Graves County KyArchives Biographies.....Reed, William Murphy September 5, 1848 - unknown ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ky/kyfiles.html ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Sandi Gorin http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00002.html#0000404 April 25, 2005, 3:15 pm Author: The Biographical Encyclopaedia of Kentucky, J. M. Armstrong & Company, 1878 WILLIAM MURPHY REED, of Benton, was born September 5, 1848, in Graves county, Kentucky. His father, William Reed, was a native of North Carolina, and his mother, Margaret (McCain) Reed, was born near Nashville, Tennessee. The subject of this sketch was reared on a farm, and acquired his education in Benton Seminary, of Marshall county, Kentucky, and in Princeton College of Princeton. He read law with Philander Palmer, of Benton, and after an extensive and accurate course of study was admitted to the bar in Benton in March, 1873. Immediately afterward he began practice in the first judicial district of Kentucky, and from the beginning his legal career may be said to be one of success. He has always maintained an office in Benton, and in 1880 also established one in Paducah, where he is now a member of the well-known firm of Greer & Reed, the senior partner residing in Paducah. In the practice at Benton these gentlemen were joined by W. M. Oliver, under the firm name of Reed, Greer & Oliver. Mr. Reed's high standing at the bar is best shown by the important litigation which has been entrusted to his care. His practice has assumed extensive proportions, and covers the territory embraced within McCracken, Marshall, Calloway, Livingston, Graves and Lyon counties. His practice is general, embracing both criminal and civil suits. He has been retained as counsel in every important murder case tried in Marshall and Calloway counties, and many in McCracken county, for several years past. His civil practice is extensive, and his firm is attorney for many leading corporations and business enterprises in this section of the state, including the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railroad, the People's Railway Company of Paducah, the Paducah Electric Company, the Paducah & Clark River Gravel Road Company, Mechanics' Building & Loan Association, City National Bank of Paducah, the Paducah Banking Company and other corporations of note. Among the cases involving large interests, therefore calling for superior legal ability that Mr. Reed's firm has handled, may be mentioned one in Texas, which grew out of the building of a courthouse and the issue of bonds for that purpose. His firm has represented parties owning bonds to the amount of $70,000, and has secured judgment to the amount of $46,000, while over one million dollars are involved in similar cases. The firm of Greer & Reed is also concerned as counsel in the Grand Rivers Company litigation, growing out of the investment and building of their large iron furnaces and plant for the manufacture of iron and lumber, representing over one million dollars. The cases of this company are pending in both the state and United States courts. His firm is also attorney for the Paducah Land, Coal & Iron Company in their litigations, involving the disposal of property valued at more than three million dollars, including a large furnace plant at Paducah, tracts of ore-bearing lands in Trigg County, Kentucky, and in Tennessee, and town lots in Paducah. The importance of the legal business with which Mr. Reed has been connected shows his superior ability in the control of the intricate problems of civil law. His keen powers of perception and analysis, combined with superior mental alertness, enable him to grasp readily all the points of the case and give to each its relative value. In argument he is clear, concise and masterful, and his logic never fails to carry weight, and seldom fails to convince. In politics he is a stanch Democrat, advocating the principles as set forth by the recognized leaders of the party in the east. Deeply interested in the success of his party, he does all in his power to promote its growth, has attended many of the district and state conventions, and in 1892 was alternate for the state at large to the Democratic National Convention at Chicago. His powers of oratory are frequently used in the campaigns with telling effects. He has served for four years as county attorney of Marshall county and for three terms (six years) represented his district in the state legislature, where he served one term as chairman of the committee on state prisons, and one term as chairman of the judiciary committee; and while a member of the legislature he was a member of the committee which perfected the present revenue or tax laws of the state; was the author of several important laws, and is the author of the present statute against seduction in Kentucky. On the 17th of October, 1872, Mr. Reed married Miss Mary R. Strow, of Benton, Kentucky, and they now have four children - Boone, Cecil, Lula, and William Roscoe. Mr. Reed holds membership in the Christian Church, and also belongs to the Masonic and Odd Fellows fraternities. This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/kyfiles/