David Reed (1747 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania – September 30, 1824 in Washington County, Pennsylvania) was an American pioneer in the early history of
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
.
Biography
He was a squatter on land owned by
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
in
Washington County, Pennsylvania
Washington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 209,349. Its county seat is Washington.
Washington County is part of the Pittsburgh, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The county i ...
.
At that time, Washington owned a large parcel of land, totaling 58,000 acres, across
Western Pennsylvania
Western Pennsylvania is a region in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, covering the western third of the state. Pittsburgh is the region's principal city, with a metropolitan area population of about 2.4 million people, and serves as its economic ...
, then part of the
American frontier
The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of United States territorial acquisitions, American expansion in mainland North Amer ...
.
The land had been given to Washington in the
District of West Augusta
The District of West Augusta was a short-lived (1774–76) historical region of Colonial Virginia that encompassed much of what is now northern West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania.
History
Before the Colony of Virginia and the Provin ...
by the
Colony of Virginia
The Colony of Virginia, chartered in 1606 and settled in 1607, was the first enduring English colonial empire, English colony in North America, following failed attempts at settlement on Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey GilbertG ...
in consideration of his service during the
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...
.
In 1777, David Reed, his brother John Reed, brother-in-law Samuel McBride (husband of David and John Reed's sister Lydia) and several other Seceder (or Associate) Presbyterians, moved from Lancaster County to what later became Washington County, Pennsylvania, to take possession of land that they believed themselves to have purchased from Colonel
George Croghan
George Croghan (c. 1718 – August 31, 1782) was an Irish-born fur trader in the Ohio Country of North America (current United States) who became a key early figure in the region. In 1746 he was appointed to the Onondaga Council, the governin ...
, who himself had established an early British American trading post in the
Ohio Country before the French and Indian War.
In 1784, following the end of his service in the
Continental Army
The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...
, Washington traveled to survey his land holdings.
Reed and other
Scotch-Irish pioneers/squatters had arrived in the 1770s and had settled the land, building fences, log cabins, and communities, which they felt gave them the right to the land.
The group referred to themselves as
Seceders
The First Secession was an exodus of ministers and members from the Church of Scotland in 1733. Those who took part formed the Associate Presbytery and later the United Secession Church. They were often referred to as seceders.
The underlying ...
, an 18th-century movement within
Scottish Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
which spread to the north of Ireland.
Washington was intent on enforcing his legal rights to collect back rent.
Attempts were made to arrive at a peaceful solution.
On September 14, 1784, Washington met with the squatters at his gristmill near present-day Venice.
On September 20, 1784, a second meeting was held between Washington, Reed and a group of thirteen other squatters.
The efforts were ultimately unsuccessful.
The meeting was recorded in Washington's journal as follows:
In October 1786, a trial on the issue was held in
Washington, Pennsylvania
Washington is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Pennsylvania. A part of the Greater Pittsburgh area in the southwestern part of the state, the city is home to Washington & Jefferson College and Pony League baseball. The populat ...
, with
Pennsylvania Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Unified Judicial System. It also claims to be the oldest appellate court in the United States, a claim that is disputed by the Massachusetts Supreme J ...
Justice
Thomas McKean
Thomas McKean (March 19, 1734June 24, 1817) was an American lawyer, politician, and Founding Father. During the American Revolution, he was a Delaware delegate to the Continental Congress, where he signed the Continental Association, the United ...
riding circuit
In the United States, circuit riding was the practice of a judge, sometimes referred to as a circuit rider, traveling to a judicial district (referred to as a circuit) to preside over court cases there. A defining feature of American federal cour ...
as the presiding judge.
Though Washington won the suit, he absolved the settlers of back rent, asking only for future rent. Many of the Seceder squatters left the area in response. The Reed brothers acquired farms in Cecil township in Washington County. Samuel McBride settled on a farm in what later became Lawrence County, Pennsylvania.
In 1950, the
Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) is the governmental agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania responsible for the collection, conservation and interpretation of Pennsylvania's historic heritage. The commission cares for ...
erected a
historic marker
A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other ...
at the site of his
log cabin
A log cabin is a small log house, especially a less finished or less architecturally sophisticated structure. Log cabins have an ancient history in Europe, and in America are often associated with first generation home building by settlers.
Eur ...
near
Venice, Pennsylvania
Washington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 209,349. Its county seat is Washington.
Washington County is part of the Pittsburgh, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The county i ...
noting the historic importance of Reed and the squatters. The historical marker mistakenly identifies the Washington County squatters as Covenanters.
Reed's descendants include
James A. Reed and
David A. Reed
David Aiken Reed (December 21, 1880February 10, 1953) was an American lawyer and Republican party politician from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate from 1922 to 1935. He was a co-author of the restr ...
.
One of Samuel and Lydia (Reed) McBride's descendants, Grace Elizabeth (McBride) Crile (1876-1948), was the wife of
George Washington Crile
George Washington Crile (November 11, 1864 – January 7, 1943) was an American surgeon. Crile is now formally recognized as the first surgeon to have succeeded in a direct blood transfusion. He contributed to other procedures, such as neck dis ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reed, David
People from Washington County, Pennsylvania
Date of birth missing
American people of Scotch-Irish descent
Scotch-Irish American culture in Pennsylvania