elizabeth Morrell, and a descendant of Captain William Armstrong, who was born in Carlisle, England, April 20, 1739, and settled in Readfield, Maine, in 1774, where some of the family still live. Her parents were both prominent educators, and she studied under private tutors and at home until 1860. She was married, April 29, 1860, to Hiram Von Reed of Harvard, 111. She was elected a member of the International Congress of Orientalists: the Royal Asiatic society; the Victoria Institute, and the Philosophical Society of Great Britain. She was chairman of the Woman's Congress of Philology held at Chicago, 111., in 1893. and (in 1903) was the only woman whose work had been accepted by the Philosophical Society of Great Britain. She is the author of: The Bible Trium- phant (1866); Hindu Literature, or the Ancient Books of India (1891); Persian Literature, Ancient and Modern (1893); PrHmitive Buddhism, its Origin and Teachings (1896). In 1903 she was doing active work upon important books of reference.

REED, George Edward, educator, was born in Brownville, Maine, March 28. 1846; son of the Rev. George and Ann (Hellyer) Reed, who came from England to America in 1838. His father was a clergyman of the Wesleyau Methodist church in England, and his great-grand- mother was a class leader under John Wesley. His father died in 1852, leaving the family in strait- ened circumstances, and they removed to Lowell, Mass., whei-e George attended the public schools. He obtained employment in a mill, and worked on a farm, and deciding to be- come a minister, he

entered the Wesleyan academy, Wilbraham, Mass., in 1864, completed a three years' course in half a year, was gi'aduated from Wesleyan uni- versity, Middletown, Conn., in 1869, and studied theology at Boston university in 1870, meanwhile preaching at Clif tondale, Mass. He was married in June, 1870, to Ella Frances Leffingwell of Nor- wich, Conn. He was pastor at Willimantic,

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Conn., 1870-

at Fall River, Mass., 1872-75; of

Hanson Place (1875-78, 1884-87) and Nostrand Avenue churches (1881-84), Brooklyn; N.Y.; at Stamford, Conn., 1878-81, and of Trinity church. New Haven, Conn., 1887-89. He was president of Dickinson college, Carlisle, Pa., 1889-1903, suc- ceeding Dr. James Andrew McCauley (q.v.), re- signed. He deeded the president's house, valued at $16,000, to the college, and during his adminis- tration the Dickinson scliool of law was estab- lished. He was state librarian of Pennsylvania, 1899-1902, when he resigned, not being in politi- cal accord with the state administration. The honorary degree of S.T.D. was conferred on him by Wesleyan university in 1886, and that of LL.D. by Lafayette college in 1889. He con- tributed largely to magazines and newspapers.

REED, Henry Hope, educator, was born in Philadelphia, Pa.. July 11, 1808: son of Joseph and Maria Ellis (Watniough) Reed. He was graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, A.B., 1825, A.M., 1828; was admitted to the bar in 1829, and entered into practice in Philadel- phia. He was assistant professor of moral phil- osophy at the University of Pennsylvania. 1831- 34; professor of rhetoric and English literature, 1834-54, and vice-provost, 1845. He was elected a member of the American Philosophical society in 1838, and received the honorary degree of