Author: Reed, Abner
Biography:
REED, Abner (1771-1866: ESTC)
He was born in Hartford CT, the son of Luke Reed (his mother's name is not reliably recorded). There he was apprenticed to a saddler and taught school. In the saddler's shop he learnt to use engraving tools to make labels and went on to become an expert, self-taught engraver on wood, copper, and steel. His first published plates were issued by presses in New York State, where in the 1790s he taught school and (in 1795) married Elizabeth Loring. (They would have four children.) His first print-making shop was in Hartford CT but in 1811 he purchased a house in East Windsor (now South Windsor) CT, where he remained until 1847. Besides commissioned illustrations and plates for printing banknotes, he produced his own schoolbooks and educational materials for teaching geography, writing, and business skills; he also experimented with aquatint. He trained many apprentices who went on to make names for themselves as artists. In 1847 he moved to New York and then, some time before 1860, to Toledo OH, where he died. (ESTC; SNAC; findmypast.com 25 Jul. 2020; ancestry.com 25 Jul. 2020) HJ