The Reid Family
Robert Reid
1739-1817
Robert Reid was born in 1739 and died October 14th, 1817 at the age of 78. He was
married to Rebekah Reid who was born in 1741 and died in 1801 at the age of 60.
Buried in Neely’s Creek at the Presbyterian Church Cemetery. They had five children:
Thomas Reid (1775-1834)
Elizabeth Reid (1777-1845) buried with parents at Neely’s Creek
Robert Gregg Reid
James Reid
George B. Reid (1781-1801) Died at the age of 20.
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Thomas Reid
1775-1834
Thomas Reid was born on June 25th 1775 and died on May 18th 1834. He married
Mary Lusk (1777- ?) the daughter of Robert and Jane Lusk. They had nine children:
George Reid: Born in 1803, married Rachel Amanda Boyd, and died in 1853.
Robert Reid: Born in 1804
James Carson Reid: Born in 1806
Rebecca Reid: Born in 1808, died in 1883; married James Clinton. Daughter Mary A.
Clinton Ashcroft (1833-1865)
Samuel Reid: Born in 1810, married Martha Chambers
Thomas Wright Reid: Born in 1813
Gregg Reid: Born in 1816; married Mary Caroline Chambers (1821-1887); two children - J.N. Reid (1848-1877) and T.G. Reid (1855-1879)
Mary Ann Reid: Born in 1818
Nancy Reid: Born in 1820; married Christopher Strait McCullough (1805-1870) in 1838,
and died in 1871.
George Reid
1803-1855
George Reid is the father of Samuel Lafayette Reid. He was born in 1803 and died in
1855. He married Rachel Amanda Boyd (1812 - 1868) in 1830. She was the
daughter of Jane Simpson and John Boyd. George and Rachel had nine children,
Samuel Lafayette being the youngest, born when his mother was 40 and his father,
George, was 49. George is buried in Fishing Creek, SC* p. 160. Their children
were:
John Boyd Reid: 1831-1861, not married; served in Company A in the 6th South
Carolina Volunteers; died of a fever contracted at Fort Sumter. He served in the
Confederate Army with the 6th South Carolina Volunteers and was in the
bombardment of Fort Sumter.
Mary Jane Reid: 11 Sept 1838-23 May 1914, married Augustin Stultz (1828-1856),
three children: John Simpson Stultz, Susan James Stultz and Augustin Stultz.
Buried at Fishing Creek Presbyterian Church* p. 144.
Martha Ann Reid: 1837-1838, age 10 months, 24 days, buried at Fishing Creek * p. ?.
Thomas Simpson Reid: 1839 - 1862, unmarried, died at the Battle of Seven Pines and
buried on the battle field in Richmond VA. He volunteered immediately upon the
declaration of the War in 1861 at the age of 22 . He served in the 6th South
Carolina volunteers and also was in the bombardment of Fort Sumter at Charleston,
SC.
William Gregg Reid: 1842 - 1908, fought in the Confederate Army; married Mary
Isabelle Gill (1845-1924); prominent Rock Hill citizen.
George Washington Reid: 1844-?, married Mary Houston Spain (6 May1850-6 May
1880), an orphan. He settled down to planting near Fishing Creek, his boyhood
home. They had one daughter Eva Reid who married Ed Orr. Mary Spain is buried
at fishing Creek* p. 144.
Susan Amanda Reid: 1847-1936, married Thomas Jefferson Roach (1841-1916) in
1866 and had 11 children
James Ferdinand Reid: Mar 1850-16 Feb1925, married Helen Agnes Mills (1852-1920)
Samuel Lafayette Reid: 13 Sept 1852-10 Jan 1897, married Frances (Fannie) Elizabeth
Baskin (1851-1901)
* Early Records of Fishing Creek Presbyterian Church
W.G. Reid
1842-1908
William Gregg Reid, son of George and Rachel Amanda Boyd . He was born in 1842
on the “Old Reid Homestead” at Fishing Creek. He was one of nine children and the
older brother of Samuel Lafayette Reid, ten years his senior. In the summer of 1861,
when not yet 20 years old, he went to Rock Hill to enlist in the Confederate Army and
served until Lee’s surrender (Company H, 12th, Regiment of SC Volunteers, McGowan’s
Brigade of Infantry). He served under Jackson and Lee and fought most of the major
battles in Virginia. He was wounded twice. The second time, he was shot in the arm 12
days before the surrender of General Lee. He was promoted to the rank of Sergeant.
