Russell Marcus Reid

(1918 - 1987) 

Early Years

Russell Marcus Reid was born on January 21, 1918 in Noble, Ozark, Missouri (an official birth record for Russell is yet to be obtained.). He was the second child of Maude and Percy Reid, with an older sister, Zelma, about four years his senior. His father was home farming while World War I was well into the heat of battle with over a million U.S. troops fighting in Europe.

In January of 1919, the 18th Amendment is ratified, and the sale and consumption of alcohol becomes illegal. Later that same summer, WWI officially comes to and end with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.

In January of 1920, his twin siblings were born - Roscoe and Roxie. In August of this same year, women are finally granted the right to vote.

In March of 1925, Russell’s brother Bernie was born.

On October 29, 1929, post-war prosperity came to an end with the great stock market crash. Between 1929 and 1931, losses accumulated to an estimated value of $50 billion, marking the start of the worst American depression in U.S. history.

1930's

By the age of 12, Russell was attending school in Noble with his younger siblings.

By 1932, unemployment in the U.S. had reached 12 million workers. In March of 1933, Congress passed the New Deal, dropping the gold standard, and that December Prohibition officially ended.

Sometime around 1935 (an actual marriage record has yet to be obtained), Russell married Bonnie Lee Cantwell. It would have been a very young union, with him being around 18 years of age, and Bonnie being around 15 years old.

In April of 1939, Russell and Bonnie welcomed their first child, a daughter whom they named Patricia Ann Reid. She was born at their farmhouse, previously known as the “old Davis farmhouse”. That fall, WWII began, with U.S. declaring their neutrality.

1940’s

In 1940, Russell and Bonnie were living next door to his elder sister and husband, Zelma and Fred Daniels. Russell had taken a job as a schoolteacher for the Noble school district, making $850 a year, while his brother-in-law Fred drove the school bus.

In September, the Congress enacts its first peacetime draft. On his Draft Registration Card, Russell was described as being 5’11” tall, 165 lbs., with blue eyes, brown hair and a light complexion.

In August of 1941, their second child was born. It was another daughter, whom they named Beverly Jane Reid.

That December, Japan attacked U.S. soil at Pearl Harbor, and the very next day, the U.S. entered the war. By February of the following year, 110,000 Japanese Americans on the west coast were moved to relocation camps.

On August 6, 1945, President Truman gives approval for the bombing of Hiroshima, and three days later, Nagasaki.

In July of 1946, Bonnie gave birth to their first son, Lonnie Dean Reid.

In October of 1948, their second son was born, James Thomas Reid.

1950's

In June of 1950, the Korean War began.

By 1952, Russell had began operating the Ava Tractor and Implement Company in Ava. The business was located in the Barnes building, a block east of the square and specialized in servicing Ford tractors and Dearborn implements.

In June of 1953, Russell and Bonnie bought a farm at Wasola from Mr. and Mrs. Dick Wade. Other newspaper sources described them as residing in the Souder or Alamartha areas.

That July, the Korean War ended.

In October of 1953, their sixth child was born, a son named Gary Randall Reid.

In February of 1954, the first large-scale vaccination of children against polio began.

In February of 1955, Russell loaned out part of his farm property for the cattle of Ray Wallace. Russell reported shortly thereafter having three cows lost from eating Johnson Grass.

It was around this same time that Russell began to suffer from a heart ailment, landing him in the hospital at Springfield.

In May of 1955, the Supreme Court ordered public schools to begin racial desegregation with “deliberate speed”.

In September of 1955, Russell bought a new car and moved the family to the town of Ava. There, family occupied property owned by Miss Elloree Burdett on Valley Street.

 In December of 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus, beginning a boycott that would eventually inspire a national civil rights movement.

This same month, Bonnie gave birth to a baby girl at Burge Hospital in Springfield. They named her Katharine Elizabeth Reid.

In the summer of 1956, Russell took over the local Buick automobile franchise from W. C. Chambers, Jr. The agency was located in the Davis building, two blocks south of the square. Russell also offered a parts and service department here, and for a time was able to operate both the Buick dealership and the Tractor Company in tandem, calling them Reid Tractor & Buick. He did so so successfully, in fact, that in November of that same year he won fifth place in a National Sales Contest held for Ford tractor dealers.

In the summer of 1957, the Reid family purchased and relocated to a home on Ozark Street from Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Dobbs. The property was located in the Sell block of Ava, formerly owned by Miss Ola Sell.

In the fall of 1957, Russell relinquished the Buick franchise to Fred O. Lethco, a dealer in Pontiac, International trucks and farm machinery.

1960's

In the fall of 1960, Russell purchased two Aberdeen-Angus bulls from Louis B. Mackey of Smallett.

In the fall of 1962, Russell and Bonnie made a trip to the World’s Fair in central Seattle while his sister, Zelma, stayed and watched the children. It was the first World’s Fair held in the U.S. since WWII, with the theme of space exploration.

In October of 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis began.

In June of 1963, Bonnie gave birth to a stillborn baby boy at Burge hospital in Springfield. The baby, whom they named David Bryant, was buried in Ava Cemetery with the Rev. C.W. Duffer officiating.

On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated during a motorcade through downtown Dallas, Texas.

In the spring of 1965, Russell resigned from his Tractor dealership, sold the franchise to Larkin B. Barnes and took a position under him as manager of Barnes Ford Tractor Sales.

In 1966, the Commercial Credit Equipment Corporation filed a $30,000 lawsuit against Russell and Bonnie, over purchase agreements they alleged to be false and fraudulent. The suit against Bonnie was eventually dropped, and Russell settled, confessing judgement for $28,543.75.

In the spring of 1968, Russell was fined $106 in municipal court for driving while intoxicated and resisting arrest. Later that summer, he also faced charges of defrauding an innkeeper and failing to pay his $16.48 bill at the Maple Motel. Russell pled his innocence, but was found guilty and fined $20 and court costs.

In 1969, Russell filed to have limited driving privileges reinstated. He was working at the Edel Ford Tractor Co.’s new location at 1630 E. Chestnut Expressway in Springfield and living at 700 St. Louis. In December of that year, however, he was once again facing charges in Wright County on an insufficient funds check charge.

1970's

In 1971, Russell was living at 2800 Mt. Vernon in Springfield.

In 1974, Russell was named sales manager of equipment at Parker Ford Tractor Sales on Highway 60, west of Mountain Grove.

In both January and September of 1978, Russell faced multiple DWI charges.

LATER YEARS

On March 17, 1986, Russell married Dorothy Elizabeth Reid in Rogersville, Missouri. He was 68 years-old, and she was 53.

By this time, Russell’s heart condition had worsened and he was treated multiple times at both St. John’s Hospital and Cox Medical Center in Springfield.

On February 7, 1987, Russell died at Cox Medical Center. Services were held in Adams Chapel and he was buried in Hopedale Cemetery in Ozark, Missouri.

While alive, Russell was a member of the Rockbridge Masonic Lodge, No. 435 AF & AM.