My Genealogy Hound

JOHN G. REYNOLDS. This well known farmer and lumberman of the town of Cayuta, Schuyler County, was born January 27, 1832, in this town (then a part of the town of Erin, Chemung County). He is a son of Thomas and Nancy (Colwell) Reynolds, natives of Brattleboro, Vt., the former born August 14, 1800, and the latter in 1798. John Reynolds, grandfather of our subject, moved with his family from the Green Mountain State to New York, and settled in the town of Reading, Schuyler County, but soon removed to the town of Veteran, Tioga (now Chemung) County, where he spent the remainder of his life. The Colwell family removed from Vermont and located in Chautauqua County, N. Y., about the same time that the Reynolds family moved to Schuyler County. Thomas Reynolds was a substantial farmer, and in politics was a Democrat, though not active in political affairs.

The subject of this sketch was fifth among seven children comprising the family of Thomas and Nancy Reynolds. His boyhood and youth were spent upon the old farm, and during the winters he attended the district school, while in the summer he assisted in the farm work. At the age of twenty-one he commenced life for himself, teaching school winters and performing any kind of work that came to hand during the summer. Four years later he embarked in the lumber business in company with his brother Jerome, purchasing a sawmill in the town of Cayuta, which they conducted for twenty-seven years. Our subject then purchased his brother’s interest and has since continued alone. His plan has been to purchase timber-land, clear it and convert the timber into lumber. In the time in which he has been engaged in the business he has cleared one thousand acres, and now owns about that amount of land in this, Chemung and Tompkins Counties. In farming he has given special attention to stock-raising, and has raised some valuable blooded horses, and now owns some well bred young roadsters.

January 7, 1864, Mr. Reynolds married Miss Sylvia, daughter of Ira and Gecia (Smith) Cooper. She was born in the house where she now lives and which has always been her home. By this union two children were born: Ernest C., who graduated from the Cazenovia Seminary and is now engaged in business in New York City; and Ethel S., a graduate of Ft. Edwards Collegiate Institute.

In politics Mr. Reynolds is a Democrat and for many years has been active in the councils of that party. He has often been honored by his fellow-citizens with local offices. For thirteen years he has served his town as a member of the Board of Supervisors. He was first elected in 1861 and served for two years. In 1870 he was again elected and served four terms in succession. In 1891 he was elected and served three years. He is, with one exception, the only man in the county who has served that length of time. Besides this position, he has held the offices of Assessor, Town Clerk and Inspector of Elections. For the past thirty years he has represented his party in county and state conventions, and in all that time has never missed a single county convention. He is not a member of any church, but attends the Christian Church, of which his wife is a member, and contributes to its support.

Mr. Reynolds has done a large business in lumber, shipping to various cities from half a million to a million feet per year. Besides the old sawmill, located on the outlet of Cayuta Lake and run by water power, in 1883 he purchased a portable sawmill, which he has also operated. Since that year he has probably sawed more lumber than any other firm in the county. His home farm comprises fifty acres, on which is a comfortable dwelling, together with all outbuildings necessary for a well regulated farm. He also owns six hundred acres in the vicinity of the old mill.