WILLIAM F. REED, whose name on occasion is recorded as "Read", was appointed to the Camden Fire Department  in May of 1874 to replace Isaac Middleton an extra man with Engine Company 2. Shortly thereafter he was reassigned to the Hook & Ladder Company, exchanging places with Charles H. Reed, who had come into the department at the same time. Both men served until April of 1876, when they were not re-appointed. Charles H. Reed was reappointed in April of 1878 and served until March of 1882.

A printer by trade, William F. Reed was living at 461 Berkley Street in South Camden when he was appointed to the Fire Department,and appears to have remained at that address until he left the city in the late 1880s. 

William F. Reed, was born in Camden in December of 1854 to Isaac and Hannah Reed. The family included an older brother, Albert Reed. His father worked as a storekeeper. Isaac and Hannah Reed were founding members of Broadway Methodist Episcopal Church. George Reeser Prowell wrote of this in his History of Camden County, New Jersey which was published in 1886. 

At the house of Charles Sloan a meeting of Methodists was held on April 8, 1848, where, with Mr. Sloan as chairman and David Duffield, Jr., secretary, the Berkley Street Sabbath school of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Camden, N. J., was organized. Charles Sloan, David Duffield, Jr., Thomas L. Smith, Philander C. Brink, Benjamin A. Hammell, Levi C. Phifer, Wm. Few, John Newton, Richard J. Sharp, I. B. Reed, John B. Thompson, Elizabeth Middleton, Susan H. Scott, Mary Adams, Harriet Davis, Mary Brooks, Hannah Souder, Mary Dunn and Sarah Cheeseman volunteered to become teachers. Chas. Sloan was elected superintendent. A lot was purchased and a schoolhouse built, which was dedicated April 15, 1849,. by Rev. Dr. Bartine.   The school then had twelve teachers and sixty-three scholars, which two years later was increased to one hundred and one scholars. A request was sent to Rev. Charles H. Whitecar, pastor of Third Street Methodist Episcopal Church, to form a class, of which Isaac B. Reed was appointed leader, and the other members were Hannah Chambers, Abigail Bishop, Wm. Wood, Furman Sheldon, Priscilla Sheldon, Achsa Sutton, Mary Sutton, Mary Brooks, Elizabeth Bender, Ruthanna Bender, Charlotte Wilkinson, William Patterson, Sister Patterson, Sister Severns, Rebecca Thompson, Elizabeth McIntyre, Hannah A. Reed, Danie Stephenson, Rachel Stephenson, Susan Thomas, Samuel Severns, Mary E. Maguire and William. Few. At a meeting held in the Sunday school room on Berkley Street, March 10, 1854, and at a subsequent meeting, May 9th, a church society was organized largely from members of the class above mentioned. Rev. Ralph S. Arndt was the first pastor. Forty certificates of membership were received, and John Lee, Isaac B. Reed and Conklin Mayhew were appointed class-leaders.

The first board of stewards was composed of John C. Clopper, Walter Rink, John M. Pascall and Logan Alcott. May 30, 1854, the board of trustees elected were Daniel Bishop, S. S. Cain, Wm. Severns, Conklin Mayhew, Furman Sheldon, Logan Alcott and T. H. Stephens. At the same meeting the name of "Broadway Methodist Episcopal Church of Camden, N. J.," was selected to designate the new society. Rev. J. H. Knowles was pastor from May, 1855, to the end of the pastoral year and part of next year, which was finished by Rev. J. J. Hanley, who remained to May, 1858. In February, 1856, John S. Newton, who after­wards lost his life with the unfortunates in the " New Jersey" steamboat, was appointed leader of a class of young converts. The trustees purchased the property corner of Broadway and Berkley Street, in 1854, subject to a claim, and on November 14, 1854, they bought an adjoining lot. The basement of the church was dedicated December 25, 1855, by Bishop Scott, and the main audience-room dedicated January 29,1857, by Bishop Janes.   

Isaac Reed passed away prior to the enumeration of the 1870 Census. The family was then living in Camden's Middle Ward, where they had been in the years before the Civil war, most likely on the northwest corner of North 5th and Berkley Streets. The house numbers on this corner are 461 and 463 Berkley Street, and the Reeds occupied both as late as 1887.

As stated above, William F. Reed was appointed to the Camden Fire department in May of 1874. He married in 1878. The 1880 Census shows the couple, along with his mother Hannah A. Reed and aunt Mary Few at 461 Berkley Street. In 1883 he was involved with the printing and publication of the Temperance Gazette out of 461 Berkley Street, and in 1888 his mother ran a confectionary out of that address. The Reeds are not listed in the 1890-1891 City Directories or subsequent editions. William and Jennie Reed moved to Washington D.C. during the 1890s, where he found employment as a printer with the United States government. The Reeds were still in Washington at the time of the 1910 Census. They are not listed in the 1920 Census.