There is a family anecdote about W. G. Reid and a friend (Wherry) together on a
Confederate battlefield after a battle near the end of the war. Wherry remarked on the
carnage and threw down his rifle in disgust. The rifle discharged, killing Wherry. W. G.
Reid gathered his friend’s belongings and returned them to the family at the end of the
war. After the war he returned to the Reid Homestead, in Chester County near the York
County line. He opened a wagon, carriage, and farm implement repair and sales
business. This business proved successful and during its growth was reorganized and
increased in size several times. In 1866, Reid & Gill Co. conducted the business on
Main Street. Later in connection with that business, Reid & Stultz Co. started a furniture
store.
In 1869, he married Mary Isabelle Gill (“Belle”) of Chester County and they had ten
children, nine of whom survived. Mary Isabelle Gill was the oldest child of Louis
Harrison Gill and Elizabeth Jane Drennan. She was a cousin, as her mother was the
daughter of James Drennan and his Aunt Mary Ann Boyd.
Mr. Stultz moved to Gastonia, NC and in 1895 W. G. Reid’s firm was known as Reid &
Wroton - Vehicles and Furniture. The form then became W.G. Reid & Company and
grew to be the leading furniture business in the County which was also one of the
largest “business houses” at the time of his death. He lived in Rock Hill on the northeast
corner of the intersection of Hampton and East Moore Streets for 35 years.
When he died in 1908, after a “long siege of illness”, there were many tributes to his
“kind and genial disposition and his open hearted charity”. He was lauded for his honest
business dealings and cited as “a faithful husband and a kind and considerate father”.
His pallbearers included J.J. Roddey. His death is recorded in The Reid Family Bible,
which was in the possession of Mabel Stultz as of the 1930’s.
His children were:
William Harrison Reid: 1870-1872; born in York County,.
George Gill Reid: 1872-1918; born in York County; died in Rock Hill; unmarried.
John Edwin Reid: 1874-1930, born in Rock Hill, SC, married Mary Agnes Campbell in
1900. She was the daughter of Reverend James Boykin Campbell. He
succeeded his father in the business. Sons John Edwin Reid Jr. and James
Campbell Reid (graduate of Presbyterian College of SC.)
James Lafayette Reid: Born 1876 in Rock Hill, married Addy Carroll in 1900, moved to
West Virginia; son Harvey Lafayette Reid (1901-?); daughter Margaret Isabelle
Reid (1902-?).
Willie Belle Reid: Born 1878 in Rock Hill, married Walter H. Brice, a veteran of the
Spanish American War; remained in Rock Hill and died in 1925. Daughters
Margaret Isobel Brice; Virginia Brice. Sons William Reid Brice, Walter Harvey
Brice Jr.
Alva Reid (son): born 1880 in Rock Hill; lived in Goldsboro, NC.
Louis Simpson Reid: Born 1883 in Rock Hill, married Susan Mills (1886) in 1908, died in
Rock Hill in 1932; daughter Rebecca Reid (1909-?) married Dr. Samuel Brice
Fewell in 1934.
Augustin (Gus or Gussie) Eugene Reid: Born 1885 Rock Hill; unmarried.
Jane A. Reid: Born 1887 and lived in Rock Hill; married Jesse Logan McKee (18871949). Son Jesse McKee Jr.
Mary Hope Reid: Born 1890 in Rock Hill, married John Knox Neely. One son John Knox
Neely, II
James Ferdinand Reid
1850-1925
James Ferdinand Reid was born in Chester County in March 1850. He was the brother
of W.G. Reid and Samuel Lafayette Reid. When his father, George Reid died in 1855,
he was five years old. By 1861, his four older brothers had all enlisted in the
Confederate Army and he was left at home on the farm with his younger sister and
brother (Samuel L.) and their widowed mother. Shortly after the death of his mother in
1868, James came to Rock Hill at the age of eighteen and lived in the home of Edwin
Ruthvin Mills. His younger brother Samuel L. Reid came soon afterwards. James
began his business career with the general merchandise firm of Captain W. L. Roddey.
