- Elijah W. Reed
Elijah W. Reed (
November 27 ,1827 –January 27 ,1888 ) was a ship captain fromBrooklin, Maine who is credited with establishment of themenhaden fishing industry inVirginia 'sNorthern Neck region.In 1874, Captain Reed moved his business to
Northumberland County, Virginia along the western shore of theChesapeake Bay , an area where local watermen had been long established. He introduced a method of extracting large quantities of oil from the fish by rendering them by the millions. Their oil was used as a lubricant and in lighting, as whale oil was, and the leftover bones and carcasses were valuable as fertilizer. He opened the first processing plant in the area. By 1885, Reedville was heavily engaged in the menhaden fishing industry. Menhaden factories on Cockrell Creek produced fish oil, meal and fertilizer from menhaden. The menhaden fishing industry brought tremendous wealth to Reedville and to Northumberland County.The unincorporated town of
Reedville, Virginia was named in his honor. By some accounts, Reedville is second only toKodiak, Alaska for the quantity of fish brought to port in the United States.
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