Duncan Reed Duncan Cameron Reed ( July 2 , 1815 - September 14 , 1890 ) was an American steamship engineer and politician , an early settler of Milwaukee . He served two terms as a Democratic member of the Wisconsin State Senate , and as coroner of Milwaukee County . He served briefly as an officer in the American Civil War , then went to work as a boiler inspector . Background . Reed was born in Shelburn , Vermont on July 2 , 1815 . He became a marine engineer , and had visited Milwaukee at least as early as 1834 . He moved to Milwaukee permanently on July 8 , 1841 , arriving as chief engineer of the steamship " City of Milwaukee " or " Milwaukee " ( reputedly " the fastest boat on the lakes at that time " ) , which he had helped to sneak out of the harbor of Buffalo , New York at the instigation of Solomon Juneau , part - owner thereof , who claimed that the boat was being retained in Buffalo unjustly by the other owners . He remained in the engineering trade , serving on lake steamers such as the " C . C . Trowbridge " , the " Andromeda " and the " Nucleus " . In 1851 , he was one of a group ( including Alexander Mitchell , George H . Walker , Increase Lapham and others ) which petitioned the state legislature for a charter for the Milwaukee and Fond du Lac Railroad , one of the short - lived railroad companies which would eventually become part of the Chicago , Milwaukee , St . Paul and Pacific Railroad system . Public office . As of 1853 , he was 37 years of age ; his biographical listing showed that he was an " engineer " , was born in Vermont and had lived in Wisconsin for 12 years . Reed served four years ( 1850 - 1853 ) as a Democratic member of the State Senate , first from the Eighteenth District , then ( after a redistricting ) from the Sixth . During the 1853 session , he served as President pro tempore of the Senate . He was succeeded in the Senate by fellow Democrat Edward McGarry He served four years as a deputy United States Marshal ; and in 1858 was elected coroner for Milwaukee County . Military service . In 1853 Reed was a Colonel of the First Regiment , First Division of the Wisconsin Militia under Major General Rufus King . On August 21 , 1862 , he was commissioned a Captain of the 24th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment ( which " Cam " had helped organize ) commanding Company " E " ; but he was discharged in January 1863 . After the Civil War . After the war , he worked as a professional boiler inspector , billing various state agencies for that service . He was appointed a boiler inspector for the Steamboat Inspection Service of the United States government during the Grant administration , a position he would hold until his death . Personal life . Reed married Mary Hanes in 1837 . An adopted daughter , Frances Dela Bates , died at the age of five in 1854 . Mary Hanes Reed died in 1883 . They had one daughter , Mary L . ( Reed ) McIntyre , known as " Mamie " , who would survive them both . Reed was one of the founding members of the Old Settlers Club of Milwaukee ; and of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin , as well as a state Grand Master of the Odd Fellows fraternal order . Reed Street ( later renamed South Second Street ) in the old Third Ward of Milwaukee was named after him ; when he had first settled there at what would become the corner of Greenfield and Reed Street , it was a mere wilderness trail with but three houses upon it . He died of dropsy on September 14 , 1890 , after a long illness . He was buried in Forest Home Cemetery .