After a few years James and Samuel were both made members of the firm that became
W.L. Roddey & Company and later in a re-organization the Roddey Mercantile
Company.
In 1877, he was married to Helen Agnes Mills (1852-1920) by the Reverend R. E.
Cooper and Reverend J. L. Wilson in Rock Hill; Helen was the daughter of Captain
Edwin Ruthvin Mills and Mary Jane Crawford. He was a devoted member of the
Presbyterian Church which he became a member of in 1872. He was elected a deacon
in 1877 and an Elder in 1883 and remained one until his death in 16 Feb 1925.
Before the town of Rock Hill had a public water system built, James Reid and a neighbor
built a windmill and bored a well in James Reid’s back yard. They then piped water into
their homes and yards. He was a director of the Electric Company organized in 1890 to
serve the city. He was known as a man of cheerful disposition and to be full of energy.
He died after a long illness during which he continued his cheerful disposition despite
being physically incapacitated. He wrote the first history of the descendants of Jane
Simpson in 1895. His research papers were placed in the Rock Hill Public Library in
Rock Hill, SC.
James and Helen had seven children:
Edwin Mills Reid: Born 1878 and died 11 months later in 1879.
Helen (Nell) Simpson Mills: Born 1880; not married.
James Ferdinand Reid, Jr.: Born 1882, died at the age of 3 in 1885.
Mary (Mayme) Crawford Reid: Born 1884, died 1953, married Frederick Adair Dunlap,
Jr. and had three children: Frederick, Jr. , Helen Reid Dunlap, and Mary Bradley
Dunlap.
John Boyd Reid: Born 1897; graduated from Davidson College, Class of 1910;
unmarried, was a clerk in Rock Hill, became a member of the First Presbyterian Church
in Rock Hill in 1900 and an Elder in 1921. Owned and operated Reid Flower Shop on
Hampton Street with his niece Helen Reid Dunlap, the daughter of Mayme Crawford
Reid and Frederick Adair Dunlap.
Thomas Sumter Reid: Born 1890; unmarried, a bookkeeper in Rock Hill; graduate of
Davidson College, Class of 1910.
Florence Mills Reid: Born 1892; unmarried, graduated from Winthrop in 1912 and
became the principal of the Robbins School in Lexington, NC.
Samuel Lafayette Reid
1852-1897
Samuel L. Reid, born on September 13, 1852, on a farm about one mile east of Smith’s
Turnout and nine miles south of Rock Hill. He died January 10, 1897 The York Chester County line passed through the farm; the house was on the York County side of
the line. This is where he was raised. His father, George Reid died when S.L. Reid
was 3 years old. His mother died when he was 16.
S.L. Reid became a well-known sportsman and was considered the best nurse in Rock
Hill, SC when he died at the age of 55. He was largely a self-made man, the brother of
William Gregg Reid and James Ferdinand Reid.
Upon the death of his mother, he moved to Richburg, SC. In the fall of 1871, as a young
man, he entered into employment at the store of Whiteside & Marion of Chester County.
About two years later, in 1873, he went to Rock Hill SC to go to school with “Mr.
McCormick” and to work in the firm of Berber and Allen. While there, Captain W.L.
Roddey became interested in him and in 1874, employed him as a salesman. His
brother James also worked for W.L. Roddey at the time. He married Frances Elizabeth
(Fannie) Baskin in 1879 the cousin of Mrs. W.L. Roddey. At the time of their marriage,
Captain Roddey had just completed building a new home and sold his residence on
Main Street to the new couple. The new home built by Captain and Mrs. Roddey was on
East Main Street (where the Andrew Jackson building still stands.) S.L. and Fannie
remained living in the old home on Main Street for the rest of his life. He had been
reared in the Presbyterian faith but after his marriage became a devoted communicant of
the church to which his wife was a member, the Episcopal Church.
