BIO: Alexander F. REID, Beaver County, PA Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Judy Banja & Joe Patterson Copyright 2005. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/beaver.html http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/beaver/bios/bbios.htm Index for this bio book. _________________________________________________________________ BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES. This Volume Contains Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Beaver County, Pennsylvania. Buffalo, N.Y., Chicago, Ill.: Biographical Publishing Company, 1899, pp. 218-220. _________________________________________________________________ ALEXANDER F. REID, a very prominent merchant of Beaver county, has an excellent store at New Galilee, carrying a complete line of groceries, hardware, boots and shoes, hats and caps, household furnishings, drugs, agricultural implements, and, in fact, almost any article for which there is a demand. He is a man of enterprise, and his continued efforts to accommodate the citizens of the borough, and the courtesy which he extends to his patrons, have won for him public favor. He is a native of Ireland, having been born in Belfast, November 15, 1838, and is a son of William and Maria (Findlay) Reid. William Reid, the father of Alexander F., was born in Belfast, Ireland, in 1797, and there he received his intellectual training and adopted the occupation of a farmer, which he followed throughout his life. He was joined in the holy bonds of matrimony with Maria BEAVER COUNTY 219 Findlay, a daughter of William Findlay, of Scotch-Irish ancestry, and they reared the following children: Eliza (Reed) deceased; John, whose business was that of a linen shipper; William, who is living a retired life in Pittsburg; Jane (Little), deceased; Anna (Williams); Maria, deceased; Alexander F., the gentleman whose name heads these lines; Charles, who has charge of a department in a linen manufacturing establishment; and Russell, whose death occurred at the early age of ten years. Religiously, Mr. Reid was a Presbyterian. He was called into the unknown world, in 1857, at the age of sixty years. Alexander F. Reid, after completing his mental training in the public schools of Ireland, served a four years' apprenticeship in a grocery and hardware store. In the year of 1863, he came to America and landed in New York City; but a short time thereafter, he removed to Pittsburg. He subsequently worked in Sharpsburg about two years, and in 1870 located in New Galilee, Beaver county, Pa., where he engaged in business for himself, - renting a place for about eight years. In 1878, he built his present store, a two-story building, with dimensions of 80x24 feet, in addition to which there is a warehouse and a basement. In this he conducted his store in a very successful manner until 1883. His wife's health having failed in that year, Mr. Reid removed with his family to California, and remained there two years, during which time he became a competent druggist and conducted a drug store. Upon returning to New Galilee, in 1885, he resumed business in his former location, and has since conducted one of the neatest and best arranged stores in that section. Being a man of exceptional business qualifications, and having had wide experience in his business, he realizes the wants of his customers and satisfies them in every way consistent with his own interests. He is a stockholder in the Rochester National Bank. He has the respect of his fellow-citizens to a high degree, and they are proud to acknowledge themselves his friends. In 1865, at Sharpsburg, Alexander F. Reid was united in marriage with Mary E. Henry, a daughter of Wilson and Eliza (Garvin) Henry, and a granddaughter of William Henry. William Henry was born in Ireland, and when a child, came to this country with his parents, where they bought a tract of land in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania. They cleared this land of its timber, and erected log houses and barns. William acquired property of his own, engaged in lumbering and also worked on the river. He followed that and farming all of his life. He married Miss Borland and they reared five children, of whom Wilson was the second. Wilson Henry, the father of Mrs. Reid, attended the schools of Westmoreland county, Pa., and during his youthful days worked in the mines and on the river. He rented a farm near Sharpsburg for some years, and then bought one of two hundred acres, in 1863. He moved upon it in 1870, and was extensively engaged in dairying, fruit growing and general farming, which he continued throughout his active life, and became a very prosperous man. He was 220 BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES a Republican in politics. Religiously, he was a Presbyterian, and was ruling elder for a number of years. Mr. Henry married Eliza Garvin, a daughter of Joseph Garvin, and they reared eleven children, as follows: Samuel, an insurance agent at Beaver; Joseph G. (deceased), a railroad agent all of his life; William (deceased), a farmer and missionary of West Virginia; Sarah J. (Hodil); Mary E., the wife of the subject hereof; Rev. Benjamin C., D. D., who was graduated at Washington and Jefferson College, and received the degree of D. D. from Princeton University, and who has been a missionary to China for twenty-five years, - returning home but twice; Nancy G. (Wetzig); Eleanor (Brown); Wilson, a fruit grower in California; James S., a journalist in Washington, D. C.; and Anna M., who is now living at home. Mrs. Reid was born at Turtle Creek, Pa., attended the schools of Sharpsburg, and was a pupil of Sharpsburg Academy. She was married in 1865, and they reared eight children, as follows: Anna M.; Jane E.; William H.; Charles W.; Agnes Eleanor; Alexander R.; James McArthur; and Benjamin Clair. Anna M. (Schueler) was born September 12, 1866, graduated at Geneva College, and finished her education in a private institution in California, under Prof. Conklin. Jane E., born January 29, 1869, attended the public schools and also completed her intellectual training under Prof. Conklin; she married a Mr. Miller. William H. was born April 1, 1871, and died in February, 1877. Charles W. was born August 13, 1874, and died February 9, 1877. Agnes Eleanor was born June 10, 1876, attended the public schools, and then took a course in Slippery Rock Normal School, from which she was graduated, in 1895. She then taught for two years in the borough schools, and entered the School of Designing, where she had the honor of winning the class medal, - a high testimonial to her skill and talent. In 1896, she was obliged to give up her studies on account of ill-health. Alexander R. was born July 19, 1878, and is studying medicine, being a member of the graduating class of 1901. James McArthur was born May 20, 1881, and is a student in the preparatory department of Geneva College. Benjamin Clair was born October 16, 1884, and is attending the public schools. The subject of this biography is a devout Presbyterian, and is very active in church work, having been a ruling elder since 1883. He is a trustee of the church. Politically, he is a Republican.