Reed, Silas, 1807-1886

Silas Reed (1807-1886), born in Ohio, graduated from the Medical College of Ohio, lived in Cincinnati for several years, and in 1838 moved to Rock Island, Illinois. He was surveyor general of Illinois and Missouri, 1841-45, and surveyor general of Wyoming Territory, 1870-75. He had mining interests in Utah and promoted the Dallas and Wichita Railroad Company in Texas. He acted as assistant surgeon in army hospitals in Tennessee and Missouri and died in Utah.

Silas Reed was born in Ohio in 1807 and, after receiving a diploma from the Medical College of Ohio, lived in Cincinnati for several years. About 1838, Reed moved to Rock Island, Illinois, and in 1841 was appointed surveyor general of Illinois and Missouri by President William Henry Harrison. This appointment was not confirmed by the Senate, but after the presentation by Dr. Reed of letters and memorials to President John Tyler and the Senate, it was brought up again and approved. Dr. Reed served as surveyor general from March 17, 1841, to May 12, 1845, and continued to make his headquarters in St. Louis until 1870, when he was appointed the first surveyor general of Wyoming Territory by President Ulysses S. Grant. Due in part to political intrigue, he resigned in 1875 and devoted his remaining years to his mining interests in Utah and the promotion of the Dallas and Wichita Railroad Company in Texas. In 1876, he appeared before the Congressional Committee on Expenditures in the Interior Department in its investigation of surveys in the Territory of Wyoming. During the Civil War, Dr. Reed served as acting assistant surgeon in army hospitals in Tennessee and Missouri. He died in Utah on October 1 or 2, 1886.