For over twenty years he continued with that firm, becoming a partner when it was
reorganized in 1880 as W.L. Roddey & Co. The partners were: W.L. Roddey, his
nephew, J. E. Roddey, Samuel L. Reid, and James F. Reid. Captain Roddey took only
an advisory interest in the operation of the firm: J. Ed. Roddey was responsible for the
accounting, James F. Reid the farm supply and grocery departments and Samuel Reid
had charge of the clothing, shoes, and dry goods sections of the store. Later, when the
Roddey Mercantile Company was organized, he was elected vice-president. He was
also a stockholder in a number of manufacturing enterprises in Rock Hill.
In those days merchants went “North” in early spring and early fall of each year to buy
goods. It became a part of Samuel Reid’s schedule to make many of these trips for the
firm. As a result of these trips to New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Baltimore,
Samuel Reid was able to see what was not generally available to other residents of
Upper South Carolina.
Samuel Reid brought to Rock Hill one of the first telephone lines in the state establishing
it between the Roddey Mercantile Company in Rock Hill where he worked and a branch
at Roddey’s Station or the “Three C’s Railroad”. Prior to the establishment of the phone
line, the only communication between the firm in Rock Hill and the branch was by horse
and buggy or wagon. Samuel Reid had seen a telephone demonstrated in New York
and thinking such an instrument would facilitate communication between the two stores ,
he purchased two telephones for the firm. A single Iron wire was erected between the
two store with the telephones installed at each end. Simple batteries operated these
telephones. The installation proved successful and two other phones were added to the
lines. Later he built another private telephone line for a wealthy landowner.
He was known to be by nature kind and affectionate, gentle and generous, with a happy,
sunny disposition. He was truthful and straightforward in his business dealings. He
possessed social qualities rarely found in a man, and was always in demand for
weddings and always offered to help in times of sickness and distress. He was active in
the Episcopal Church and one of the 35 communicants at the Church of Our Savior in
Rock Hill.
He died January 10, 1897, at the age of 44, after contracting pneumonia by hunting all
day Christmas Day, staying up until a late hour at the bedside of a friend and then
spending the next day hunting when he contracted a severe cold. It turned into
pneumonia and after two weeks he died at 8:40 p.m. “as peacefully as a sleeping
infant”.
His children were: Scotia, Cecil, Roddey, a baby named Samuel L. Jr., who died in
infancy, and Samuel L. III. and Rembert Barrett, an adopted son.
Scotia Bryce Reid (Monroe)
Scotia Bryce was born October 21, 1880 and married on June 14, 1921 to John Gardner
Monroe (b. 1874). She was the daughter of Samuel Lafayette Reid and Frances Baskin
Reid and the sister of Roddey, Cecil, and S.L. Reid III.
She met John Monroe after having moved to Glasgow, VA to teach school. Her brother,
Cecil L. Reid, a renowned civil engineer, had been building a dam near Glasgow when
they suddenly lost the teacher for their one room school. They were unable to find a
replacement teacher and Cecil prevailed upon his sister, Scotia, to come teach. She did
and met and married a local farmer, John Monroe. He was the son of James Allen
Monroe and Lucy Wright.
They were childless (they had a baby that was stillborn) and regularly had her two
nephews and three nieces, all first cousins to visit for the summer: Roddey Reid Jr. and
Samuel L. III were the two nephews and Betty (second daughter of Cecil), were the most
regular visitors. Samuel would come up to Rock Hill from Columbia and then Roddey
Reid Sr. would take Roddey Jr. and Sam to Charlotte to take the train to Lynchburg, VA.
There, Scotia and her husband John would meet them I the Model A Ford. Scotia died
of cancer April 7, 1937 and John Gardner Monroe died seven months later on November
14, 1937.
Cecil Latta Reid
Cecil Latta Reid: born 1882, married Martha Caroline Gibson (1883) on December 19,
1906 in Newberry, SC. They had two daughters Caroline and Betty (Elizabeth). Cecil
was a well-known civil engineer and was devoted to Clemson. Caroline married James
Attaway and they had three children: Scotia, Reid, and James Jr.
