Daniel G. Reid Laid to Rest in Richmond, Indiana

Tuesday, January 20, 1925 was a somber one in Richmond.  That morning at 8:45, hundreds of mourners appeared at the Pennsylvania Railroad Station, where the body of Daniel Gray Reid arrived in his private rail car.  Reid had been in poor health on and off for several years, but on January 15, newspapers reported that he was stricken with pneumonia, and by January 17, he had succumbed.   His New York associates conducted a funeral in his Fifth Avenue apartment on the 19th before sending the body back to Indiana.  

Accompanying the bronze casket were his daughter, Mrs. Rhea Reid Topping, and her husband, Henry Topping, along with several other dignitaries and personal friends.  The body was transported to Reid Memorial Presbyterian Church for the funeral service to be held at 9:30.  All of Richmond's banks closed during the service.  

Hundreds Attend Funeral Service for Daniel Gray Reid - from “The Richmond Item”, January 21, 1925

Daniel Reid was born in Richmond, Indiana in 1858, and even though he went on to fame and fortune as an industrialist, railroad magnate, and Wall Street speculator, he was very much a Richmond boy at heart.  He gave innumerable large and small gifts to Wayne County organizations, but the greatest gift was the magnificent church where his funeral was held.  Dedicated in 1906 to the memory of his parents, it was a work of art, decorated throughout its interior by famed Tiffany Studios, and it boasted a state-of-the-art pipe organ, created by the Hook and Hastings Company of Boston.  

On this day, though, the church was draped in black with a large funeral wreath near the entrance on North 11th Street.  The local commandery of the Knights Templar, of which Reid was a member, were gathered in full uniform to escort the casket from the station to the church.  It was estimated that more than 1,500 Richmond residents viewed the body prior to the service.  

Rev. McLean Work, pastor of Reid Memorial Church, gave a short sermon, basing it on the scripture of Matthew 6:21 -- "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."  He acknowledged Reid's widespread generosity to Richmond, but focused on four gifts, which he linked to Christianity -- the church they were gathered in, the Reid Memorial Hospital, the Young Men's Christian Association building, and his gifts to Earlham College.  

Reid Mausoleum in Earlham Cemetery, Richmond, Indiana

After the service, the family accompanied the body to the Reid Mausoleum in Earlham Cemetery.  The mausoleum was constructed in 1904 after the death of Reid's second wife, Clairesse.  Once complete, the rest of Reid's immediate family were moved from their resting places and reinterred in the mausoleum.  These included both his parents, his first wife, Ella, young son, Frank, and sister, Virginia.  Daniel Gray Reid was the last person interred.   

Reid Mausoleum in Earlham Cemetery, Richmond, Indiana