Family:William Reynolds and Elizabeth Beaumont (1)

Biography according to Vernon L. Joy

My grandfather, William Reynolds (1839-1927) was born in Gallipolis, Ohio, joined the Union Army at Columbus Ohio in 1862, served through two major battles, and was released several years later in 1864. He headed west as an enterprising, renter- framer who moved from place to place yearly including Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, and Missouri. He married Elizabeth Beaumont (1865-1922) probably around 1890 and begot Harry (1891-1970), Ted (1892-1950), Stella (1894-1984), Helen (1899-1957), and Bernice "Bea" (1908-1998, as well as short-lived Clarence (1896) and Ada (1898). Note, when Bea was born, her father was 69 and her mother 43. Incidentally, William loved to attend State Fairs and would win prizes for garden produce, etc. He also attended sporting events and even participated vigorously. Mom noted that even in his eighties no one was ever able to wrestle him off his feet or take him down for a pin fall.

Family History from Stella Reynolds

Father was born at Galipolis, Ohio and lived there until he joined the Union Army for the Civil War When he was mustered out of the army, he returned to Ohio and married. His wife died in childbirth about a year later. He left Ohio and came to Sioux City, Iowa where two of his sisters and their families lived. He met mother in Sioux City and they were married Elk Point, South Dakota. He began farming near Whiting, Iowa.

IN 1893 they moved to a farm in Union County, S.D., where I was born. A pickle factory had started business in Sioux City and my parents contracted to plant five acres to cucumbers to sell to the factory. After the pickles had been delivered, the factory filed bankruptcy and my folks received nothing for their summer work. They had a very hard time eking out a living as they had two small sons and were expecting another child (me) in January.

Actually, dad drove a team of horses hitched to a springboard wagon to Sioux City to bring one of his sisters to be with mother and to care for the other children when I was about due. However, when Dad was delayed by a bad blizzard, I became impatient and decided I would strike out on my own some two days before Dad and his sister arrived. Mother had to act as doctor, nurse and mother. By the time Dad managed to arrive, the wood for fuel was depleted so Mother, after caring for me, took all three of us children to bed with her, and with a good supply of blankets and quilts was able to keep us all warm until Dad got back and took over.

Mother always said that the only way we managed to survive was in answer to her prayers. Dad must have agreed with her as he joined the church and was a devoted Christian the rest of his life. Beofre that time, he hadn't led a good life. He had been orphaned at an early age, entered the army at the time of the civil war by giving a false birth date. While in the service he became involved with other young men who were involved in drinking parties as their main objective in life. After I arrived, however, he gave up that habit as he said, "no daughter of mine would ever be able to say her father was a drunkard."

They were in dire circumstances and manarged to survive in an abandoned log cabin through the assistance of father's two sisters. In January I came along to add to their misfortunes. However they were so happy the baby was a girl and healthy that nothing else seemed to matter. When they moved into the log cabin, it had been vacant a long time and rats had taken possession of the place. The first night they were there, a rat got in the bed with my two small brothers and almost bit off the toe on one of them. After that my father kept a light burning and slept with a shotgun by his bed until he managed to get rid of the rats. Later dad was hired to work with a construction crew and managed to keep us all fed and clothed until he found a better farm for the next spring.

Times were hard but the folks always had good gardens and mother was a good seamstress so they managed to feed and clothe us. Dad had two nieces who taught school and wore good clothes which they gave my mother to make over for the children. As it happened, my folks were criticized because we were the best dressed children in the school. The critics never realized how many night mother spent making over others' clothes for us children. The two children younger than I both passed away in infancy. Then Helen came along and when she was about two we moved to Minnesota.

From then on, the tide turned for the better and life was much easier financially. But mother's health was poor and it made for numerous problems. One problem was that I wasn't strong enough to take over all my mother's responsibilities with the home and educating two younger sisters. My health began to fail. Then an uncle and aunt took me into their home and helped me through business college. I soon had a good paying position. Now I was able to make a home for my parents for the rest of their lives and was able to help my younger sisters complete their college education.

Later I had an opportunity to learn to run a lineotype at a newspaper while their regular operators were on strike. After about six weeks training they hired me as an operator and I worked for the same paper for several years until I had to give up work for a while because of health problems.

(This was written by Stella Reynolds in Macomb, Illinois, in 1982)