IRVIN REED’S OBITUARY, APRIL 25, 1891
Irvin Reed died at 9:30 o’clock this morning, from sheer exhaustion of vital forces, and when his lamp went out there was ended the long career of one of Richmond’s oldest citizens, who, during her transition from a hamlet to a city, was identified with most of those enterprises that mark the strides in her prosperity.
He possessed those elements of success that gained for himself a sufficiency of this world’s goods, and made him prominent as a public spirited citizen. Of later years he has been, in a manner, retired from active business, leaving that to his sons, one after the other, until Frank is the only one at home. But he was generally found at the store, and seemingly never lost interest in either private or public affairs. Recently he had to be helped on his way to and fro, between his residence and the store, but he insisted on going until a week ago to-day.
1865 Advertisment; Irvin Reed & Sons
Irvin Reed’s building was located at the SW corner of 7th & Main Streets (current location of Phillip’s Drugstore).
The Irvin Reed & Son building is shown in the middle left of this 1920s era photo
Kroger occupied this building in the 1940s. Note the 3rd floor is missing in this photo. Most likely from the result of a fire.
Since then he has been confined to the house, but not to his bed, entirely, until since Wednesday. Then he was up for the last time, and he said that he would rather die than make the effort again. Last night, however, he said he was feeling better, and up to within a quarter of an hour of his demise he talked to his son, Frank, of business and ” mother,” saying he wanted Frank to look after her, and he guessed all else was all right. Then, conscious of the fact that the final hour was near, he resigned himself to the short wait for the dark messenger’s coming, and answered the summons without a struggle.
The deceased was eighty-one years of age, having been born at Zanesville, Ohio, January 9, 1810. While yet a very young man, in 1832, he came to Richmond, and was a charter member of the town council, as well as the pioneer druggist, he and Charley Sturgess embarking in the business that year. Within about a year, however, Sturgess left, and then his brother, the late General Hugh B. Reed, (1818-1890) of New Jersey, came here and clerked for him, as did the late J. J. Jordan, L. H. McCullough and William Schwartz.
Two years later, December 18, 1834, he was married to Mary Evans, daughter of Edmund and Elizabeth Evans, who survives him. His health failing, he sold his drug store, late in the forties, and embarked in the hardware business, while he was also in the saddlery business, temporarily, before he went to Cincinnati, in 1853, to engage in the wholesale drug business, the firm being Irvin Reed & Co., Nos. 16 and 18 Main street.
In 1857 he returned to Richmond and embarked in the hardware business, E. H. Swayne (Elias; 1828-1907) being a partner for some time, and he has been in it ever since, in his present location, for about twenty-five years. During this latter period he lived on what had been his father-in-law’s farm, which he got in a trade with Edward Potts ” where John Fihe lives, part of it being now within the city limits, (near Hibberd School) the house being No. 1413 South I street ” but about the close of the war he bought and removed to his late residence, southwest corner North Eighth and A streets.
The SW corner of North 8th & A Streets, Richmond; (former location of the Richmond YMCA.) According to Irvin Reed’s 1891 obituary, his home was situated on this corner. The YMCA building was erected c: 1908. (His neighbor to the south was John Milton Gaar).
No arrangements for the funeral will be made until a response is heard from the children. Of ten children, six survive him ” Arthur, of Paducah, Kentucky; Albert, of Baltimore; Charley, of San Francisco ; Horace, of Portland, Oregon; Hugh, of Chicago, (*see below for more information regarding Col. Hugh T. & Frank Reed) and Frank, of this city.
By request of Mrs. Reed, the friends will send no flowers.
April 25, 1891.
Sketch Source; Poems & Sketches; George P. Emswiler; 1897
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Frank Irvin Reed (1854 ~ 1933)
Frank Irvin Reed. Of the firm Irvin Reed & Son, dealers in hardware, implements and automobiles, Frank Irvin Reed is a merchant of long and varied business activities and experience. His father was one of the first merchants of Richmond, and sixty-five years ago established a hardware business in that city, which through his son has been continued to the present time. The business is still known as Irvin Reed & Son and is the largest house of its kind in eastern Indiana.
