John Reed, Jr.

John Reed Jr. (September 2, 1781 – November 25, 1860) was an American politician who was a U.S. representative from Massachusetts from 1813 until 1817 and the 17th lieutenant governor of Massachusetts from 1845 until 1851.

Biography Reed was born in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts, the son of politician John Reed Sr. He graduated from Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, in 1803, and was a tutor of languages in that institution for two years, and principal of the Bridgewater, Massachusetts Academy in 1806 and 1807. He studied law, was admitted to the bar, and commenced practice in Yarmouth, Massachusetts.

Reed was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1814, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1830.

He was elected as a Federalist to the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Congresses (March 4, 1813 – March 3, 1817); elected to the Seventeenth through Twenty-third Congresses; elected as an Anti-Masonic candidate to the Twenty-fourth Congress, and elected as a Whig to the Twenty-fifth and Twenty-sixth Congresses (March 4, 1821 – March 3, 1841). He was chairman of the Committee on Revisal and Unfinished Business (Twenty-second Congress). He declined to be candidate for reelection in 1840.

He was the 17th lieutenant governor of Massachusetts (1845–1851).

Reed died in West Bridgewater, Plymouth County, Massachusetts. Interment was in Mount Prospect Cemetery, Bridgewater, Massachusetts.