David Settle Reid

David Settle Reid
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from North Carolina's 3rd district
In office March 4, 1843 – March 4, 1847
Preceded by	William Henry Washington
Succeeded by	Daniel Moreau Barringer
32nd Governor of North Carolina
In office 1851–1854
Preceded by	Charles Manly
Succeeded by	Warren Winslow
United States Senator from North Carolina
In office December 6, 1854 – March 4, 1859
Preceded by	Charles Manly
Succeeded by	Warren Winslow
Personal details
Born	April 19, 1813(1813-04-19) Rockingham County, North Carolina
Died	June 19, 1891(1891-06-19) (aged 78) Reidsville, North Carolina
Political party	Democratic

David Settle Reid (April 19, 1813 – June 19, 1891) was the 32nd Governor of the U.S. state of North Carolina from 1851 to 1854 and a U.S. Senator from December 1854 to March 1859. His uncle was Congressman Thomas Settle, and his brother was Hugh Kearns Reid.

He was born in what would later be Reidsville, North Carolina, an unincorporated town named for his father, Reuben Reid. At age 16, David Reid became the first postmaster for the town. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1833. From 1835 to 1842, Reid served in the North Carolina Senate. He was a U.S. Representative from 1843 to 1847. In 1848, Reid was an unsuccessful candidate for Governor, losing to Charles Manly by only 854 votes. In 1850, Reid defeated Manly by 2,853 votes, returning the Democrats to the governor's office for the first time since 1836, when the state constitution changed so that the people, rather than the legislature, chose the Governor. In his campaigns, Reid promoted the now-obscure cause of "free suffrage," i.e. that there should not be different standards for who could vote for members of the North Carolina House of Commons and of the North Carolina Senate.

In the Senate, Reid was chairman of the Committee on Patents and the Patent Office. He sought but was denied a full term in the Senate when he lost a three-way internal party fight with Thomas Bragg and William W. Holden in 1858. He returned to the practice of law and was a delegate to an 1861 peace convention to try to prevent the American Civil War. Reid was a member of a state constitutional convention in 1875.

Reid died in Reidsville in 1891 and is buried in Greenview Cemetery in the same city.

External links

Biography portal

• David Settle Reid at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• History of Reidsville
• David Settle Reid at Find a Grave

Governor Reid is seen in the foreground of this 1861 photo of the North Carolina State Capitol.

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by William H. Washington	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from North Carolina's 3rd congressional district March 4, 1843 – March 4, 1847	Succeeded by Daniel M. Barringer
Political offices
Preceded by Charles Manly	Governor of North Carolina 1851 – 1854	Succeeded by Warren Winslow
United States Senate
Preceded by Willie P. Mangum	United States Senator (Class 2) from North Carolina 1854 – 1859 Served alongside: George E. Badger, Asa Biggs and Thomas L. Clingman	Succeeded by Thomas Bragg

Persondata
Name	Reid, David
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	April 19, 1813
Place of birth	Rockingham County, North Carolina
Date of death	June 19, 1891
Place of death	Reidsville, North Carolina