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Simeon Gannett Reed was an important figure in the economic development of Portland and Oregon in the late 19th century. He was born in East Abington (now Rockland), Massachusetts, in 1830. After finishing his education at age 15, he worked in a dry goods store in Boston and as a shoe cutter in East Abington. He entered the grain and flour business in Quincy, Massachusetts, and later married Amanda Wood, who was a member of a wealthy and prominent Quincy family. The Reeds came to California in 1852 and soon departed for Oregon. After a number of ventures, Reed became a clerk for the Portland, Oregon, general merchandise firm of W.S. Ladd and Company. He purchased the firm in partnership with William S. Ladd's sons, forming Ladd, Reed and Company in 1859. He invested money in steamship ventures and, in 1860, became a partner with Captain John C. Ainsworth and others in the Oregon Steam and Navigation Company, the principal shipping firm on the Columbia River. In 1879, the company was purchased by railroad magnate Henry Villard and merged with the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company, and Reed became vice president and manager of the new firm. Reed also invested heavily in railroad, mining, land development, and industrial ventures, including the Oregon Iron and Steel Company at Oswego. Among his mining interests was the Bunker Hill and Sullivan Mining & Concentrating Company in Idaho. He took an active interest in livestock breeding and owned the Ladd and Reed Farm Company, along with William S. Ladd. The company possessed large tracts of farm land in the Willamette and Tualatin valleys.

As Reed's health declined, he and Amanda Wood Reed moved from Oregon to Pasadena, California, in 1892. He planned to build a large house there at Carmelita, but died in 1895 before it was completed. Amanda Wood Reed lived in the house until her death in 1904. Reed had wanted the bulk of his estate to be used in establishing a college in Portland; however, after the death of Amanda Wood Reed, the couple's legacy became entangled in litigation. It was only through the efforts of Amanda Wood Reed's nephew, Martin Winch (who had managed the Reeds' finances for many years), that funds were eventually secured for the building of what is now Reed College.