My Genealogy Hound

WILLIAM V. REYNOLDS, merchant of Rome, was born in Hardin County, Ky., September 15, 1820, and is the eldest of a family of eight children born to the marriage of William R. Reynolds and Sarah J. Tower, who were natives of Rhode Island and Massachusetts respectively. The father followed the carpenter’s trade in his younger days, and later was engaged in flat-boating on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. At the time of his marriage he lived in Hardin County, Ky., and in 1825 removed to Leavenworth, Crawford Co., Ind., where he lived for about twenty-five years. He then came to Rome, Perry County, where he resided until his death in the fall of 1866. His widow died in October, three years later. William V. Reynolds came to Indiana with his parents, and at the age of twelve years began work as a flat-boatman on the river. Four years later he had been so successful that he was able to buy a boat of his own, on which he transported all kinds of produce to the South. Ten years later he turned his attention to buying dry goods and groceries, running from two to eight boats. In 1851 he located at Rome, where he has since been engaged in the general merchandise business, with various partners, and a portion of the time by himself. The firm was first Reynolds & Gardner, then Reynolds & Huckaby, Reynolds & Connor, W. V. Reynolds, Reynolds & Carey, and Reynolds & Ackarman, the present firm. September 15, 1848, Mr. Reynolds was united in marriage, with Mary Frisbie, a native of the county, who died the following May. April 15, 1850, he married Elizabeth A. Gardner, who died August 23, 1884, leaving three children, Mary V. (wife of Isaac Bennett), Samuel G. and Clara A. (wife of Henry Ackarman). In connection with his store Mr. Reynolds also operated a tannery for upwards of five years, which was one of the most extensive establishments of the kind in southern Indiana. Politically he is a Republican, and is one of the most enterprising and successful business men in the county.