Frank Reid was a Gowensville native who served as Deputy Sheriff of Greenville County in the Dark Corner area. He partnered for a number of years with T. Pralo Wood, another deputy from Tigerville.

The son of Warren Joseph and Lula Noe Reid, Frank was born March 27, 1892, on the family homestead situated just east of SC Highway 14 after its junction with SC Highway 414 south of McClain’s Bridge on the Middle Tyger River.

At age 24, he married Gladys Edwards, daughter of George and Talula Land Edwards, on September 17, 1916. They became parents of four daughters—Lucille, Ruth, Frankie and Jerodean — and one son. The son, George, was a twin of Jerodean.

Frank took his law enforcement oath as a Deputy Sheriff in 1936 at age 44.

As teenagers, George and Jerodean were vivacious and fun loving, and adopted me as their favorite child at Gowensville Baptist Church. After many Sunday services, they would delight in finding me and having me stand on the running board of their car and singing for a gathering crowd.

Tragedy struck the Frank Reid family on June 29, 1944, however, when 20-year-old Jerodean drowned. As her 10-year-old favorite “son,” I, too, was devastated.

Because of the circumstances, her funeral was held with a closed casket. At the graveside, however, the family consented to the casket being opened for a limited viewing. Her favorite flower was the gardenia, and one had been placed in her hair over the right ear.

The pungent fragrance of that gardenia filled the nostrils of everyone who gazed at the beautiful girl lying there. (Seventy-two years later, I cannot catch the hint of a gardenia without remembering her.)

Frank Reid witnessed tragedy first hand with the drowning of a beloved daughter, and was directly involved with a number of other more wellknown tragedies throughout the Dark Corner.

He was involved with the double killing of Will Center and Harrison Fricks on June 19, 1938, from the onset, since he and two other deputies were searching for a whiskey violator only a short distance from the scene and heard the fatal shots.

Frank Reid served with distinction as Deputy Sheriff for 16 years, under two sheriffs of Greenville County. He retired in 1952 at age 60 and devoted his remaining life to managing the family farm.

He died on July 12, 1978, at age 86 and was buried at First Baptist Gowensville cemetery. His beloved wife, Gladys, died on May 29, 1984, and was buried beside him.

His son, George, carried on the law enforcement legacy of the family as a member of the United States Secret Service in Washington, D.C. He retired to the family homestead in the mid-1980s.