Reed, Silas

Born: 1807 Ohio

Died: 1886 Utah Territory

Flourished: 1841-1870 Saint Louis, Missouri

Reed graduated from the Medical College of Ohio and subsequently lived in Cincinnati. In 1838, he moved to Rock Island, Illinois. In 1841, Reed was appointed surveyor general of Missouri and Illinois. From September 1841 to March 1842, another man held the post, but Reed was re-appointed and served until 1845. From 1841 on, he lived in St. Louis. In 1860, Reed owned $60,000 worth of real estate and $15,000 worth of personal property. During the Civil War, Reed served as an assistant surgeon in army hospitals in Tennessee and Missouri.

C. Albert White, History of the Rectangular Survey System (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, [1983]), 2:99-100, 110, 203, 212; Finding Aid, Silas Reed Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, CT, http://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/beinecke.reed; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Ward 6, St. Louis, St. Louis County, MO, 119.