Daniel Grey Reid’s Birthday - August 1, 1858
On this day in 1858, Daniel Gray Reid was born to Daniel and Ann Gray Reid. Since the church that now is home to The Reid Center was built to memorialize D.G. Reid’s parents, now is a good time to explore their lives.
Daniel Reid (there is never any mention of a middle name) was born in 1799 in Rockbridge County, Virginia. He married Letitia Scott and moved west with his extended family, settling first in New Paris, OH, where he taught school. Two years later, he moved to Richmond and became a leader in the fledgling town. He worked as a clerk in a store owned by Robert Morrisson, and when Morrisson, who was Richmond's first Postmaster, resigned, Reid was appointed in his place. In the early 1830s he is listed as one of the trustees of the town of Richmond, and for a time was the president of the board.
Daniel Reid, father of Daniel Gray Reid
In 1838, President Van Buren appointed Reid as Register of the Land Office in Fort Wayne, and Reid moved his whole family to Allen County. He and Letitia had seven children William S., who was a prominent merchant and pioneer in the pork-packing industry, Mary Ann, who married a lawyer and remained in Fort Wayne, James P., and Robert M, who moved to California in 1852, and three daughters that died very young. Letitia died in 1854, and in 1856 Reid married Ann Gray Dougan.
Ann Gray Reid, mother of Daniel G. Reid
Born in County Monaghan, Ireland, Ann Gray came to America as an infant when her parents, Isaac and Martha Gray immigrated. They stopped in Rockbridge County, Virginia before heading west, first in Richmond, Indiana for a couple of years before moving north to Niles, Michigan. Ann Gray married William Dougan in January 1835, and they had six children; Isaac G. who later was a fireman in Richmond, Dr. William Dougan, a physician who moved back to Niles, Michigan, George B, an insurance salesman in Richmond, Dr. David Dougan, a physician who moved to the Denver area, John B. Dougan, a Richmond banker, and Martha, who married Richmond bottler, I T Fossler. William died in a cholera outbreak in 1849.
It's not recorded how they met, but Daniel and Ann had ties to both Rockbridge County, VA and Richmond, so even though Ann was in Michigan and Daniel was in Fort Wayne, they were acquainted. Their union produced two children, Daniel Gray Reid and Virginia Reid.
After the wedding, the couple returned to Richmond and Daniel bought a farm west of Richmond, on the north side of the National Road, near what is now Earlham Cemetery. The Reid children were old enough to be on their own, but the Dougan children lived on the farm. The 1860 census lists the six Dougan children, ranging in age from Isaac at 22 years to Martha at 10. Interestingly, there is also a one-year-old female listed as Fanny Reid. This can only be a miscommunication -- Danny Reid would have been less than two years old when the census taker visited and was young enough to have been mistaken for a girl. Perhaps when asked a member of the family said, "Danny" but the enumerator heard "Fanny".
“Fanny Reid”, believed to have been mistaken for “Danny Reid” in the 1860 Census.
John B. Dougan, half-brother of Daniel G. Reid
The two younger Dougans would have been in the household through much of Daniel Gray's life, and he seems to have been especially close to his half brother, John.
As a wealthy adult, Daniel Gray often stayed at John's house on North Tenth Street. (That house is now known as the William G. Scott House, home of Richmond Columbian Properties).
In 1906, when the Reid Memorial Church was dedicated, and Daniel was still in Europe and unable to attend, it was John Dougan who acted in his place to formally present the gift of the church to the congregation.
