Necrology of Toledo's Woodlawn Cemetery

Dr. Calvin Hamilton Reed

Dr. Calvin Hamilton Reed was a distinguished general practitioner, professor of obstetrics, and co-founder of the Toledo School of Medicine.

Reed was born on November 20, 1840 near Milford Center, Ohio, the son of George and Martha Reed (Morgan). He was born on the farm of his grandfather, who had been one of the earliest pioneers in the area. He received his early education in the Union County rural district school. His parents could not afford to pay for his higher education, so from the age of 18 until he was 20 Reed taught school during the winter and worked on the farm during the summer to save money. By 1860 he was able to enter the Marysville Academy.

After three years of study at the academy, Reed enlisted in the Union Army for three months, serving as a Corporal in Company E, Eighty-Sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry which was stationed in Clarksburg, West Virginia.

After his service was completed, Reed entered Ohio Wesleyan University where he taught part-time and finished his education. In the summer of 1865, he taught school at Milford Center and in the fall he began his study of medicine in the office of Dr. John W. Hamilton, Professor of Surgery at Starling Medical College in Columbus.

Reed graduated from Starling in 1868 and moved to Toledo to start his practice. In 1878 he helped organize the Toledo School of Medicine at which he lectured on obstetrics. He later was elected to the chair of Professor of Obstetrics at the Northwestern Ohio Medical College.

Outside of his practice, Reed contributed to medical literature and served on the Toledo, State and Northwestern Ohio Medical Associations. He participated in community affairs by serving on the Toledo Board of Education and by joining the United Workmen. He also served as Chancellor of the Knights of Pythias, was a member of the Masonic Order, and a member of Toledo's Third Presbyterian Church.

Reed was married June 9, 1869 to Miss Emma Bithiah Smythe and was the father of five children. He died May 4, 1915 at the age of 75.[Clark Waggoner, ed., History of the City of Toledo and Lucas County, Ohio (Toledo: Munsell & Co., 1888), pp.552-53. See also Harvey Scribner, Memoirs of Lucas County and the City of Toledo, vol. 2 (Madison: Western HIstorical Association, 1910), pp.344-45].