Harrison Reed

Harrison Reed was born in 1813 in Littleton, Massachusetts, and moved with his family to Milwaukee in 1836. He was merchant and later the editor of the Milwaukee Sentinel newspaper. Reed bought the 562-acre failed mission for the Menominee Indians at Winnebago Rapids, Wis. from the federal government, despite having no money. Reed renamed the settlement “Neenah.”

Reed eventually found a financial partner in Harvey Jones, but conflicts doomed the partnership. Reed went back to publishing; starting another newspaper in 1856. Reed accepted a political patronage job in Washington, D.C. with the Lincoln administration. Reed moved to Florida when he was appointed tax commissioner for the state. He stayed in Florida after the Civil War and was elected governor in 1868. Reed died in Florida in 1899.