REED, Joseph, American soldier and statesman : b. Trenton, N. J., 27 Aug. 1741; d. Philadelphia, 5 March 1785. He was graduated from Princeton and spent two years studying law in the Middle Temple, London. He re turned to Trenton and took up the practice of law and in 1767 was appointed deputy secretary of New Jersey. In 1774 he was appointed a member of the committee of correspondence for Philadelphia and in 1775 was president of the 2d provincial convention held in Pennsylvania and endeavored to defeat the intention of arm ing the province. His English connections through his marriage inclined him to a concilia tory view of the English position, though he opposed the principle of Parliamentary taxation. On Washington's appointment to commander in-chief, Reed became his military secretary. In 1776 he was made adjutant-general, hut re signed the next year and refused the office of brigadier-general and also first chief justice of Pennsylvania, preferring to remain Washing ton's volunteer aide, without rank or pay. In September 1777 he was elected to the Conti nental Congress but continued with the army and took part in many engagements. In 1778
he was made chairman of a Congressional com mittee to confer with Washington concerning the management of the ensuing campaign. In December 1778 he was chosen president of the supreme executive council of Pennsylvania and continued in office for three years, during which time he was one of the founders of the University of Pennsylvania and favored the doing away with the proprietary powers of the Penn family. After the English peace commis-. shiners had failed to treat with Congress, at tempts were made to bribe Reed together with other high officials. He replied: (I am not worth purchasing, but such as I am, the king of Great Britain is not rich enough to do it. In 1780 he was invested with extraordinary powers and was principally successful in quell ing the dissatisfaction of the Pennsylvania troops in the army. Consult 'Life> by Henry Reed (1846) ; Reed, W. B., 'Life and Corre spondence> (1847).