Samuel Lafayette Reid Jr. 1884-1885
Samuel L. Reid, Jr.: born in November 5, 1884 and died in infancy February 8th, 1885.
He is buried at Laurelwood Cemetery in Rock Hill, SC
Samuel Lafayette Reid III Born April 19, 1894, died February 25, 1924. He married
Frances Elizabeth Leathers on December 29, 1915 in Charleston, SC and they had two
children Margaret Alexa (b. December 13, 1916) and Samuel L. IV (b. July 20, 1920).
Samuel L. IV married Frances Johnson Cardo on July 26, 1941 in Charlotte, NC and
they had four girls: Frances Diane (1943 in Charlotte), Patricia Leathers (1948 in
Peiping, china), Catherine Johnson Reid (1951 in Fort Belvoir, VA) and Julia Cardo Reid
(1953 in Fort Belvoir, VA). Margaret Alexa Reid married Alexander Hume Lucas, Jr. on
December 23, 1940 in Charleston. They had three children Margaret Elizabeth Lucas,
Nancy Bryce Lucas and Alexander Hume Lucas, III
Roddey Reid
1888-1974
Roddey Reid was born in Rock Hill SC on October 21, 1888. His father died in 1897
when Roddey was 6 years old. At the age of 13 his mother died of tuberculosis. He was
passed among relatives and also may have gone to live with his older brother, Cecil and
his wife, for a few years. He was enrolled in the Catawba School, a military boarding
school that stood where Winthrop Training School stands today at the age of 16. Shortly
thereafter, Roddey was diagnosed with TB. He went to Saratoga Springs NY to regain
his health. After two years it was decided that he did not have TB and he returned to
Rock Hill. In 1906, at the age of 18, he became entitled to his inheritance $1000 worth
of stock in the Roddey Mercantile Company and was on his own. Fascinated by the new
automobile, he went to Detroit to learn about cars and worked on an assembly line.
Once he learned the business he resigned and dressed in a suit returned to meet with
the general manager to ask about a dealership for Rock Hill. Though he never opened a
dealership, Roddey Reid started Reid Oil and Supply, an oil, gasoline, and automobile
parts supply company, and was very successful.
He married Elizabeth Carlisle Lemmond (known as Bess or Bessie) on December 31,
1911 in Rock Hill. She was from Lancaster, SC. Bess was the daughter of W.D.
Lemmond and Sallie Mayer of Lancaster.
He had two children Frances, born in 1916 and died at three days (probably a
succumbed to the birth defect, spina bifada) and Roddey Jr., born in 1918. Roddey Sr.
was a member of the Elks and was a prominent member of the Rock Hill community.
The family did well through the Great Depression because people still needed to buy
parts and gasoline for their cars. In the early 1930s, Roddey and Bess built a lovely
home on Myrtle Drive, now 934, owned by cousins, Dr. Frank and Sarah Strait, on the
edge of town. It was a large three bedroom, three bathroom home with a sweeping
staircase in a large entry hall. He was a loyal Oldsmobile owner and always drove a
black “98” and his wife an “88”.
Almost every single day he dressed in his suit and tie.
He was a kind man. Although he had only one child, he loved little children and was well
known in the community for always having chewing gum in his pocket. He would hand
out a stick of gum to each child after church. He also was a thoughtful and adoring
grandfather. He told the grandchildren that they had the sugar on the back of their
necks and that he needed to kiss them on the back of their necks to get it. When he
would send his son Roddey, Jr. the local Rock Hill weekly paper, he would enclose a
Tarzan comic book for the grandchildren.
Roddey Sr. was also a generous man and gave the large stained glass window at the
rear of the Church of Our Savior in Rock Hill. The window is, of course, a depiction of
Jesus with the little children.
He was interested in hunting and in the 1950’s was injured when hunting with a group of
friends. A young man, a member of the hunting party did not have his gun on safety.
