Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/235

the battle of Lexington. he was chosen lieutenant- colonel. and. when George Washington was ap- pointed to the command of the American forces. .Ir. Reed left his practice in Philadelphia to be- come Gen. Washington‘s military secretary. As he had been educated to the orderly and methodi- cal transaction of business. and was a ready \\ riter. there is no doubt that the opening of books of record. preparing forms. directing cor- respomlence. com- posing legal and state papers. and estab- lishing the general rules and etiquette of hea(h uarters. can be tracer principally to him. In October. 1775. he returned to Philadelphia. and in January. 1776. he was chosen member of the assembly. al-

though at the time

he was acting chairman of the committee of safe- t y. He was appointed on 5 June adjutant-general of the American arrrry. with the rank of colonel. and was exceedingly active in the campaign that terminated with the battle of Long Island. Admi- ral llowe. who reached New York in July. 1776. was charged. as special commissioner. with opening negotiations with the Americans. and under a flag of truce a— meeting took place. at which Col. Reed represented Gen. Washington. but. the commu- nication from the British admiral being addressed to " George Washington. Esquire." he declined to receive it. In 1777. on \Vashington‘s solicitation. he was appointed brigadier-general and tendered command of all the American cavalry. and mean- while. on 20 March. 777. he was appointed first chief justice of Pennsylvania under the new con- stitution; but Ire declined both of these offices. pre- ferring to remain attached to Washington's head- quarters as a volunteer aide without rank or pay. in which capacity he served with credit at the battles of Brandywine. Gerrnantown. and Monmouth. In September. 1777. he was elected to the Continental congress. but continued with the army and was again chosen in December. He declined the corn- missionership of Indian affairs in NOVember. 1778. but accepted the chairmanship of a committee to confer with “’ashington concerning the manage- ment of the ensuing campaign. to concert measures for the greatest efficiency of the army. The city of Philadelphia. in October. 1777. elected him to the assembly. and the county made him a member of the council; but he declined the former election. In December. 1778, he was chosen president of the supreme executive council of Pennsylvania. and he was continued in that office for three years. Dur- ing his administration he aided in founding the University of Pennsylvania. and favored the grad- ual abolition of slavery and the doing away with the proprietary powers of the Penn family. While Benedict Arnold (q. 1'.) was in command of Phila- delphia. after the evacuation by the British. he was led into extravagances that resulted in his being tried by court-martial. In the presentation of the charges Gov. Reed. as president of the council. took an active part. and so incurred the odiurn of the friends of Arnold. After the failure of the British peace commissioners to treat with congress. at— tempts were made to bribe high officials. and. among others, Gov. Reed was approached and offered £10.- 000. together with any office in the colonies in his majesty's gift. llis reply was: "I am not worth purchasing. but. such as I am. the king of Great Britain is not rich enough to do it." In 1780 he was invested with extraordinary pow ers. and largely through his influence the disaffection of the Penn- sylvania line in the army was suppressed. He re- surrred the practice of his profession in 1781, and was appointed by congress one of the commission to settle the dispute between the states of Pennsyl- vania and Connecticut. Failing health led to his visiting England in 1784. hoping that a sea-voyage Would restore him : but he returned in a few months, and died soon afterward. Meanwhile he had been chosen to congress. but he never took his seat. Gov. Reed was charged with meditating a treacher- ous abandonment of the American cause. and a determination to go over to the British. and George Bancroft in his history introduced the statement on what appeared to be reliable testimony. A bitter controversy ensued. in which Williarn B. Reed (1]. 1-.) took part. and it was ultimately shown that he had been confounded with Col. Charles Read (q. 1:). He published " Remarks on Gov. J ohnstone‘s Speech in Parliament " (Philadelphia, 1779), and “ Remarks on a Late Publication in the ‘ Independ- ent Gazetteer.‘ with an Address to the People of Pennsylvania " (1783). The latter elicited “ A Re-

ly" by John (‘adwalader. See "Life of Joseph Reed." by Henry iced. in Sparks's “ Amcrican Biog- raphy " (Boston. 1846). and " Life and Correspond- ence of Joseph Reed." by his grandson. “'illiam B. Reed (2 vols.. Philadelphia.1847).—His wife. Esther De Berdt. b. in London. ‘32 Oct..1746: d. in Phila- delphia. 18 Sept.. 1780. became acquainted with Mr. Reed when he was a law student in London. and soon after the death of her father married him in London in May. 1770. After the evacuation of Philadelphia she was chosen president of a society of ladies in that city who united for the purpose of collecting. by volrrrrtary subscription. additional supplies in money and clothing for the army. which was then in great destitution. In a letter to Gen. “’ashington she writes: " The amount of the sub- scription is 8200.580. and £625 6s. 8d. in specie, which makes in the whole, in paper money. $300.- 634." Many of her letters to her husband and her correspondence with Gen. \Vashington are given in the life of Joseph Reed mentioned above. See also “The Life of Esther De Berdt. afterward Esther Reed of Pennsylvania " (1853).—Their son. Joseph. b. in Philadelphia. Pa.. 11 July. 1772: (1. there. 4 March. 1846. was graduated at Princeton in 17.02. and then studied law. From 1800 till 1809 he was a prothonotary 0f the supreme court. and then attorney-general of Pennsylvania in 1810—11. He became recorder of the city of Philadelphia in 1810. continuing in that office till 1829. and published “The Laws of Pennsylvania" (5 vols.. Philadelphia. 1822—'4).—The second Joseph‘s son. William Bradford. lawyer. b. in Philadelphia, Pa.. 30 June. 1806; d. in New York city. 18 Feb.. 1876. was graduated at the University of Pennsylvania in 1825, and then accompanied Joel H. l’oinsett to Mexico as his private secretary. On his return he studied law and practised with such success that. in 1838, he was elected attorney—general of Pennsylvania. In 1850 he was appointcd professor of American history at the University of Pennsylvania. and in 1857 he became minister to China, in which capacity he negotiated the important treaty of June. 1858, that secured to the United States all the ad\ antages that had been acquired by