Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1896-02-29

The endowments he received from Il
sturdy, honest and independent New
England ancestry afforded a moral and
mental equipment of no mean order and
net to be overlooked in any estimate OF
what he has done or what he may do.
Indeed SO far as ancestors may be con-
sidered, Mr. Reed S are all that the most
captious New Englanders could wish and
so far rs regards the character of those
ancestors it is conspicuous for qualities
which win admiration everywhere. = --4ya
Thomas B. Reed began life with a good
home though not an af1uent one, Its
surroundings were democratic. His
father worked for years as Waterman in a
sugar house III Portland. and lived the
life Of good citizen if not an ambitious
one; his mother was a superior woman
and though Thomas was one Of several
children he received the best of home
training. 1t is a temptation to look a
little farther back along his ancestral line
and after doing so it is easy to believe
that the man, who now is the centre of so
much public attention, owes some of the
characteristics which brought him there
to his ancestor, George Clceve who once
owned all of Falmouth neck to Anthony
loEdCk6IU, tu6 SltEIl lItldu uSnltr, u iu
Irish gentleman by the name of Milton
who married Cleeve's only child and
thereafter took life quite leisurely acquir-
ing reputation especially as a man who
loved cunning and fishing Then. too, it
does not seem improbable that the self
reliance, independence and fearlessness Of
hardy sailors, who are numbered among
Mr.. Reeds ancestors, may have been
transmitted to him unimpairod. Ger
tainly these qualities are not lacking in
the character Of the present speaker of the
national House of Representatives
Whatever Mr.. Reed inherited in the
way Of abilities, he has been the one to
develop and apply them. No adventurous
aids have been his. since he began his
education in the schools of Portland
completed his preparation for college at
the age of 16 graduated from Bowdoin in
1860 and worked and taught school to
make all this possible. He is said to have
been popular in college, and fun loving
though his amuscmeDts were never of il
low order AS a freshman he undoubted-
| ly was IL source of annoyance to the
sophomore dignity. 1t Is believed that
| in the first three years of his course he
devoted, moro time to the library than be
did to the curriculum, but his recitations
during senior year indicated that he had
the power to apply himself and the ability
| to take high rank in scholarship.
| As a school teacher he always made
himself master OF the situation al the be-
| ginning Of the term and several amusing
| incidents have in consequence been
| handed down. 1t is related that in the
scrimmsgc necessary to establish his
authority m one unruly school, he came
| off victorious but with his coat split from
clcw to earring.
| Reed found opportunity while teaching
to study law. He studied for time in
| law offices at Portland He went to Cali
fornia in 1868 where he remained less than
year On his return he entered the
navy as acting assistant paymaster On
his return to Portland he was admitted to
the Cumberland bar He had been :.
thorough student and his commanding
abilities were not long unrecognized.
Within three years he was elected to the
Legislature of 1868. He served in the
! House in 1869 and was elected to he State
Senate in 1870. During his first term
he was appointed to the judiciary com
mittee where he continued to serve with
marked ability. In 1870 he was elected
attorney general, being at the time but 81
years old, the youngest attorney general
since Maine became a State. His youth
however, was no bar to the distinction,
which he acquired during the three terms
in this office where he conducted many
! important causes for the State and won a
reputation second to that of noue of his
predecessors. From 1874 to 1873, MIR
Reed rs city solicitor for Portland die
very valuable service for his city at q
time when it was needed.
In 1876 he was elected to Congress after
campaign which pat the young leader.
! fighting qualities to the severest test
Hon. John H. Burlcigh of South Der
wick, was the rival candidate for nomina