John Phillip Reid

Exeter, NH – John Phillip Reid, 91 of Riverwoods of Exeter passed away Tuesday April 26, 2022 with his family by his side.

He was born May 17, 1930 in Weehawken, New Jersey. His father, Dr. Thomas F. Reid was an eye, ear, nose and throat physician. His mother, Teresa (Murphy) Reid, was an artist. John grew up in South Berwick, Maine. He attended St. Michael's School in South Berwick; St. John's Preparatory School in Danvers, MA (1948); Georgetown University, BSS (1952); Harvard Law School, LLB (1955); University of New Hampshire, MA (1957); New York University School of Law, LLM (1960), JSD (1962). He joined the faculty at NYU Law School where he was a legal historian for over 50 years. He was a founding member of the American Society of Legal History and the author of over 24 volumes on legal history. By far, his largest impact was on scholarship. Reid was the first person to write seriously about the constitutional history of the American Revolution and on the law of the Overland Trail during the westward expansion.

Reid wrote nine books dealing with various legal and constitutional aspects of the American Revolution. The most notable of these is a four-volume work entitled Constitutional History of the American Revolution. His pathbreaking work made a profound contribution to our understanding of the development of law in the nascent American nation and transformed the way we understand the subject.

Reid was the first to research and develop a body of work on the Law of the Overland Trail and wrote a series of books on the emergence of law in the American West. These remain pathbreaking studies of legal behaviorism and ideas of justice among ordinary people. He was a visiting legal scholar at the Huntington Library, San Marino, California for many years--until, as he said, he had read everything there.

Reid's body of work also included two judicial biographies of 19th-century state judges, two books dealing with the law of the Cherokee Nation and, recently, three studies of New Hampshire courts that analyze the politics of judging in the early republic.
He was pre-deceased by his parents; his brothers, Dr. Peter Reid and Michael Reid; and sister Ann Reid. He is survived by his sister, Dr. Susan Reid MacLennan (Doug) of Dover, NH; sister-in-law, Dr. Elaine Reid (Mrs. Peter) of Dover, NH; nieces Sharon Reid Altmeyer (Mark); and Hadley Reid; nephews Christopher Reid and Thomas Reid (Shannon); grand-nieces Sydney and Kalyn Altmeyer and Katherine Reid and grand-nephews Scott Altmeyer, Peter Reid and Jacob Reid.

A mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Friday June 3, 2022 at 11:00 a.m. at Parish of the Assumption St. Mary Church (corner of Chestnut and Third Streets.) Dover. Burial will follow in the family lot in St. Mary New Cemetery. Relatives and friends are welcome to visit prior to the mass from 10:00 to 10:45 a.m. at St. Mary Church.

If desired, memorials in his name may be made to St. John's Preparatory School, Danvers, MA, directed to the Advancement Office, for the Peter and Michael Reid scholarships