While sitting on a log, he jumped up, the gun discharged hitting Roddey Reid in the wrist.
Roddey was left with several paralyzed fingers and very little use of his hand. He was
generous with his wealth and funded a small chapel at a camp for young black boys. He
would visit each camp session and bring a paper bag with packets of Juicy Fruit Gum.
Each child would reach in and pull out a pack of gum. One of the packages would have
been sliced open at the bottom and had a stick of gum removed and replaced with a
dollar bill. The lucky recipient would think he was opening a new pack of gum and that
the dollar was somehow magically put in at the factory.
In 1961 he and Bess celebrated their 5oth Wedding Anniversary.
Roddey died quietly, dressed in his suit and tie, as he lay down to rest, saying he was
very tired, one morning after breakfast, in Rock Hill, SC on January 6th 1974 at the age
of 85.
Roddey Reid, Jr.
1918-2010
Roddey Reid was born to Bess Lemmond Reid and Roddey Reid Sr. on November 2,
1918 in Rock Hill, SC. He was baptized in Rock Hill at the Church of Our Savior on May
18th, 1919. He was sickly as a young baby and he and his mother went to Saluda NC to
Dr. Smith’s clinic for two summers. His cousin Betty Reid was also brought there for the
same reason. As a child he attended the Winthrop Training School in Rock Hill. After
graduating from high school there, he enrolled at the Citadel. He found military school
too constraining and transferred to Duke University where he graduated in 1939 with a
degree in business administration. He entered his father’s business but was not happy
and after spending a summer with Episcopalian nuns helping miners’ families in the hills
of Virginia, he felt the call to the priesthood. He entered the University of the South in
Sewanee Tennessee in the fall of 1941.
He was married on December 20, 1941 to Susan Caroline Breedlove at the Duke
University Chapel in Durham, NC. He completed his religious training at Sewanee and
was ordained in 1944. He served as Rector of Grace Church in Anderson SC , first as a
Deacon from 1944 to 1945 and then as a minister from 1945 to 1948. Roddey Reid
inspired the parishioners in Anderson to build a parish house. Although completed after
he left. He also organized a national order of crucifers and altar boys while at Grace
Church.
He then went to Knoxville Tennessee and served as the Assistant Rector of St. John’s
Episcopal Church from 1948 to 1951 under William S. Lea and then went to be the
Rector of Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Bristol VA from 1951 to 1957. In 1957, he and
his family left the south and went to Wilmington DE where he served as the Rector of
Immanuel Episcopal Church on 17th Street from 1957 to 1970. Here he also worked with
his Parishioners to build a new Parish House that was completed in 1960. His father,
Roddey Reid Sr., donated a large stained glass window at the back of the church. The
window depicts Jesus with the little children, designed by the artist, Frank Schoonover.
Roddey Reid Sr. was very fond of little children and handed out sticks of Juicy Fruit gum
after the service each Sunday at The Church of Our Savior in Rock Hill, SC.
He left the role of parish rector and joined the National Office of the Episcopal Church at
815 Second Avenue, New York City in 1970 as head of The Clergy Deployment Office.
He and his wife Caroline moved to Bronxville, NY. He remained there until his
retirement in 1983 when he accepted an opportunity to study at the Berkeley Divinity
School at Yale in New Haven. He was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Divinity from
Berkley. He retired for the second time in 1988. They were about to celebrate their 50th
wedding anniversary with a big party when Caroline’s breast cancer returned the week
before. He moved with his wife Caroline to Naples FL in 1992 when her health was
failing. Caroline died February 19, 1995 of breast cancer. In April 1996, he married
Debbie Sprague Hoffman of Naples formerly of Wellesley MA. They celebrated their 10th
wedding anniversary in 2006.
Roddey Reid died at the age of 91 in Naples, FL September 14, 2010. He will be buried
at Laurelwood March 26, 2011 in the Reid Family Plot.
Roddey is the great grandson of Andrew George Baskin, and the great, great grandson
of James Baskin, and the great , great, great grandson of Andrew Baskin.
He is the great, great, grandson of George Reid.
He is the great, great, great grandson of William Bryce.