Frank Irvin Reed was born in 1854, son of Irvin and Mary (Evens) Reed. He represents an old American family of English, Scotch and Irish origin. His father was about twenty-one years old when he came to Richmond in 1831 and established the first drug store in what was then the largest town in the state. As the pioneer druggist his methods of doing business were in great contrast to those of the present time. He went around on horseback with his saddle bags, visiting such cities as Indianapolis, Fort Wayne and many smaller towns, and took orders for drugs, which he filled in his laboratory at Richmond. He continued in the drug business until 1854, when he removed to Cincinnati and established a wholesale drug house. That was a very successful enterprise, but eventually he returned to Richmond and on account of failing health sold out his business. In 1857 he started a hardware store on Main Street between Fifth and Sixth streets. In 1865 the business was removed to where it is today, in a three-story and basement building.
In 1834 Irvin Reed married at Richmond Mary Evens, and their son Frank I. (Irvin) is the youngest of nine brothers and two sisters. His father died in 1891, at the age of eighty-one, and his mother in 1898, aged eighty-six.
Frank Irvin Reed grew up in Richmond, attended the public schools and Richmond Business College, and even as a boy was associated with his father in business. He became an active factor in the management in 1876, at which time the firm used only one floor, but today all three floors and basement are crowded with the stock handled by this firm. The business employs many people, and the trade is extended over the city and surrounding country for a radius of thirty-five miles. Mr. Reed is now the sole proprietor.
In 1892 Mr. Reed married Miss Tessa Irene Cooper, daughter of H. B. Cooper of Richmond. Mr. Reed is affiliated with the Masonic bodies including the Knights Templar, and politically is a republican. His father was a subscriber in 1831 to the Richmond Palladium, and Mr. Reed is still on the subscription list, the paper having come regularly into the Reed household for nearly ninety years. (Frank died in 1933 and is buried at Earlham Cemetery)
Frank Irvin Reed Sketch; Source; Indiana and Indianans; Vol. 4; Jacob Piatt Dunn; 1919
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The Irvin Reed monument at Earlham Cemetery
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Col. Hugh T. Reed
Colonel Hugh T. Reed, Soldier, Writer, Inventor ~ 1850-1934
Hugh T. Reed, a son of Irvin Reed, was appointed to West Point by George W. Julian, a U.S. Congressman at the time, from Centerville, Indiana. He arrived at West Point on June 8, 1869, and graduated with the class of 1873. In 1896, he wrote a book about his experiences and the procedures and customs he encountered while at West Point. Below is a snippet from this book; Cadet Life At West Point. After a long distinguished career, Hugh T. Reed died in Massachusetts, (November, 1934) at the age of 84.
CADET LIFE AT WEST POINT
“I WAS not more than eight years old when I first heard about West Point, and then I was told that it was Uncle Sam’s Military School; that the young men there were called cadets; that they were soldiers, and that they wore pretty uniforms with brass buttons on them. The impression made upon me at the time was such that I never tired talking and asking questions about West Point. I soon learned to indicate the site on the map, and I longed to go there, that I might be a cadet and wear brass buttons.
I talked about it so much that my good mother made me a coat generous with brass buttons. I called it my cadet coat, and wore it constantly. Ah! for the day I should be a big boy and be a real cadet. With a wooden gun I played soldier, and when the war broke out and the soldiers camped in our old fair grounds, I was in their camp at every opportunity. The camp was about half-way between our home farm and father’s store in town, (the soldier’s camp was located close to the area of the fire station at South 9th & E Streets) and many is the time I have been scolded for being so much at the camp. My only regret at that time was that I was not old enough to enlist, for I loved to watch the drills and linger around the camp-fires, listening to stories of the war.
I learned a good deal from the soldiers about West Point. They told me that I could not go there until I was seventeen years old, and not then unless I was appointed as a cadet by my congressman. They also told me that I must be a good boy at school and study hard, for the reason that after securing the appointment I would have to pass a rigid examination at West Point before admission. This was bad news to me, because we farm boys never attended school longer than four or five months in a year. Fortunately, however, the family moved to “town” when I was fourteen years old. I was then assured that I would have my wish, and I never missed a day at school. I was so anxious to learn rapidy that I overtaxed my eyes, and was in a dark room for nearly a year. Still I did not give up hope, and when my eyesight permitted I returned to school again.
