BIOGRAPHY - THOMAS REYNOLDS
Thomas Reynolds is the owner of an excellent farm of two hundred and forty acres situated about a quarter of a mile west of Guthrie in Dix township and his life is devoted to its further development and improvement with the result that he has made it a valuable property, from which he annually derives a gratifying income. He was born near Russellville, Kentucky, in 1843. His parents, William and Elizabeth (Edgar) Reynolds, are both now deceased. The father was a farmer of Kentucky and died in that state when his son Thomas was but six years of age. The mother long survived and passed away in 1901 at the age of eighty-five years. Their family numbered six children: P. F., who is now living in Kansas; Mary, who is living with her sister, P. F.; Joseph, deceased; Thomas, of this review; Joseph, the second of the name, who has also passed away; and Elizabeth, deceased.
Thomas Reynolds was a youth of about eleven years when he came to Illinois with his mother in 1854, the family home being established in Logan county, where he acquired his education as a pupil in the district school. He started out in life on his own account at the age of twenty-three years and has since been dependent entirely upon his own resources. He was married in 1869 to Miss Malinda J. Sumner, a daughter of Norman Sumner, a farmer of Logan county, who is now deceased, as is his wife.
In the year of his marriage Mr. Reynolds removed to Ford county and settled a quarter of a mile west of Guthrie on section 30, Dix township. He had in 1867 purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land here and later he bought eighty acres more, so that he now owns two hundred and forty acres in all. Here he follows general farming and is accounted one of the progressive and wide-awake agriculturists of the community. In the midst of his place stands a nice farm residence facing Guthrie, the village being only a quarter of a mile to the east, while the Illinois Central Railroad passes just south of the house, extending in a southwesterly direction. Everything about the place is kept in excellent condition and the neat and thrifty appearance of the farm indicates the careful supervision and untiring efforts of the owner. He has put all of the improvements upon the place and has tiled the land, making it very productive. It was very wet when it came into his possession and for it he paid only eight dollars per acre but it is now classed with the fine farms of this rich agricultural section.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds have been born six children: William, who married Amanda Duclos and is living in Kankakee, Illinois; Robert and Frank, at home; Ora, Effie and Fannie, who are also at home. The children have been provided with excellent educational advantages. William and Robert were students in the Northern Indiana Normal College at Valparaiso, which Frank also attended, while later he was graduated on the completion of a business course at Dixon, Illinois. Ora is a graduate of the Gibson high school and attended the Normal School for two summers. Effie likewise graduated from the Gibson high school, and Fannie completed a course there in the summer of 1908.
Mr. Reynolds has always been loyal in citizenship and at the time of the Civil war enlisted in 1864 as a member of Company D, One Hundred and Forty-fifth Illinois Infantry, in Logan county, remaining with that command until honorably discharged in September of the same year. His political allegiance has always been given to the republican party and he keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the day. He has served as school trustee for eight years and also as road commissioner, yet has never been a politician in the sense of office seeking. Both he and his wife are members of the Christian church and the family is highly esteemed in the community, the hospitality of the best homes being freely accorded them.
Extracted 19 Oct 2016 by Norma Hass from History of Ford County, Illinois, From Its Earliest Settlement to 1908, author E. A. Gardner, Volume 1, pages 418-420.
