REED, ISAAC: 1787-?
Isaac Reed , pioneer Presbyterian minister in Indiana , was born in Granville, N. Y., on Aug. 27, 1787. Following his graduation from Middlebury College in Vermont in 1812, he tried teaching for a while, studied law, but eventually turned to the ministry as his field.
Because he thought that a different climate might benefit his health, he decided upon missionary work in the West, and in 1816 he was sent to Kentucky by the Presbyterian Societies of New England. For a short time he preached on a circuit in Kentucky , and in July, 1818, made a visit to Indiana , where in October of the same year he became pastor of a church in New Albany . While serving in this capacity he made frequent preaching excursions through the southern part of the state and founded the first Sunday School in Indiana .
He resigned his pastorate at the end of the year and began traveling through Kentucky and Indiana for the Missionary Society of Connecticut. On Sept. 26, 1819, he organized the Presbyterian Church in Bloomington. While attending a synod at Danville, Ky., he met Elinor Young, a sister of Mrs. Baynard Rush Hall (wife of the first president of what is now Indiana University), and they were married. In 1822 he became pastor of the Bethany Church in Owen County, where he built a home.
He led in the organization of the Salem Presbytery in 1823 and helped organize churches at Crawfordsville, Greencastle, Bethlehem, and Terre Haute. In the fall of 1823 he took charge of churches at Indianapolis and Bloomington–traveling the distance of more than fifty miles on horseback.
Reed returned East and settled, temporarily, at least, in Moriah, N. Y., some time in 1827.
His book, The Christian Traveler, published immediately after his return to the East, describes his travels and adventures in Indiana and Kentucky . It is a narrative of considerable charm and historical importance, and is now quite rare.
Information from the INDIANA MAGAZINE OF HISTORY, Vols. 21 and 22.
- The Christian's Duty, Stated, Proved, and
Applied. Indianapolis, 1824.
- The Christian Traveler. New
York, 1828.
- The Youth's Book, in Four Parts.
Indianapolis, 1840.