I found out that there could be only one cadet at a time at West Point from the same congressional district, and also that there was then a young man there from my district; still I had hopes of getting there myself before I got too old, that is, over twenty-one. Then there was no book published about West Point, and magazines and newspapers never described it.
One day I saw by the paper that the Hon. Gr. W. Julian was at home on a short visit, and I knew that he was my congressman; hence I wanted to go at once to see him. I confided in my mother and obtained her permission to be absent from school that afternoon. So I saddled old John, my favorite borse, and rode six miles to Mr. Julian’s house.(Centerville)He was at home, and was very kind to me. He asked my father’s name, and also my name and age, and he made a note of my address, saying that he might write to me from Washington. He also said that there would be a vacancy at West Point, from his district, the next year in June, and that he would make the appointment soon; that I was the first young man to apply for the place, but if any one who had served in the war applied for the cadetship within the next few weeks he would appoint him”that such a person could be just under twenty-four years of age.
Nevertheless, if no old soldier applied, he would appoint me, as he knew my father well. He then said that if he did appoint me I must be a good student the next year, and prepare for the examination at West Point. Upon my return home I did not talk about West Point any more, nor did I speak to any one except my mother about having seen Mr. Julian, and I had five brothers and a sister, too!
About two months after my visit to Mr. Julian, I received a letter from him, taking it myself from the postoffice, but alas! the writing was such that I could-not read it, although there were but eight words in it, so I hastened with it to my mother, but she could not read it, either. Then as I must confide in another person, I decided to speak to my father, and ask him to read the letter, under promise that he would not talk about West Point with any one except my mother and myself. He read the letter at once, and said that the writing was all right, but that the letter did not mean anything, as Mr. Julian had probably written the same to other boys. I did not believe this, and was surer than ever of obtaining the appointment. Many years have passed since then, but the words of that letter are still fresh in my memory. They are:
” Please inform me in reply your exact age.” I wanted my father to write Mr. Julian in my behalf, but he declined to do so, saying that he did not want me to go to West Point. I then got him to promise not to write “that” to Mr. Julian, and I myself answered the letter by return mail.
About ten days after this I received another letter from the congressman, a great large one, in a long envelope, and all I could read of that was “I have recommended you”; but that was enough, as the appointment itself was enclosed, and I could read it, and I was a happy boy. I ran home to show the appointment to my mother, and then to the store to show it to my father, and also to get him to read the letter to me, which was as follows:
”I have recommended you, and enclose herewith your conditional appointment as a cadet to West Point, together with certain other papers from the War Department. I shall now expect you to prepare yourself for the examination next June, and I hope you will graduate with high honors, and that afterwards you will be loyal and useful to your country.” George Washington Julian.”
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PRESS COMMENTS ON CADET LIFE AT WEST POINT Dedicated to the dear girls who adore the military. “Entertaining personal reminiscences.””Cleveland Plain Dealer. “Most charming book.””The (Philadelphia) Keystone. “Especially entertaining to lads with military aspirations.” (Boston) Waverly Magazine. “Parents and sisters too come under its spell.””(Chicago) Quarterly Book Review. “The various troubles cadets have are clearly described.””Cincinnati Commercial Tribune. “The reader soon becomes interested.””Richmond (Ind.) Palladium. “Complete description of the life of a cadet.””The (Chicago) Medical Standard. “Through the trying days of plebedom.””Indianapolis Journal. “Until he finally doffs the cadet gray and dons the army blue.””Chicago Tribune. “The story is told in a very interesting way.””(New York) American Stationer. “Whether you’re young or old, girl or boy,Reed’s ‘Cadet Life’ is a book to enjoy ;
It is full of facts, mixed with fun,
That gives great pleasure to everyone.”
