Alameda County Biographies

WILLIAM REED

Transcribed by Kathy Sedler

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm

 
 
        No one can carry investigation far into the pioneer history of California without 
learning of the honorable and useful career of William Reed, whose identification with this 
state dates back to the days of the early mining boom, and who from that time until his death 
remained one of the greatest single forces in the development of the Bay country.
        Mr. Reed came of a well known family, the American progenitor having been Andrew Reed, 
a retired colonel of the English army, who was born in County Antrim, Ireland, in 1693, and 
there married Jean Murray, of Scotch-Irish descent. With his wife and eight sons and one 
daughter Colonel Andrew Reed came to America, settling in Boothbay, Maine, in 1743. With others, 
he founded the first church in that town and a nephew of Mrs. Reed, Rev. John Murray, was its 
first pastor. Colonel Reed died July 22, 1762, and his wife February 8, 1780. Two sons passed 
away before the Revolutionary war and of the six remaining five took an active part in that 
struggle, as did also several of Colonel Reed's grandsons. The eldest son, Andrew (from whom 
the Reed family of Oakland is descended), was a lieutenant colonel and his son Robert, a boy 
of nineteen, was a fifer. Paul, the sixth son, was commander of a privateer which captured 
several valuable prizes. David was a captain, Joseph, first lieutenant and William a private. 
A grandson, Andrew, Jr., was second lieutenant and Robert, before mentioned, was afterward 
captain of a revenue cutter in connection with the custom house at Wiscasset, Maine. His son 
William followed the sea for many years and was in command of a vessel captured by the British 
in the war of 1812. He was afterward paroled and allowed to continue his voyage. One dark night 
a vessel under his command ran afoul of the man-of-war Constitution in Boston harbor, breaking 
a spar of Old Ironsides. Captain William Reed established his home in Vassalboro, Maine, in 
1835, and in the meantime had married Hannah P. Hutchings. Among the children born to this union 
was a son, William, of this review, whose birth occurred October 11, 1811, on. Cape Newagen 
Island, now known as Westport, Lincoln county, Maine. The Reed family is well represented in 
Oakland and the vicinity by the children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the pioneer, 
William Reed, who with their wives and children now number forty living descendants, among whom 
may be mentioned Charles G. Reed, formerly national bank examiner, and George W. and Clarence M. 
Reed, senior and junior members of the former law firm of Reed, Black & Reed.
        Early in his life William Reed became familiar with the sea, accompanying his father on 
his voyages, and when he grew to maturity he turned his attention to a seafaring life, becoming 
commander of a vessel at the age of twenty years. He conveyed the first cargo of cotton ever 
sent direct from a southern port to Europe, making the trip from Galveston, Texas, to Havre de 
Grace in 1846. This marked an epoch in the development of shipping relations between the United 
States and Europe, for previous to this time all cotton had been sent to New York or Boston and 
reshipped. On the return voyage Captain Reed brought back a cargo of wines procured at Bordeaux. 
During the thirty years or more of his seafaring life he entered every port of any importance 
from Maine to Florida, as well as Mobile and New Orleans, besides making several voyages to 
Europe and various ports of the West Indies. In 1850, on his ship Rob Roy, he made the trip around 
Cape Horn, arriving in San Francisco on August 9th of that year, bringing with him as part of the 
cargo the stern-wheel steamer Kennebec, which was put together at North Beach and later, with 
William Reed as captain, plied between Sacramento and Marysville. In 1851 Captain Reed returned 
to Maine and there engaged in farming until 1854, when he came again to California, mining at 
Angels Camp for two years thereafter. At the end of that time he sent for his family and on 
November 4, 1856, they settled in Oakland, the captain having purchased a tract of thirteen 
acres on Market street and turned his attention to raising fruit. From the later sale of this 
property, all of which is now a part of the city, he realized a comfortable fortune and upon 
this was able to spend his declining years in retirement from business cares, his home being at 
the corner of Sixteenth and Market streets.
        On the 30th of December, 1839, Captain Reed was united in marriage to Miss Hannah Carleton 
Hall, who was born at Vassalboro, Maine, August 16, 1818, a daughter of John Goffe and Mercy 
(Taylor) Hall. Six children were born to the marriage of Captain and Mrs. Reed: Elizabeth M., who 
was born in 1840 and who is now the widow of D. P. Barstow; Emily F., who was born in 1842 and who 
has passed away; Charles Goffe, born in 1844; George W., born in 1852; Nellie Carleton, who was 
born in 1854 and who is now the wife of Thomas C. Mayon, and Annie Lincoln, who was born in 1857 
and who has passed away. Captain Reed and his wife are both deceased, the former passing away April 
19, 1905, when in his ninety-fourth year, and the latter December 31, 1906.
        Captain Reed was intensely interested in public affairs and was a member of the Union League, 
organized during the Civil war. He was at one time a member of the board of education in Oakland, and 
the public-school system found in him a loyal and able supporter. In public as well as in private life 
his honor never was questioned, and his word was always as good as his bond. His sterling character 
and upright dealings with his fellowmen won for him the love and friendship of all who knew him, and 
his death was deeply and sincerely mourned in the city where he had made his home for so many years.
 
Past & Present of Alameda County, California � Vol II, S. J. Clarke Publ. Co., 1914, p. 60