William Augustus Reeder
Politician. Republican. Born: August 28, 1849, Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. Died: November 7, 1929, Beverly Hills, California. Served in U.S. House of Representatives, 6th District: March 4, 1899, to March 3, 1911.
On August 28, 1849, William A. Reeder was born near Shippensburg, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, and moved with his parents to Ipava, Fulton County, Illinois, in 1853. There he attended the public schools, taught school in Illinois from 1863-1871, and then moved to Beloit, Mitchell County, Kansas, where he served as principal of the town's public schools from 1871 to 1879. Reeder moved to Logan in Phillips County in 1880 and engaged in banking, as well as in irrigation farming, which occupied much of his attentions during the 1890s. Reeder was elected to the first of six terms in the U.S. Congress (served, March 4, 1899-March 3, 1911), during which time he chaired the Committee on Mileage and the Committee on the Irrigation of Arid Lands. He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1910, moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1911, and to Beverly Hills in 1913, where he engaged in banking and in the real estate business until 1926. Reeder died in Beverly Hills on November 7, 1929, and was buried Hollywood Cemetery, Hollywood, California.
Entry: Reeder, William Augustus
Author: Kansas Historical Society
Author information: The Kansas Historical Society is a state agency charged with actively safeguarding and sharing the state's history.
Date Created: June 2011
Date Modified: May 2012
The author of this article is solely responsible for its content.