“A very spirited and interesting book.””(New York) Scientific American. “Stories, poems and accounts of graduation hops and other amusements.””The (New York) Publishers’ Weekly. “Also contains statistics which are of sufficient value alone to warrant publication.””Chicago Journal. “Charming In its personality.””Army and Navy Journal. “Answers many questions one would like to ask.”” Chicago Inter-Ocean. “In such a happy vein as to charm American readers of all ages.””Army and Navy Register. “A pleasing style.””(New York) Review of Reviews. “The best description of cadet’ life and also of the workings of the academy.””Wm. Ward, clerk in charge (for the last 60 years) of Cadet Records at West Point. “Nothing quite like it in this country.””(London, Eng.) Army and Navy Gazette. “A complete book.””(Orchard Lake, Mich.) Adjutant. “Interesting reading.””Chicago Times-Herald. “About West Point, how to get there, etc.””Indianapolis News. “Just the thing.””(Atlanta, Ga.) Southern Star. “Of value to guardsmen.””The (Columbus, O.) National Guardsman. “Interesting reading even for laymen.””(New York) Godey’s Magazine. “Should be in both normal school and village libraries.” ”Cortland (New York) Evening Standard.
From the book, Cadet life at West Point by Hugh T. Reed; 1896, Third Edition; 1911
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REED, HUGH T, of Chicago, Ill. (Seventh son of Irvin Reed,
b. Zanesville, Ohio, 9th Jan., 1810 ; d. 25th April,
“1891 ; m. 18th Dec., 1834, Mary Mifflin Evens,
b. at Baltimore, Md., 24th Sept., 18I2 ; d. 24th
April, 1898, daughter of Edmund Evens, of Heath-
field, Sussex, England, and Elizabeth Husband,
his wife, of Baltimore, Md.).
Born at Richmond, Wayne Co., Ind., I7th Aug.,
185o; Cadet U.S. Military Academy, 1st July,
1869; 2nd Lieut, 1st U.S. Infantry, I3th June,
1873; 1st Lieut, 1st U.S. Infantry, 1st July,
1879 ; retired 23rd April, 1889 ; Lieut.-Col. and
Inspector-General of Indiana, 1881-82 ;
Capt. and Chief of Engineers, Illinois National Guard, 1st March, 1898;
Col. of a Provisional Re’gt. recruited for Spanish-American War ;
Author of Signal Tactics, and other Military Works;
m. 5th Sept., 1882, Sallie Eleanora, daughter of Clement Alexander
Ferguson, and Eleanora Irwin, his wife.
Arms”(For Evens) Argent, three boars’ heads sable, couped gules.
Crest”A demi-lion rampant sable.
Residence” 44I2 Oakenwald Avenue, Chicago, Ill.
Club”Union League. , Society”The Order of Indian Wars U.S.A.
Source: Matthew’s American armoury and blue book; John Matthews of London; 1903
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Hugh T. Reed, the seventh son of Irvin Reed and Mary Mifflen Evans Reed, was born Aug. 17, 1850, on a farm near Richmond, Ind. He was educated in the University of Michigan and the United States Military Academy at West Point, being graduated from the latter institution with the class of 1873 and made second lieutenant, First United States Infantry.
He served on frontier duty in various parts of the West and Southwest, and, in 1908, was awarded a medal by Congress for Indian War Service; he also served in Virginia and California and was colonel on the staff of the governor of Washington; he was inspector general of Indiana with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, in 1881-1882; he was the army member of a transportation commission, appointed in the interest of the Field-Columbian Museum to visit foreign countries, in 1894-1896; in 1898 he was chief engineer of the Illinois National Guard and colonel of a provisional regiment of Illinois volunteer infantry.
He was on college duty as professor of Military Science and Tactics at the Southern Illinois Normal University, at Carbondale, Ill., 1883-1885; at the Northwestern Military Academy, Highland Park, Ill., 1888-’89; and at Howe School, Lima, Ind., 1897-1905. He married, at Indianapolis, Ind., in 1882, Sallie E. Ferguson, daughter of Clement A. Ferguson and Eleanor Irwin, his wife.
