Rea moved from Illinois to
Grundy Center, Iowa, in 1870. He went into practice with his brother-in-law, Francis Garner Moffett. The two also purchased the county's only newspaper, the
Grundy County Atlas, running it for the next six years, Moffett serving as local editor and Rea as political editor. The
Atlas, later succeeded by the
Republican, was the only newspaper serving Grundy County. In 1876, they sold the paper to Rea's fellow Mount Carroll Seminary alumnus
Charles Keiter. In 1871, Rea was elected the Grundy County superintendent of schools and served for two years. Later, he also served for some time on the Grundy Center school board, including a stint as its president. In 1875, Rea married Ann Raymond. They had two children, George and Ralph. A lifelong Republican, Rea was presented as the preferred choice of the Grundy County Republican Party for senate at every election from 1879 to 1893. Rea also served as an alternate delegate to the
Republican National Convention in 1884. In 1893, Rea was elected to the state senate of Iowa as a Republican, representing the 38th district, which comprised the counties of Grundy and Black Hawk. He served in the
25th Iowa General Assembly in 1894, but died before reaching the second half of his senatorial term. In addition to his political work, Rea was a director of the Grundy County National Bank, which he had helped to organize. He was also a member of the
Knights Templar Masons, who presided at his funeral. He was a lifelong member of the Baptist church. Rea died at his home in Grundy Center on August 25, 1895. He had been diagnosed some time previously with
Bright's disease. ==Works cited==