Obituary of James D. Reid

OBITUARY.

James D. Reid.

James Douglas Reid, the "Grand Old Man" of the telegraph, died at his home in New York on Sunday, April 28th. He had been ill for many weeks. Mr. Reid was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, March 22, 1819, and in 1834 came to America, locating in Toronto, Canada. In 1837 he went to Rochester. N. Y., and entered the employment of Henry O'Reilly. In 1845, when Mr. O'Reilly completed his contract with the Morse patentees for the construction of western telegraph lines, he selected Mr. Reid as his first assistant. In August, 1845, Mr. Reid took charge of the initial telegraph line between Lancaster and Harrisburg, Pa. He soon afterward became acquainted with Samuel F. B. Morse. A strong mutual attachment followed, which led to Mr. Reid's appointment as superintendent of the Magnetic Telegraph company, extending from New York to Washington. In addition, he was made superintendent of the Atlantic and Ohio Telegraph company, under which name the first line from Philadelphia to Pittsburg was operated. The latter company was so successful from the start and paid such good dividends that Mr. Reid was appointed successively superintendent of the Lake Erie, Pittsburg and Louisville, the Ohio and Mississippi, and finally of the telegraph lines to New Orleans, and all known and for some time working together as the "National Lines." As far as data can be found, it seems conclusive that Mr. Reid was the first duly appointed telegraph superintendent in either America or Europe.

James D. Reid

In 1856 Mr. Reid was appointed superintendent of the New York, Albany and Buffalo Telegraph company, which, soon after, through negotiations of Mr. Reid, became a part of the Western Union telegraph system. In 1865 the United States Telegraph company was organized, with William Orton as president and James D. Reid as secretary, but only to be absorbed a year or two later by the Western Union Telegraph company, into whose service Mr. Reid again entered, and, at Mr. Orton's request, became editor of the Journal of the Telegraph. One of the first uses he made of his new position was to organize the Telegraphers' Mutual Benefit association—now a prosperous life-insurance association—for the benefit of telegraphers. Mr. Reid was the first president of this association.

It was in 1877 that Mr. Reid published his first edition of "The Telegraph in America," and the second edition made its appearance Io years later. This book is a very complete history of the telegraph from its birth, and deals with the subject very thoroughly. On October 16, 1889, through the influence of Andrew Carnegie, who served under him for some time as a messenger boy, Mr. Reid was appointed, by President Harrison, consul at Dunfermline, Scotland, which office he retained until 1897. Mr. Reid had for years been a prominent figure at conventions and other places where persons interested in telegraphy have congregated. The statue of Professor Morse in Central Park, New York, was erected by the telegraph fraternity through the efforts of Mr. Reid. To quote the language of a well-known writer on telegraphic subjects : "Mr. Reid was the most beloved member of the telegraphic profession; his gentle and kind attributes endeared him to all, and as the 'Grand Old Man' of the telegraph his name will ever be associated with the telegraph itself."