Background
David Settle Reid was born on April 19, 1813 in Rockingham County, North Carolina, the son of Reuben and Elizabeth (Settle) Reid.
(Excerpt from Message of His Excellency Governor Reid, to ...)
Excerpt from Message of His Excellency Governor Reid, to the Legislature of North Carolina, Session 1854-'55 All legislative powers herein granted, shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, Which shall consist of a Sen ate and House of Representatives. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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David Settle Reid was born on April 19, 1813 in Rockingham County, North Carolina, the son of Reuben and Elizabeth (Settle) Reid.
He went to the local schools and to the academy at Middletown, Connecticut, and later read law.
He settled at Wentworth, North Carolina about 1834. He was a stanch Democrat, and in 1835 he was sent to the state Senate and, three times reëlected, served until 1842. He was elected to Congress and served from March 4, 1843, to March 3, 1847, but he was "gerrymandered" out of office. In 1848 he was nominated by his party for governor.
The Whigs were so strongly fixed in power that it was a forlorn hope offered him, and he at first declined but finally yielded to pressure and accepted, after he had made clear to the party leaders his intention of advocating "free suffrage" or, in other words, the abolition of the requirement that a voter for a state senator must possess a freehold of fifty acres of land. He made a spirited campaign, cut the Whig majority to the bone, and was defeated, only to be renominated in 1850 on the same issue and to win the election. He was reëlected in 1852. He made an excellent governor, and, just before the expiration of his term, resigned to accept election for the federal Senate.
He served from December 6, 1854, to March 3, 1859.
He was active and became quite influential.
He was defeated for reëlection and retired to his farm, but in 1861 he was chosen by the legislature one of the delegates to the peace conference at Washington, where he acted with the conservatively pro-Southern group. Soon after his return to the state, he was elected to the secession convention, where he was numbered among the secessionist group.
Upon the final adjournment of the convention in 1862 he once more retired but emerged in 1875 as a delegate to the constitutional convention of that year. There, in association with Thomas J. Jarvis, he obtained the organization of the convention after a deadlock and was largely responsible for the success achieved.
He was paralyzed in 1881 and died ten years later.
(Excerpt from Message of His Excellency Governor Reid, to ...)
He was a supporter of the Buchanan administration, and even his strong friend and connection, Stephen A. Douglas, could not detach him. He was never a fire-eater but, a strong defender of slavery, was one of those who quietly warned the North that secession would be the result of antislavery agitation.
He spoke seldom but was a good debater, and his speeches were notable for brevity, common sense, and point.
He was a little man of delicate frame but of tireless spirit. As a political leader he had excellent ability with intuitive and almost unerring judgment, and he was characterized by the most frank sincerity.
In 1834 he married his cousin, Henrietta Settle, the sister of Thomas Settle.