BIO: George Edward REED, Cumberland County, PA Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Joe Patterson OCRed by Judy Banja Copyright 2004. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/cumberland/ _____________________________________________________________ >From Biographical Annals of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, Chicago: The Genealogical Publishing Co., 1905, pages 56-58 _____________________________________________________________ NOTE: Use this web address to access other bios: http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/cumberland/zeamer/ GEORGE EDWARD REED, S.T.D., LL.D., seventeenth president of Dickinson College, was born in Brownville, Maine, in 1846. His father, a clergyman of the Methodist Episcopal Church, came to America from Devonshire, England, in 1836. The father dying when the son was about six years of age, the mother, a woman of great strength of character, removed with her large family to Lowell, Mass., where George received the rudiments of his education. The family, however, being in straitened circumstances the boy was compelled at an early age to begin the battle of life for himself, which he did, serving for several years in various capacities in one of the large manufacturing companies of the city, first as a "runner" in the counting-room, and later as a "bobbin boy" in the mills. In the summer he worked on farms adjacent to the city, gaining in this severe school the stalwart, vigorous frame which has stood him in such good stead in later years. Having accumulated money enough to warrant the continued pursuit of the studies he had been compelled, temporarily, to lay aside, he in January, 1865, entered the Wesleyan Academy, Wilbraham, Mass., to prepare for college. This he accomplished in one term and a half, doing in that CUMBERLAND COUNTY. 57 surprisingly brief period the amount of work for which nine months are usually required. He regards this as the greatest achievement of his life, the record never having been surpassed. In September, 1865, he entered Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn., from which he graduated in 1869, with distinction, in a class famous for the number of its members who have attained eminence in their various callings. After graduating from college he spent one year in the School of Theology of the Boston University, and then began the work of the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church, serving two of the most important churches of that body, in Willimantic, Conn., and in Fall River, Mass. In 1875, when but twenty-nine years of ago, he was transferred to the Hanson Place Church, Brooklyn, N.Y., then and now the largest Methodist Church in this country. At the end of three years he was appointed to an influential church in Stamford, Connecticut. In 1881 he became pastor of the Nostrand Avenue Church, Brooklyn, where he continued for three years, and then again served the Hanson Place Church. On leaving the city of Brooklyn he was tendered a reception in the Brooklyn Tabernacle by citizens of the city, irrespective of denominational lines, in recognition of public services rendered. In 1887 Dr. Reed assumed the pastorate of Trinity Church, New Haven, and while serving his second year there he was honored with a unanimous call to the presidency of Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pa., one of the oldest colleges in the country. Here he has assiduously labored ever since and with eminent success. He gives careful personal attention to all duties of his position, and in the years of his administration the number of students has more than doubled and evidences of the prosperity of the institution in all other lines are correspondingly apparent. In 1886 he received the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity from his Alma Mater, the Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn., and in 1889 the degree of Doctor of Laws from LaFayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania. In addition to the various duties of his position as college president Dr. Reed is in great demand as a lecturer and a preacher in all parts of the country and with constantly increasing fame. He is a careful thinker, eloquent in diction, self-possessed, and interesting and attractive in the mode of presenting his subject. He distinctly enunciates his propositions and convinces the minds and wins the hearts of his hearers by clearness of statement and sincerity and earnestness of manner. While a clergyman by profession, and devoted to his calling, he nevertheless holds pronounced opinions in regard to political affairs. He has always been a Republican, and when he deemed it necessary and proper never hesitated to publicly advocate his party's candidates and policies, but just as freely and courageously has led in independent movements when his sense of duty called him in that direction. Notably was this the case while he lived in Brooklyn, when in his judgment it was necessary to act outside of party lines. As a political orator, no less than a preacher and lecturer, Dr. Reed has won enviable distinction. Although in no sense a seeker after party recognition - his well known independence being a handicap upon political aspirations - he for four years was Pennsylvania's State Librarian, a public position which he occupied at the request of Gov. CUMBERLAND COUNTY. 58 William A. Stone, but resigned before the expiration of the term for which he was appointed. President Reed in June, 1870, was married to Ella Frances Leffingwell, of Norwich, Conn., a lineal descendant of the famous Puritan, Miles Standish, of the Plymouth Colony. To them one son has been born, George L., who is a student in Dickinson College.