Whitelaw Reid Papers
Descriptive Summary
Historical / Biographical Note
Scope and Content
Arrangement
Series Descriptions
Container List
Access Points
Related Materials
Administrative Information
Descriptive Summary
Whitelaw Reid Collection
Dates: 1887-1969
Size: five document boxes, two oversize boxes, four rolled plans
Historical / Biographical Note
Whitelaw Reid (1837-1912) was a prominent journalist, politician, and diplomat of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was born in Xenia, Ohio and excelled in local schools and at Miami University of Ohio. After purchasing and editing a local newspaper, he made a name for himself with his coverage of the Civil War, writing articles for papers in Cleveland and Cincinnati under the pseudonym Agate. Reid was a strong supporter of the new Republican Party and secured the post of librarian of the House of Representatives from 1863-1866. In the following years, Reid continued to build his reputation as a prominent Republican and writer on current events. He joined Horace Greeley's New York Tribune in 1868, assuming the editorship after only a few years, and became further involved with politics when Greeley ran for President in 1872. In the following years Reid served as minister to France (1889-1892), permanent representative at the Court of St. James (1905-1912), and was the Republican Party candidate for Vice President in 1892, Reid assumed financial control of the Tribune after Greeley's death; the Reid family retained control of the paper until the late 1950s.
Ophir Farm was created by Benjamin Holladay (1819-1887), who purchased the 700-acre tract of land in 1864. Holladay was a well-known 19th-century entrepreneur, originally born in Kentucky, whose wealth derived from various transportation and freight enterprises in the American West. In the 1860s he organized successful overland coach services west of the Mississippi River as well as the Pony Express, obtaining lucrative postal contracts with the U.S. government. He also had investments in the Ophir Mine, located in Virginia City, Nevada, after which he named his Westchester County estate. Holladay later sold his stagecoach business to become involved in the railroad boom of the later nineteenth century, purchasing a controlling interest in the Oregon Central Railroad and later expanding it into the Oregon & California Railroad. Holladay's successful career came to an abrupt end with the panic of 1873, after which he defaulted on his bonds. The shipbuilder John Roach owned the estate for a brief period, and it was then sold to Whitelaw Reid in 1887.
At the time Whitelaw Reid and his wife Elisabeth purchased Ophir Farm, it was in a state of near ruin after years of neglect. Holladay's huge square mansion, constructed of granite with a mansard roof, needed extensive repair and the surrounding roads, fields and gardens were completely overgrown. The Reids hired the well-known architectural firm of McKim, Mead, and White to supervise the reconstruction and Frederic Law Olmsted, the landscape architect who had helped create New York's Central Park, to plan and restore the grounds. Renovation of the house included installation of electricity and a telephone connection, probably the first in Westchester County. However, after six months of intensive work a fire demolished most of the structure in July 1888, only days after the Reids had moved into their as yet unfinished home.
Undaunted, the Reids rebuilt the house on the remaining stone foundations, adding a five story tower and crenellated roof line reminiscent of a medieval castle. Reid supervised most of the work by letter from Paris, as he was appointed minister to France in 1889. The building's lavish interior was filled with furniture, tapestries, carpets and paintings sent from Europe; an extensive portico, terraced gardens, and tennis court were built for outdoor entertaining. The surrounding acres were refashioned into a working farm complete with cows, poultry and sheep. Upon the Reids' return from France in 1892, the estate was rechristened Ophir Hall.
The next decade saw the Reids' most intensive use of the property as they entertained extensively and raised their two children, Ogden and Jean. Despite the time and expense they devoted to their country home, the Reid family was often abroad as Whitelaw served on several diplomatic missions in Europe during the 1890s. In 1905, he was named permanent representative to the Court of St. James, and lived in London until his death in 1912. In the following years, Elisabeth devoted herself to charitable work in New York and France. After her death in 1931, most of the Ophir Hall's furnishings were sold at auction. The estate remained unoccupied until its sale by the Reid estate to Manhattanville College in 1949. The Reids' home, now known as Reid Hall, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Scope and Content
Booklets, research papers, photographs, correspondence, news clippings and audio tapes which document the history and architecture of Whitelaw Reid's former estate, known as Ophir Farm, on which the campus of Manhattanville College is now located. Most of the material concerns the ownership of the estate by the Reid family, from 1887 to 1949, in particular the elaborate, fortress-like main residence known as Reid Hall which serves as the college's administrative building. A smaller portion of the collection relates to Ben Holladay's ownership of the estate from 1864 into the 1870s.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged in two series:
Whitelaw Reid
Subseries A. Historical accounts
Subseries B. Published materials
Subseries C: Clippings
Subseries D: Ophir Farm photographs
Subseries E: Landscaping plans for the Reid estate
Ben Holladay
Series Descriptions
1. Whitelaw Reid
Research papers, published booklets, photographs, clippings and other materials concerning the Reid Estate, including its reconstruction and renovation, use by the Reid family, and the estate's agricultural activity.
2. Ben Holladay
Clippings, photographs and notes on Ben Holladay's life.
Container List
Box 1. Whitelaw Reid
Subseries A: Historical accounts
Folder 1
Chronology of Ophir Farm / Ophir Hall / Reid Hall
Typescript: "Notes on the History of Ophir Farm," compiled from printed sources
Typescript: "Annual Spring Pilgrimage: June 5, 1954," Westchester County Historical Society
Folder 2
Text of 1938 album produced by the Purchase School, "The History of Ophir Farm and its Ownership" (photographs in oversize box).
Folder 3
Research paper by Susanne Westhofen, "Ophir Hall during the Ownership of the Reid Family" (1990).
