Joseph Rea Reed (March 12, 1835 – April 2, 1925) was an

Iowa Supreme Court The Iowa Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Iowa. The Court is composed of a chief justice and six associate justices. The Court holds its regular sessions in Des Moines in the Iowa Judicial Branch Building located at 1111 ...

justice (also Chief Justice for 2 months), one-term Republican

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from Iowa's 9th congressional district in southwestern Iowa, and chief justice of a specialized federal court.

Early life

Born in

Ashland County, Ohio Ashland County is a county located in the northeastern portion of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 52,447. Its county seat and largest city is Ashland. The county is named for " Ashland", the home of Senator ...

, Reed attended the common schools and Vermillion Institution in

Hayesville, Ohio Hayesville is a village in Vermillion Township, Ashland County, Ohio, United States. The population was 447 at the 2020 census. History Lemuel Boulter was the original owner of the land that the village of Hayesville was formed. Boulter sol ...

, from 1854 to 1857. He moved to

Adel, Iowa Adel ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County, Iowa, United States. It is located along the Raccoon River, North Raccoon River. Its population was 6,153 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census. History Adel is th ...

, in 1857. After studying law, he was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1859 and engaged in the practice of law at Adel until 1861. In July 1861, upon the outbreak of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, Reed enlisted as

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a se ...

in the 2nd Iowa Independent Battery Light Artillery. He was promoted to

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in October 1864, and served until June 10, 1865. Following the war, he resumed the practice of law in Adel. He served as member of the

Iowa Senate The Iowa Senate is the upper house of the Iowa General Assembly. There are 50 seats in the Iowa Senate, representing 50 single-member districts across the Iowa, state of Iowa with populations of approximately 60,927 per constituency, . Each Senat ...

from 1866 to 1870, moving to

Council Bluffs, Iowa Council Bluffs is a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States. The population was 62,799 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the state's List of cities in Iowa, te ...

, in 1869.

Judicial career

In 1872, he was appointed by Governor Cyrus C. Carpenter as judge of the 13th district court from 1872 to 1884. He was then elevated to the Iowa Supreme Court, where he served from January 1, 1884, until he resigned on February 28, 1889, having been the chief justice from January 1, 1889 until his resignation.Joseph Rea Reed
biography on the Iowa Supreme Court website, accessed February 16, 2015.

Congressional career

In 1888, Reed received the Republican nomination for election as the 9th congressional district's representative in the U.S. House, after incumbent Republican

Joseph Lyman Joseph Lyman (September 13, 1840 – July 9, 1890) was a American Civil War, Civil War soldier, lawyer, and judge. In the 1880s, he was a two-term Republican Party (United States), Republican U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Representative fr ...

declined to seek a third term. After winning the general election, Reed served in the Fifty-first Congress. However, Reed was not re-elected, but was defeated in 1890 by Democrat Thomas Bowman as part of the Democrats' landslide victory.

Post-Congressional career

In June 1891, he was named by President

Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was the 23rd president of the United States, serving from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia—a grandson of the ninth president, William Henry Harrison, and a ...

as the chief justice of the new

United States Court of Private Land Claims The United States Court of Private Land Claims (1891–1904) was an ad-hoc court created to decide land claims guaranteed by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, in the territories of New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah, and in the states of Nevada, Color ...

, a court created to decide land claims guaranteed by the

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo officially ended the Mexican–American War (1846–1848). It was signed on 2 February 1848 in the town of Villa de Guadalupe, Mexico City, Guadalupe Hidalgo. After the defeat of its army and the fall of the cap ...

, in the territories of

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, and

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, and in the states of

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, and

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

.Court of Private Law Claims
" ''New York Times'', 1891-06-14 at p. 9. He served on that court from 1891 to 1904. He then resumed the practice of law in Council Bluffs, where he died on April 2, 1925. He was interred in Walnut Hill Cemetery.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reed, Joseph Rea 1835 births 1925 deaths Republican Party Iowa state senators Iowa state court judges Justices of the Iowa Supreme Court People from Ashland County, Ohio People from Adel, Iowa Union army officers People of Iowa in the American Civil War Politicians from Council Bluffs, Iowa United States Court of Private Land Claims judges United States Article I federal judges appointed by Benjamin Harrison 19th-century Iowa state court judges Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Iowa Chief justices of the Iowa Supreme Court 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century members of the Iowa General Assembly