William Bradford Reed

William Bradford Reed
Harper's Weekly sketch
Pennsylvania Attorney General
In office April 2, 1838 – January 15, 1839
Preceded by	James Todd
Succeeded by	Ovid F. Johnson
Envoy to Qing Empire[1]
In office April 18, 1857 – November 11, 1858
Preceded by	Peter Parker
Succeeded by	John Elliott Ward
Personal details
Born	June 30, 1806 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Died	February 18, 1876 (aged 69) New York City, New York
Spouse(s)	Louisa Whelan Mary Love Ralston
Alma mater	University of Pennsylvania

William Bradford Reed (June 30, 1806 – February 18, 1876) was an American attorney, diplomat, academic and journalist. He is best known for his biography of his grandfather, General Joseph Reed.

Biography and career

Reed was born the son of Joseph Reed and Maria Ellis Watmough. After graduating at the University of Pennsylvania in 1825 he went to Mexico as private secretary of Joel R. Poinsett, studied law, was appointed Pennsylvania Attorney-General (1838), and was made professor of American history at the University of Pennsylvania (1850).

In 1857, Reed became Minister to China, where he negotiated the Treaty of June, 1858, and on his return (1860) was active in Democratic Party politics and in New York journalism. For a time he was an American correspondent of The Times.

Reed published many controversial and historical pamphlets and contributed essays chiefly to the American Quarterly and the North American Review. He wrote the Life and Correspondence of Joseph Reed, his grandfather (1847), and Life of Esther de Berdt, afterward Esther Reed, his grandmother (1853).

His brother was educator Henry Hope Reed.

References

1. "U. S. Department of State, Office of the Historian".

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Gilman, D. C.; Thurston, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905). "^{article name needed}". New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.