Folder 4
Bibliography by Missy Bailey, "A Bibliography of Whitelaw Reid." (1977).
Folder 5
Typescript: Excerpt from Bolton, Reverend Robert. The History of the County of Westchester, 1881, and copies of excerpt from J. Thomas Scharf's History of Westchester County.
Folders 6-9
Typescript: "With a Magnificent View," by Patricia A. McSweeney and Nancy A. Patrick, 1969-1970. (This paper appears to have been typed in two different versions; the exact order and placement of the chapters is unclear.) The accompanying photographs, which for the most part are unidentified, are in oversize box.
Box 2
Folder 10
Audio tapes of a 1971 interview with Matthew Flanagan, former employee of the Reid estate; no transcription. Additional letters and documents regarding Ophir Farm.
Folder 11
Photocopy: "The Gentlemen Farmers of the Gilded Age: A Study of Model Farms Located on the Country Estates of Wealthy New Yorkers at the Turn of the Century" by Gayl Maxwell Braisted, Manhattanville College Masters Thesis, 1993
Subseries B: Published accounts
Folders 12-15
Copies of Reid Hall. Manhattanville College, Purchase, New York [undated]
Folder 15A
Copies of "The Chapel at Reid Hall: History of Land Use of the Site Now Occupied by Manhattanville College, Purchase, NY" by Nancy Todd, Manhattanville Professor of Biology, in Westchester Historian 2004
Folder 16
Copies of Manhattanville's Castle and Grounds: Its History and Legacy (1977)
Folder 17
Copies of "Whitelaw Reid, Country Gentleman," reprinted from The Country Calendar (1906?)
Folder 18
Copies of "Ophir Farm," from The Illustrated American (1892)
Art Digest article: "Whitelaw Reid Art at Auction,", May 1, 1935
Typescript of article from Arts & Decoration: "A House of Many Treasures," June 1931. (Original issue in Oversize Box 1.)
Box 3
Folder 19
Photocopy of article from Summer 1971 Alumnae Review: "Reid Hall: A View from the Castle"
Westchester County Historian, Fall 1974, including article on "Purchase School"
Folder 20
1983 Harrison Historical Calendar
Copies of booklet Harrison's Early Days
Folder 21
Various maps of Purchase and Ophir Farm
Subseries C: Clippings
Folder 22
Ophir Farm
Folder 23
Reid Family
Folder 24
Helen Rogers Reid
Folder 25
Visit of King of Siam in 1931
Box 4
Subseries D: Photographs
Folder 26
Long shots and aerial views of Ophir Hall
Folder 27
Ophir Hall Exteriors
Folder 28
Ophir Hall Interiors
Folder 29
Other buildings, structures, and gardens
Folder 30
Photos originally included with manuscript of "With a Magnificent View" (Box 1 Folder 7)
Folder 31
Portraits
Folder 32
Photos of Women's Land Army, 1915-1918
Folder 33
Photos and directory of estate buildings from unidentified album
Subseries E: Landscaping Plans
Storage Tube: Plans (reproductions)
Whitelaw Reid, Esq., White Plains, NY: Planting Plan. F.L. Olmsted & Assoc., Sept. 28, 1891
Whitelaw Reid, Esq., White Plains, NY: Valley Planting. F.L. Olmsted & Assoc. January 20, 1893
Ophir Farm, Whitelaw Reid, Esq., White Plains, NY: Planting Plan for Flower Gardens. F.L. Olmsted & Assoc.February 3, 1893
Photostat reproduction of south elevation, Ophir Hall
Box 5
Series 2: Ben Holladay
Folders 34 and 35:
Miscellaneous notes, correspondence, articles on Holladay
Folders 36 and 37:
News clippings
Folder 38:
Various photographs of Holladay and the Pony Express
Oversize Box 1
Mounted photos of Ophir Farm roads and one view of pool
Academy Folders 1-6: original photographs which accompanied Purchase School project text (Folder 2)
Folders 39 - 41
Ophir Hall floor plans; "Reid Castle" by Alexandra Sax; June 1931 issue of Arts and Decoration; three glass plate negatives
Oversize Box 2:
Political posters, 1969 issue of Look magazine including article on Ogden Reid, Ophir Farm agricultural inventory; leather-bound welcome proclamation to Reid from the "Mayor, Alderman and Citizens of the City of Bath" on the occasion of his visit, October 22, 1908.
Folder 42
Oversize clippings and original manuscript of music and lyrics to "Driver's Song"
Access Points
Personal Names
Reid, Whitelaw, 1837-1912
Reid, Elisabeth Mills, 1858-1931
Reid, Ogden Mills, 1882-1947
Holladay, Ben, 1819-1887
Geographic Names
Purchase (N.Y.)
Westchester County (N.Y.)
Topical Subjects
Westchester County (N.Y.) -- Historic houses, etc.
Westchester County (N.Y.) -- History
Corporate Names
Manhattanville College
Genre / Form Terms
Photographs
Subject bibliographies
Related Materials
Whitelaw Reid Collection in the Rare Book Room: books by and about Reid and Ben Holladay, and auction catalogs of the estate sale in 1935 and 1936
Microfilm of Whitelaw Reid Papers (original manuscript collection in the Library of Congress). 239 reels. Register available in Rare Book Room
Administrative Information
Access: Unrestricted
Preferred Citation:
Manhattanville College Archives Series 13/1, Identification of item, date (if known); Manhattanville College Library Special Collections, Purchase, NY.
Collection processed and finding aid compiled by Claire Gabriel, March - June 2004