HARRISON REED was born near Lowell, Massachusetts, and moved with the rest of his family to Vermont while still a child. In 1836, he followed his brothers, George and Curtis, to Milwaukee, where he worked in a printing office. In 1837, Solomon Juneau asked him to take charge of the new Milwaukee Sentinel, which he did with the belief that he would eventually become the owner. Juneau had retained the original mortgage, however, and while Reed was away on a business trip, Reed's brother-in-law obtained the mortgage and foreclosed. There was a political reason for this--Reed was a supporter of James Duane Doty, and his brother-in-law supported the opposing faction.
Reed later tried to revive the Sentinel, but was a suspected defector to the Democrats, and did not succeed. He moved to Madison where he worked in the territorial capitol and for the Madison Enquirer. At Governor Doty's suggestion, he bid for the land on Doty's Island, where Neenah-Menasha are located now. Following the purchase of this land, he moved to the island in 1843. Since some of the land on the island had belonged to the Federal Government as an Indian School, the sale was investigated, a higher price demanded, and Reed was threatened with eviction. At this time, Harvey Jones agreed to take a half-share of the land, thereby providing Reed with enough money to pay the higher price demanded by the government.
The eventual quarrels and litigation between Harrison, his brother Curtis, and Harvey Jones resulted in Harrison's retaining only two tracts on the northern part of the island. After a number of unsuccessful ventures, he left Wisconsin permanently and went to Washington, D.C., in 1858 to take a position in the Treasury Department. He was appointed Tax Commissioner for Florida in 1862 and went there to live. He became a special agent for the Post Office Department, and later attended the convention that wrote Florida's state constitution. In 1868, he was elected Florida's governor and served two terms; later, he served in the state legislature.
He moved to Tallahassee in 1889, becoming a pioneer in the citrus fruit industry and editing a fruit industry paper.
Harrison Reed married Anne Louise Turner in 1840, and Chloe Merrick, in 1862.
CURTIS REED was born at Westford, Massachusetts, one of the five sons of Seth and Rhoda Reed. The family moved to Vermont while he was still very young, and in 1835, he came to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to join his brother, George. He became a clerk in Solomon Juneau's store, and took the first local census. Henry Dodge, the first territorial governor, appointed him a deputy sheriff. Reed moved to Summit, in Waukesha County, in 1837, where he was successful in farming. In 1838, he became the first postmaster for Summit, and fought the separation of Waukesha County from Milwaukee County.
In 1846, Reed was elected to the territorial Council where he took an active part in securing certain utility rights from himself and his associates. Three years earlier, his brother Harrison had acquired rights to property and water power at Doty's Island, where Neenah-Menasha are now located, and Curtis was instrumental in securing the passage of an act which authorized him, Harrison, and their partners to build a dam across the Fox River and granted them the water power. A dispute between the Reeds and Harvey Jones, one of the other partners, resulted in Jones retaining the land adjoining the south fork of the river, where Neenah now stands, and the Reeds retaining the northern part of the island, the present site of Menasha.
In 1849, a bitter feud broke out between the Reed and Jones factions over which channel, the south or the north, should be improved by a canal and a dam. The Reeds won the contract by consenting to do all the work and to pay an additional $5,000 for the water rights. Curtis Reed built a dam across the channel, but never worked on the canal nor paid the promised money. The contract was then given to the Fox-Wisconsin Company, which eventually deeded to the Reeds and Charles Doty the water rights and strips of land sixty feet wide on both sides of the channel. Development of water power and the sale of real estate in this area brought Curtis Reed prosperity.
Curtis Reed became Menasha's first village president and then served as either president or trustee for many terms. He served in the state legislature, and was appointed a postmaster in 1855. He served as an alderman after Menasha became a city, and later served again as postmaster until his death.
In 1850, he married Augusta Lydia Ripley. They had three children.
