Elisabeth Mills Reid

Elisabeth Mills Reid (January 6, 1858 – April 29, 1931) was an American philanthropist. Mills was the daughter of Darius Ogden Mills, a wealthy banker and financier who made his initial fortune during the California gold rush. She was born in New York City and raised between northern California and the Hudson Valley in New York. She married the journalist Whitelaw Reid in 1991, with whom she had two children, Ogden Mills Reid and Jean Templeton Ward. Reid and her family lived at 451 Madison Avenue in New York City, in Paris where Whitelaw was the United States Minister to France, and in London where he was the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom. Elisabeth founded the American Girls' Club in Paris during her time there, and she was a popular society hostess in London. During her life, Reid was an active philanthropist and a volunteer organizer with the American Red Cross.

Elisabeth Mills was born on January 6, 1858, in New York City. Her father, Darius Ogden Mills (1825–1910), was a mining operator, banker, and financier who made his initial fortune in Stockton, California, during the California gold rush.^[1] Her mother, Jane Templeton (née Cunningham) Mills, was the daughter of the shipbuilder James Cunningham.^[2] Her brother, Ogden Mills (1856–1929), was a financier and Thoroughbred racehorse owner.^[3] Mills was raised between Sacramento or San Mateo, California, and her maternal grandparents' home in the New York Hudson Valley. She was educated by governesses and at schools in Paris, France, and New York city.^[2]

On April 16, 1881, aged 23, Mills married the journalist Whitelaw Reid (1837–1911), aged 43, who was the owner and editor of the New York Tribune.^[4] Elisabeth and Whitelaw had one son and one daughter. Their son Ogden Mills Reid (1882–1947) married Helen Miles Rogers, who had traveled with his mother as her secretary and assistant, in 1911; Ogden was president of the Tribune until his death in 1947, after which Helen was president until her death in 1970.^[5] Their daughter, Jean Templeton Ward (1884–1962), was a philanthropist and society hostess; she married John Hubert Ward (1870–1938) in 1908.^[6]

In 1886, Ogden Mills purchased 451 Madison Avenue, the New York City residence of the recently bankrupt railroad executive Henry Villard, for Reid and her husband.^[7][a] The obituary writer Alden Whitman wrote: "The Reids lived sumptuously in a Florentine fortress on Madison Avenue, with a dinner table for eighty and the wealth and social prestige to fill it with interesting people."^[10]

In 1889, Whitelaw was appointed the United States Minister to France. In 1892, the Reids returned to the United States, where Whitelaw unsuccessfully ran for Vice President of the United States. Whitelaw was then appointed United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom in 1905. Elisabeth followed her husband to London, where she hosted popular high society functions at Dorchester House, the ambassador's residence, and befriended British royalty, including Edward VII and Queen Alexandra.^[11] Elisabeth's entry in Notable American Women, 1607–1950 states that she "moved in diplomatic circles with ease".^[12]

In 1910, when her father died, Reid and her brother equally inherited his estate, valued at approximately $500 million (equivalent to $17–20 billion in 2024).^[2][i] Whitelaw then died on December 15, 1912, leaving operation of the Tribune to their son and most of his wealth to Elisabeth.^[13] By 1920, Elisabeth was still living at 451 Madison Avenue, where she employed "17 servants, including four footmen and two French-born cooks".^[14]

Elisabeth died on April 29, 1931, aged 73, at her daughter's villa in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat after contracting pneumonia. A memorial service was held for her at the American Cathedral in Paris and her funeral was held at Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. She was buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Tarrytown, New York.^[15] In 1934, her estate was appraised at $20,463,491 gross (approx. $691 million in 2024) and $18,589,916 net (approx. $627 million in 2024), and it was reported that she had gifted her children $17,082,520 (approx. $576 million in 2024) during her lifetime.^[16][i]

Elisabeth Mills Reid was an active philanthropist. She served on the Bellevue Hospital Board of Women Managers; funded construction of a hospital in San Mateo and St. Luke's Hospital in San Francisco. She also funded and served on the boards of training schools for nurses.^[17]

Reid also served in organizational roles the American Red Cross, working on its rural nursing program, and during the Spanish-American War and World War I.^[18] At the outset of World War I, she funded the construction of an officers' hospital in Paris, France, which later became the site of the American Girls' Club in Paris at the urging of her daughter-in-law.^[19] Upon her death, the American Journal of Nursing wrote that "[m]any American nurses have vivid recollections of the painstaking way in which she outfitted them, provided for their comfort, [and] helped them to do their part in the great endeavor".^[20]

Reid founded the American Girls' Club in Paris, a place where women scholars from the United States could meet French academics. The Club was hosted in a property owned by Reid that she had initially granted to the Red Cross for use as an officers' hospital during World War I. In 1927, she gifted the property to her daughter-in-law, Helen Rogers Reid, who named it Reid Hall after her mother-in-law.^[21][19][22]