While in the then Dakota Territory, 1874-76, he collected the basis of the data for a paper, entitled “A Calendar of the Dakota (i. e. the Sioux Indian) Nation,” published by Capt. Garrick Mallery, United States Army, in April, 1877, in Bulletin 3, No. I, of the United States Geological and Geographical Survey, and republished by Captain Mallery as the “Dakota Winter Counts,” in his paper on “Pictographs of the North American Indians,” in Powell’s Fourth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institute, 1882-1883. Colonel Reed is author of “Signal Tactics,” 1880;
Upton’s “Infantry Tactics Abridged and Revised,” 1882; “United States Artillery Tactics Abridged and Revised,” 1882; “Military Science and Tactics,” 1883; “Broom Tactics,” 1883; “Knights of the Globe Tactics,” 1896; “Cadet Life at West Point,” 1896; “Frontier Garrison Life,” 1903; “Indian Campaigning,” 1903; and “Army Titbits,” 1903. His present home is in Chicago.
Source; Memoirs of Wayne County & Richmond, Indiana; Henry Clay Fox; 1912
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Col. Hugh T. Reed; The seventh son of Irvin Reed and Mary Mifflin Evens, his wife, was born August 17, 1850, at, and reared upon a fruit and vegetable farm near Richmond, Ind. At ten years of age he succeeded his brother Albert as salesman for their farm products, and a year or two later, when their services were not required at home, he and his brother, Charley, bought and sold poultry, butter, eggs and cheese upon their own account.
In the winter months he attended the public school in Richmond and during the civil war he frequently visited the United States volunteers in Camp Wayne, then located between the farm and the town, and his acquaintance with the soldiers inspired him with the desire to be a soldier himself. In the fall of 1864 the family moved back to Richmond, where he resumed his studies at the public school, except for one year, when from over-study he was confined to a dark room.
After finishing at the public school (there was no high school grade there then) he attended Hadley’s Academy in Richmond for two years. His father owned a large town lot, where they kept horses and cows and raised their own vegetables, and as his father also owned a hardware store, to keep his boys off the street they were employed in the store when not at school or at work in their garden. In the summer of 1868 he received an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, and to prepare him for the preliminary examination there the next June he was sent to the high school at Ann Arbor, Mich., where he was examined and admitted in September.
The University of Michigan opened about a week later than the high school, and as the examination for admission to the university was oral and public and in part like the preliminary examination at West Point he listened to the questions and answers for several days and then he himself was examined and admitted to the university, where he took a special scientific course and one study ”German”was with the class of ’70. He remained at Ann Arbor until April 3oth and after a brief visit to his home he reported at West Point on June 8, 1869.
He joined a Masonic lodge at Port Huron, Mich., in 1874. He collected in the then Dakota Territory, in 1874-’76, the basis of the data for a paper entitled “A Calendar of the Dakota (i. e., the Sioux Indian) Nation,” published by Captain Garrick Mallery, U. S. Army, in April, 1877, in Bulletin IH., No. 1 of the United States Geological and Geographical Survey, and republished by Mallery as the “Dakota Winter Counts” in his paper on “Pictographs of the North American Indians” in Powell’s Fourth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1882-’83. Colonel Reed is author of Signal Tactics, 1880, of Upton’s Infantry Tactics Abridged and Revised, 1882, of United States Artillery Tactics Abridged and Revised, 1882, of Military Science and Tactics, 1883, of Broom Tactics, 1883, of Knights of the Globe Tactics, 1896, of Cadet Life at West Point, 1896, of Frontier Garrison Life, 1903, of Indian Campaigning, 1903, and of Army Titbits. 1903, and since 1886 he has been the publisher of his own works.
