Sedgwick County KSGenWeb

Portrait And Biographical Album of Sedgwick County, Kan.

Chapman Brothers 1888

Pages 263 - 264 

HERMAN A. REED. The 160 acres on section 22, in Salem Township, belonging to Mr. Reed, is conspicuous for the manner in which it has been improved and cultivated, and as evidently the homestead of one of the most enterprising men of Sedgwick County. Mr. Reed, an Ohio man in the best sense of the word, was born in the central part of the Buckeye State, in Franklin County, Nov. 11, 1847. His honored father, Isaac L. Reed, a native of Fairfax County, Va., upon reaching manhood was united in marriage with Miss Mary A. Norton, who was born in New York State. The former departed this life at his home in Ohio on the 2d of July, 1880. The mother is still living, and resides on the old homestead.

      The maternal step-grandfather of our subject served as a soldier in the War of 1812, and spent his last years with his aged wife in the Soldiers' Home at Dayton, Ohio. Of the children born to Isaac L. and Mary A. Reed, the parents of our subject, the following survive: Emily, the wife of Samuel Glassford, of Franklin County, Ohio; Lewis, of Salem Township, this county; Henry, of Indianapolis, Ind.; Hattie, the wife of George Taylor, of Franklin County, Ohio, where her brother Courtland also lives; Jerome, who occupies the old homestead, and our subject. The deceased are Robert, Sylvester and Ella.

      The parents of our subject were natives of Virginia and New York, and early pioneers of Franklin County, Ohio, settling there when the now flourishing city of Columbus was a small town. They endured the hardships and privations common to the people of a new country, locating there at a time when the country was a wilderness, and when the father was obliged to chop down the forest trees in order to build a cabin. With the assistance of his boys he cleared up a good farm, and established a comfortable homestead, where he spent his last years in ease and plenty. Wild game was plentiful, and a species of wild hog, which was indigenous to that section of the country, frequently became quite dangerous, the settlers often being obliged to take to the trees in order to save themselves from attack by the savage animals, and it was not an infrequent occurrence for a man to thus remain perched during the night.

      Isaac Reed and his excellent wife became leaders in that region among the enterprises which slowly struggled into existence, and assisted in the establishment of religious and educational institutions. They were devout members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and at their death the township mourned as having lost those who were among the most useful citizens.

      The subject of our sketch developed into manhood amid the pioneer scenes of his native county, receiving a limited education in the district schools, and assisting in the building up of the homestead. Just before reaching the twenty-sixth year of his age he was married, on the 3d of September, 1873, to a maiden of his own neighborhood, Miss Martha Love, who was born in Franklin County, on the 3d of June, 1850. Mrs. Reed is the daughter of James and Joanna (Morgan) Love, the former a native of Hocking County, Ohio, and the latter of Pennsylvania, although reared mostly in Coshocton County, Ohio. After marriage the parents settled in Franklin County, where their three children were born. Of these Martha, the wife of our subject, was the eldest; Charles is a resident of Allen County, Ind., and William of Wichita, this State. Mr. Love departed this life at his home in Columbus, Ohio. The mother subsequently crossed the Mississippi, and is now a resident of Wichita.

      The four children of Mr. and Mrs. Reed were born as follows: Herbert, Jan. 23, 1875; Clarence I., Feb. 29, 1876; Walter W., Feb. 17, 1878, and Raymond T., May 24, 1886. Mr. R. in the spring of 1881 left his native State for Southern Kansas, and was joined a few months later by his family. He soon afterward settled upon the land which he now occupies, and which by a course of persevering industry he has transformed into one of the most desirable homesteads in Salem Township. A Republican in politics, he is recognized as an honest man and a good citizen, the encourager of religious and educational institutions, and at present the Treasurer of School District No. 40. Socially he belongs to the I. O. O. F., being a member of Lodge No. 9, at Columbus, Ohio.

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