James reed biography

Irish-American businessman (–)

James Frazier Reed (November 14, – July 24, ) was an Irish-American businessman, soldier and pioneer in the American West, notable for being an organizing member of the ill-fated Donner Party emigration to California in

Early life

Born in County Armagh, Kingdom of Ireland (now Northern Ireland), Reed emigrated with his mother to the United States after the death of his father.

Once there, his mother sent him to live with a family member in Virginia, where he worked as a clerk in the family store. In about , Reed moved to Illinois, where he took an interest in mining. While living there, Reed ran several businesses and took part in the Black Hawk War^[1] of , serving with Abraham Lincoln.

In , he married Margret Backenstoe (née Margret Wilson Keyes), a widow with one daughter, Virginia Elizabeth Backenstoe, whom Reed did not adopt but who nonetheless went by the name Virginia Reed.^[1] The couple married and