OBITUARIES, AMERICAN. (RATHBONE REID.) 



461 



solicited fire insurance. In 1868 he was elected 

 vice-president of a life insurance company and the 

 representative of a St. Louis company. In Sep- 

 tember, 1871, he purchased an interest in the Bal- 

 timore Underwriter, and in 1878 the Boston Index, 

 which he changed to the Standard, of which he 

 was editor till his death. In 1883 he organized 

 the Boston Life Underwriters' Association, out 

 of whose influence grew the National Association 

 of Life Underwriters, organized in Boston in 

 June, 1890. 



Rathbone, John Finley, manufacturer, born 

 in Albany, N. Y., Oct. 12, 1819; died there, March 

 20, 1901. He was educated at the Albany Acad- 

 emy and the Collegiate Institute, Brockport, 

 N. Y. In 1845 he established in Albany a stove 

 foundry that, under the name of Rathbone, Sard 

 & Co., has become the largest in the world. He 

 was brigadier-general of the 9th Brigade, New 

 York National Guard, from 1861 to 1867, and 

 when, at the beginning of the civil war, Albany 

 was made a depot for volunteers, Gen. Rathbone 

 was appointed commandant. He equipped and 

 sent into the field 34 regiments, and was com- 

 mended by the War Department for his services. 

 He was appointed adjutant-general of the State 

 troops, with the rank of major-general, by Gov. 

 Dix, Jan. 1, 1873, and served with distinction in 

 that capacity during the latter's administration. 

 Throughout his life he was active in religious, 

 educational, and charitable work. He was one 

 of the founders of the Albany Orphan Asylum; 

 was for fifty years superintendent of the Emanuel 

 Baptist Sunday-school; was a director of many 

 educational and charitable institutions; and gave 

 to the University of Rochester $40,000 as a 

 foundation for a library. 



Bead, Josiah M., inventor, born in Sandwich, 

 N. H., April 1, 1809; died in Everett, Mass., Nov. 

 6, 1901. He was educated in the schools of his 

 native town, and at the age of nineteen removed 

 to Rockland, Mass., where he learned the trade 

 of wheelwright. In 1839 he began, in Boston, 

 inventing, manufacturing, and dealing in patent 

 stoves and appliances. He is said to have in- 

 vented the first cooking-range in 1846. He con- 

 tinued in active business till 1888. He served in 

 the State Legislature from 1861 to 1863. 



Rearick, Peter Anton, naval officer, born in 

 Maryland, Nov. 12, 1838; died in Washington, 

 D. C., Feb. 9, 1901. He was appointed to the 

 navy as a third assistant engineer Feb. 17, 1860, 

 and served through the civil war, receiving the 

 appointments of second assistant engineer, July 

 22, 1862, and first assistant engineer, March 1, 

 1864. He was made passed assistant engineer 

 Feb. 24, 1874, and chief engineer, March 25, 1874. 

 After the war he was on duty with the Pacific 

 squadron, and on the North and South Atlantic, 

 European, and Asiatic stations, besides serving 

 at various navy-yards and as a member of the 

 Steel Inspection Board. He was retired as a rear- 

 admiral Feb. 7, 1900. 



Reed, Roland Lewis, actor, born in Philadel- 

 phia, Pa., June 18, 1852; died in New York city, 

 March 30, 1901. His father was connected with 

 the Walnut Street Theater, Philadelphia, and 

 Roland Reed made his first theatrical appearance 

 there as an infant in arms, afterward playing 

 juvenile characters as soon as he was old enough 

 to speak the lines. When the youth grew older 

 he became stage-doorkeeper of the Walnut Street 

 Theater, occupying that place for several seasons. 

 He then went to Mrs. John Drew's Arch Street 

 Theater as an usher, but soon became the prompt- 

 er. His real training as an actor began at this 

 time. The company was very fine, and during an 



engagement of Lotta, the comedienne, in The Fire- 

 fly, the leading man was taken ill an I his role 

 was assigned to Reed. The voting net jr \ as so 

 successful in this performance liuii !i \\ is en- 

 gaged immediately as a regular meml i ,f the 

 dramatic company. Soon after thi^ I re iirned 

 to the Walnut Street Theater, playing lo\v-c >;nedy 

 roles. In the season of 1870-71 Mr. Rc-ed I eeame 

 leading man at this theater, and din-ing seven 

 succeeding seasons he held a similar place in the 

 stock companies at the Academy of Music, New 

 Orleans; the Olympic Theater, St. Louis; the 

 Academy of Music, Cleveland; and McVickar's 

 Theater, Chicago. After playing for a season in 

 the Colville Folly Company, he secured the rights 

 to Augustin Daly's An Arabian Night, and began 

 his first starring tour in 1880. In 1881-'82 he 

 played Jewell in the English melodrama, The 

 World. In the autumn of 1882 he appeared in 

 Chicago in the play of Cheek, scoring a great 

 success. He continued with this play, and with 

 a similar production entitled Humbug, until 1885, 

 when for a short time he abandoned his starring 

 tour to create the character of Koko in the Amer- 

 ican production of Gilbert and Sullivan's opera, 

 The Mikado. In 1887 he again appeared success- 

 fully as a star in The Woman-Hater, following 

 this with productions of Lend Me your Wife, The 

 Bridal Trap, The Club Friend, Innocent as a 

 Lamb, The Politician, A Man of Ideas, and The 

 Wrong Mr. Wright, in nearly all of which he won 

 distinction as an actor besides greatly increasing 

 his fortune. In 1898-'99 he played in His Father's 

 Boy, continuing with this piece throughout the 

 season. In December, 1899, he was obliged to end 

 his tour suddenly on account of illness, and he 

 did not appear again until early in the autumn 

 of 1900, when he opened at the Boston Museum 

 in A Modern Crusoe. He took this play to Chi- 

 cago, but in October, 1900, failing health again 

 obliged him to close his season abruptly, and this 

 was his last public appearance. Mr. Reed was a 

 brilliant and versatile actor, a man of high char- 

 acter, and a great favorite with the public and 

 among his friends. He married, in 1877, Miss 

 Johanna Summers, of Philadelphia. 



Reid, James Douglas, telegrapher, born in 

 Edinburgh, Scotland, March 22, 1819; died in New 

 York city, April 28, 1901. In 1834 he removed 

 with his family to Toronto, Canada, where he 

 took a place as junior clerk in a bank. He re- 

 moved to Rochester, N. Y., in 1837, and became 

 a clerk in the post-office under Henry O'Reilly. 

 In Rochester he became acquainted with S. F. B. 

 Morse, and studied with him. In 1845 O'Reilly 

 secured a contract for constructing a telegraph- 

 line from Philadelphia to Pittsburg, from Amos 

 Kendall, then Prof. Morse's agent and attorney. 

 Mr. Reid was made an assistant to Mr. O'Reilly 

 in the construction of the line, and was assigned 

 to the building of the first section, from Lan- 

 caster to Harrisburg. His next appointment of 

 importance was as superintendent of the Mag- 

 netic Telegraph Company, a line from New York 

 to Washington, and also as superintendent of the 

 Atlantic and Ohio Telegraph Company, with a 

 line from Philadelphia to Pittsburg. In 1856, 

 when the Western Union Company began to ab- 

 sorb lines, Mr. Reid was made superintendent of 

 the New York, Albany and Buffalo Telegraph 

 Company, which was soon afterward absorbed 

 by the Western Union. Several other companies 

 with which he was connected were taken in sub- 

 sequently. In the early fifties he founded and 

 edited the National Telegraph Review, and in 

 1877 he published the first edition of the Tele- 

 graph in America. He also contributed many 



