Orson Reed

Orson Reed (September 7, 18091890) was an American farmer, Democratic politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He represented Waukesha County in the Wisconsin Senate (1866, 1867) and State Assembly, and also served as sheriff of Waukesha County. His first name was sometimes spelled "Orison".

Most of Reed's siblings were also notable politicians or married to notable politicians. His brothers were George B. Reed, Harrison Reed, and Curtis Reed. His youngest sister was Martha Reed Mitchell.

Biography Orson Reed was born September 7, 1809, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts. When he was a child, his family moved to a farm in Westford, Massachusetts, and then to a new farm in Vermont in 1823.

The Reed family began looking west in the 1830s, the first to go west was Orson's eldest brother, George B. Reed, who came to Milwaukee in 1834. Orson came with his parents and siblings in 1835. Two years later, Orson and his younger brother, Curtis Reed, went further west to what is now the village of Summit, Waukesha County, Wisconsin, where they established a claim and started a farm. Their parents followed them to Summit later that year. The first post office was established there in 1838, with Curtis Reed as postmaster. Throughout the 1850s, Reed remained active in the state, county, and district level Democratic Party conventions. He was elected to four consecutive terms as chairman of the town of Summit, and was ex officio a member of the Waukesha County Board of Supervisors from 1857 through 1860. He also sought the Democratic nomination for sheriff in 1858, but fell short at the convention. He was ultimately nominated for sheriff in 1862 and prevailed in the general election, serving a two-year term. During the 1866 and 1867 legislative sessions, Reed served alongside another of his brothers, George B. Reed, who was then the senator from Manitowoc County.

Personal life and family Orson Reed was the third of eight children born to Seth Harrison Reed and his wife Rhoda ( Finney). The Reed family were descendants of the colonist Philip Reade, who came to the Massachusetts Bay Colony from England in the 1660s. Mary Augusta Reed (1811–1866) married attorney Abram D. Smith who became one of the first elected justices of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Harrison Jackson Reed (1813–1899) was one of the original owners of the Milwaukee Sentinel and an early editor of the Wisconsin State Journal, and then became one of the founders of Neenah, Wisconsin. Later he moved to Florida and, during reconstruction, he became the 9th governor of Florida. Curtis Reed (1815–1895) was the founder of Menasha, Wisconsin, and served two terms in the Wisconsin State Assembly—one of which was concurrent with Orson Reed's term in the Assembly in 1853. Martha Reed (1818–1902) married the prominent Milwaukee banker and congressman Alexander Mitchell and became a philanthropist. Their son John L. Mitchell was a U.S. senator; their grandson, Billy Mitchell, is considered the father of the United States Air Force. Herbert Reed (1822–1875) was a railroad depot agent in Iowa County, Wisconsin.

Orson Reed married Agnes Fairservice on March 19, 1839. Agnes Fairservice was also a pioneer settler of Wisconsin with her father Marshall Fairservice. Their wedding was the second wedding held in the town of Summit. They had at least three children together.