Biographical Sketch of Alfred P. REID (1893); Chester County, PA Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by John Morris . *********************************************************************** USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: Printing this file within by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter information is included. Any other use, including copying files to other sites requires permission from the submitters PRIOR to uploading to any other sites. We encourage links to the state and county table of contents. http://www.usgwarchives.net/ *********************************************************************** Source: "Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Chester County, Pennsylvania, comprising a historical sketch of the county," by Samuel T. Wiley and edited by Winfield Scott Garner, Gresham Publishing Company, Philadelphia, PA, 1893, pp. 211-2. "ALFRED P. REID, a prominent member of the West Chester bar, who is closely identified with the financial, insurance and educational affairs of the county, and who has had a large influence in establishing several of the most important and leading banks of southeastern Pennsylvania, is a son of James and Hannah (McCaughey) Reid, and was born on a farm in Highland township, Chester county, Pennsylvania, September 3, 1842. He is of Scotch-Irish lineage, and his pater- nal grandfather, Adam Reid, came from the north of Ireland to Philadelphia, where he kept a grocery store for many years. He was a Presbyterian in reli- gious faith, like nearly all of the sturdy and energetic race from which he was descended. James Reid was born in Philadelphia, and removed to Highland township, this county, where he served as a school director, and held various other local offices. He married Hannah McCaughey, a daughter of Nathaniel McCaughey, who was a farmer, came, in 1797, from Londonderry, Ireland, and settled in West Sadsbury township, where he married Jeannette Stewart, a grand- daughter of Walter and Margaret (Andrew) Stewart, residents of Chester county as early as 1720. "Alfred P. Reid grew to manhood on the farm, and attended the district schools. He was prepared for college in Parkesburg, Coatesville and West Chester acade- mies, and then entered Lafayette college, from which well known institution of learning he was graduated in the class of 1864. He then read law with Judge Futhey, of West Chester, was admitted to the bar on August 14, 1866, and has been engaged ever since in the successful practice of his profession in West Chester. His practice is second to none in the county, and is surpassed by few in the eastern part of the State. "On June 15, 1870, Mr. Reid was united in marriage with Emma Bowman, a grand- daughter of John Comly, the author of the celebrated Comly spelling book that was so remarkably popular in its day in Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Reid have three children, one son and two daughters: Arthur P., Edith C., and Laura B. "Mr. Reid is a republican in politics, and a member and elder of Westminster Presbyterian church of West Chester. As a lawyer he practices in his own and adjoining counties, and thus comes in contact with some of the ablest lawyers of Pennsylvania. While prominent, active and progressive in his profession, he finds time to devote considerable attention to educational and business affairs. He is president of the board of trustees of the West Chester State Normal school and the Penn Mutual Fire Insurance Company, which was incor- porated in 1867, and now operates in this and adjoining counties. He owns considerable real estate in the county. Alfred P. Reid's chief line of busi- ness has been banking, in whose development in southeastern Pennsylvania he has been a potent factor. He has attained to distinction as a financier of ability and correct business methods. From being a stockholder and director in several banking institutions, his advice and counsels in difficult financial transactions were so judicious and well-timed to the directors of the banks with which he was then connected, that in recognition of his special fitness and unusual ability for the management of banking operations, he became vice- president and president of several of those banks. He is now serving as vice- president of the First National bank of West Chester, and president of the Dime and Saving bank of West Chester, which he was instrumental in organizing and having incorporated in 1890, under the general banking laws of Pennsyl- vania. The Dime and Savings bank is purely a benevolent organization for the benefit of thousands whose small savings at the end of the week would not be acceptable as deposits at most of the banks. This bank has branches at Phoenixville and other important towns in this section of the State, and has about $30,000 of deposits. It loans its money on real estate, and is in a very prosperous condition. Mr. Reid, in bank management, is conservative and progressive, and while neglecting no point of efficiency demanded by modern commercial practice, yet at the same time carefully guards the interests of the depositors, by scrupulously protecting them against any possibility of risk. "He has also made it a point that the banks with which he is connected are provided with every facility to meet the legitimate necessities of the communi- ties in which they are situated. By ability, by energy, by perseverance and integrity, Mr. Reid has carved out for himself a successful, distinguished and enviable career."