He has often served in various parts of the United States as judge of competitive drills by National Guardsmen, Masons, Patriarchs Militant, Sons of Veterans, Knights of Pythias, Knights of the Globe and independent military organizations. He was inspector general of Indiana, with rank of lieutenant colonel in 1881-’82, chief engineer of the Illinois National Guard in 1898, a candidate for adjutant general of Illinois in 1901, colonel of a provisional regiment of Illinois volunteer infantry and appointed as brigadier general of volunteers in the Spanish-American war in 1898, but the war ended so soon afterwards that the commission was withheld. He married at Indianapolis. Ind., September 5, 1882. Sallie E. Ferguson, the only daughter of Clement A. Ferguson and Eleanora Irwin, his wife; no issue. He was professor of military science and tactics at the Northwestern Military Academy, Highland Park, Ill., in 1888-’89. He was the army member of a transportation commission appointed in the interest of the Field-Columbian Museum, Chicago, lll., to visit foreign countries, in 1894-’96.
HUGH T. REED; INVENTOR
He invented a system of metallic shelving (a modified form of which is used in the Congressional library building in Washington, D. C.); a folding cash box: a duplicate whist board; a fountain pen ; the octavo game board for checkers, chess, backgammon, etc.; and a box to hold these game elements, the cover of the box being the board, folded. He was president (or treasurer) and principal stockholder of the Crown Pen Company, Chicago, Ill., from 1887-’97, and since 1894 he has had charge of his own real estate and renting in Chicago. He is a member of the Hamilton and Press Clubs and an army member of the Union League Club, all of Chicago. He is also a member of the Association of Graduates of the United States Military Academy and a member of the Order of Indian Wars of the United States. For a number of years he has taken part in military parades in Chicago and has served in the parades as an aide, a marshal, or the adjutant general, or as the secretary of the military committee organizing the parades. Residence, Chicago, Illinois.
Army History.”Cadet at the U. S. Military Academy from July 1, 1869, to June 13, 1873, when he was graduated and promoted in the army to second lieutenant, 1st United States infantry. He served on frontier duty as the quartermaster at Fort Gratiot. Michigan, from September 30, 1873. to July 21, 1874, as the adjutant or quartermaster at Fort Sully, Dakota Territory (commanded scouts in May and June, 1875, near old Fort Pierre, Dakota Territory, to prevent white people from entering the Black Hills in the then Sioux Indian Reservation; conducted an old soldier from Fort Sully, Dakota Territory, to the Soldiers’ Home, Washington, D. C, in September and October, 1875; in charge of the military telegraph line between Forts Sully and Randall, Dakota Territory, in the winter of 1875-’76), to May 22, 1876; commanded company at Fort Rice, Dakota Territory, to November 10, 1876: commanded company at Fort Sully, Dakota Territory, to April 24, 1877; commanded company on Sioux and Nez Perces Indian campaigns (commanded battalion part of the time while escorting Nez Perces Indian prisoners from near the mouth of O’Fallon Creek in Montana Territory to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas), to December 13, 1877; at Lower Brule Agency, Dakota Territory (on leave from December 21st), to August 30, 1878.
On signal duty at Fort Whipple (now Fort Myer), Virginia, to January 27, 1879. On leave to March 1, 1879, and on sick leave (1st lieutenant, 1st U. S. Infantry, July 1, 1879) to September 20, 1879. On frontier duty at Fort Randall, Dakota Territory (inspector of supplies issued to the Sioux Indians at Santee Agency, Dakota Territory, and on sick leave from February 17th), to July 31, 1880. On college duty as professor of military science and tactics at the Southern Illinois Normal University at Carbondale. Illinois, to July 1, 1883.
On frontier duty at Fort Apache, Arizona Territory, part of the time as adjutant or commanding company (commanded escort conveying government funds from Holbrook, Arizona Territory, to Fort Apache, Arizona Territory, and commanded company on the survey of the White Mountain Indian reservation in Arizona Territory, by First Lieutenant Theodore A. Bingham, U. S. engineers, in September and October), to November 23, 1883; commanded company and part of the time also the quartermaster at Fort Lowell, Arizona Territory (on sick leave from July 19, 1884), to August 28, 1884; on light duty at San Diego Barracks, California (on sick leave from September 23, 1884), to April 23, 1889, the date he was retired for disability incident to the service.
On college duty as professor of military science and tactics at the Howe School, Lima, Indiana, from August 12, 1897, to the present time. His residence is Chicago Illinois. Address, 613 Pullman Building.
Source; University of Michigan; History Of The Class Of ’70; 1903
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