Reid, Adam

Reid, Adam D.D., a Presbyterian minister, was born at Wishaw, Lanarkshire, Scotland, Jan. 4,1808, was educated in Glasgow University, and at the Theological Seminary of the Secession Church under Dr. Dick. Having completed his studies in 1842, he came to America. He supplied the First Presbyterian Church in Amenia, N. Y., about a year and a half, when he was called to the Congregational Church of Salisbury, Conn. His reputation as a preacher was very extensive, and he received calls at different times to important charges in Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, and Buffalo. His habits were very regular; he gave a part of each evening to the preparation of his sermons, which he wrote out with great care and regularly committed to memory. As a memoriter preacher he was unusually effective. His style was logical and impressive, being adorned with the choicest diction. He did very little pastoral Work, but his congregation was more than paid by the richness of the intellectual feasts which he constantly served. He was above the medium height, slender and straight as an arrow, and very clerical in his appearance, which gained for him the sobriquet of "priest Reid," by which he was known in all the surrounding country. When at home he wrote a sermon every week, many of which, however, he never preached. When he had passed his seventieth year, his congregation reluctantly accepted his resignation and appointed him pastor emeritus. He died Nov. 2, 1878. (W. P.S.)