The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1886-10-16

Capt. Henry j. Reed, a man who, though
still in the apparent prime Of life, has seen
the seventy second year of his age. His
mind and memory are in keeping with his
excellent physical condition. Not an ex-
tremely powerful man in muscle, yet he
evidently averaged above the majority Of his
fellows. He is tall, we'll formed and active,
mentally and physically wide awake, and
owes the splendid autumn of his days to
youthful prudence and the temperate use of
the good things of life, enjoying them in
moderation and avoiding all excuses. His
father, Chas. j. Reed, and mother, Rachel
Miller, were married near Erie, Pa, Febru-
airy Is, 1897, and became the parents of
fourteen children, seven boys and seven
girls. The old couple have passed away
and seven of their progeny have also crossed
the invisible river which divides time and
eternity. OF the living Mr.. Reed has a
brother, George W., in Montana; the oldest
sister in Nebraska, younger sister in Cali
IL.
The Reed family of former generation.
were native born Rhode islanders. Seth
Reed, Ilenry's paternal grandfather, went
from "Little Rhody" at an early day to
Massachusetts, and when the war with Eng.
land prompted the citizens of that patriotic
commonwealth to take up arms, Seth enlisted
and soon became colonel and fought in the
battle Of Bunker Hill Henrys father came
to the then almost unbroken wilderness, in
the "west," and located at Erie, Pa, in 1905,
where Henry was born, May 10, 1914. His
was the first family of whites in all that
region. There the fourteen children were
all born. For some time their only neigh.
bors were the Indians, the bear, wolves,
deer and other animal inhabitants of an un-
subdued wilderness. Slowly white families,
one after another, made their way through
the tall and deeply shading timber, over
Dogs and swamps around the heads of i'm
passable ravines, tording the shallower
streams, swimming the larger ones, but
eventually getting over the mountains and
hills and pitching their tents on the lovely
shores of Lake Erie. For long time the
settlement was very small and schools and
churches were to be thought of simply, but
not realized.
In 1921 Mr. Reeds father hired school
teacher, by whom his and some of the neigh
bors' children were taught the rudiments of
education.
A CABINET MAKER.
When Henry was IA years old, having
graduated from school in the brief space
Of two years. that comprising his entire
time in school, he was bound an apprentice
to cabinet maker, and in due time became
a good enough mechanic for those days. He
remained in this occupation five years, when
his ''boss" or master died.
WESTWARD, Ho
Great were the glores Of the new
state of Illinois, whose broad prairies. free
from stones and stumps, lying burdened
with its mighty crops of wild grass, were
crying to the eastern farmer, "Come and till
me - But tickle me with hoe and will
laugh with pleasure and reward you with
prodigious crop Of any sort of grain you
may desire, and fill your prairies with cattle
and your woods with hogs, and your purse
and larder shall never be empty Young
Reed looking to fame and fortune in this
land of promise, unconsciously took Shakes
peare's motto, expressed by the sprightly
Viola, and made his actions and his motto,
Westward, IIo" - In company with bro
Their he went to Detroit to earn money for
..a start where they worked two years.
CHICAGO IN 1884.
Then being ready to face the unknown dan
gers of the Sucker state" they arrived at
Chicago and found the future wonder of
cities. most unpromsing settlement. Ii
stood on the level margin of the lake. in the
swamps and sloughs along the sluggish Chi
caco river. 1t consisted Of brick house
which had been used by the few settlers as
protection against the Indians. There
were a half dozen log shanties scattered
about along either bank of the.river, near
Fort Dearborn" and all else around was a
hopeless swamp, fanked around on the west
and north by other swamps and impossible
'sloughs;" and beyond the low and marshy
region to the south were miles of "sand
dunes" little hillocks and ridges of sand.
so barren of vegetation that it starved out
even the cactus or prickly pear
The inhabitants of these vast stretches of
boys and water were frogs, snakes crawtish,
muskrats, gnats, and mosquitoes. The only
outlet to the country beyond the lake in any
direction was the single stage from Chicago
to,Peoria, which came and went once week,
unless stuck more than the usual number Of
times and delayed longer than the average,
in some of the innumerable swamps between
the two places When Mr.. Reed arrived in
Chicago the stage had gone for that week.
The dismal prospect around him made him
homesick, but as he couldn't "foot it, back
across the lake. he determined to brave the
terrors of the boys With his knapsack on
his back he trudged along the stages track
through the tall grass ormiles at time over