newspaperman, politician, governor of Florida, b. Littleton, Mass. He was the brother of George Reed (q.v.) and Curtis Reed (q.v.). In 1835 he joined his brother, George, in Milwaukee, where he became associated with the Milwaukee Advertiser, and then, late in 1837, became the printer, editor, and publisher of the weekly Milwaukee Sentinel. This paper's prestige ruined by an internal struggle, Reed moved to Madison in 1842 and for a few months edited the Wisconsin Enquirer. In 1843 he acquired land and water-power rights at Winnebago Rapids, the site of an unsuccessful Indian vocational training establishment. There he platted and promoted the site of Neenah, despite dissensions with a partner in the enterprise, Harvey Jones. Reed was a member of the state constitutional convention of 1847-1848. He founded and edited (1856-1858) the influential Republican Neenah Conservator, and was the first president of the Wisconsin Editorial Association (1857). From 1859 to 1861 he was associated with the Madison Wisconsin State Journal. In 1861 he left Wisconsin, moving to Washington, D.C., where he worked for a time in the Treasury Department, and was later sent to Florida as federal tax commissioner. He soon became prominent in Florida's "reconstruction" Republican party, was special agent there for the post office department (1865-1868), and from 1868 to 1874 served two stormy terms as governor, during which time he was three times impeached and acquitted. He remained in the state until his death, served in the Florida legislature, was postmaster at Tallahassee, and from 1875 to 1878 edited the Florida (monthly) Semi-Tropical, an agricultural and promotional magazine. He died in Jacksonville. Wis. Mag. Hist., 7; C. M. Brevard, Hist. of Florida (2 vols., Deland, Fla., 1924-1925); FIa. Hist. Quarterly, 36; Milwaukee Sentinel, May 26, 1899; WPA field notes.

The Wisconsin Historical Society has manuscripts related to this topic. See the catalog description of the Harrison Reed Papers for details.

View a related article at Wisconsin Magazine of History Archives.

View newspaper clippings at Wisconsin Local History and Biography Articles.

Learn More

Dictionary of Wisconsin History

Explore more than 1,600 people, places and events in Wisconsin history.

[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]