REYNOLDS, LARKIN

REYNOLDS, HALL, HITE, ANDERSON, CARLSON, THIEL, STERLING, PEARSON

Posted By: Jean Kramer (email)
Date: 9/9/2003 at 21:18:00

Biography reproduced from page 426 of Volume II of the History of Kossuth County written by Benjamin F. Reed and published in 1913:

Among the prominent men of Kossuth county and one of the leading citizens and business men of Grant township, is Larkin Reynolds, owner of a farm comprising four hundred and eighty acres of fine, well improved land. He not only engages in diversified farming on his highly cultivated property but buys and ships cattle, hogs, sheep and horses on a large scale. He is one of Iowa’s native sons, having been born in Marshall county, September 22, 1870, a son of James and Harriet (Hall) Reynolds. The father, a millwright by trade, was a native of Toledo, Ohio, of Irish extraction, his parents coming from the old country. The mother was born near Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, of German and Irish lineage. The father removed to Iowa in 1856 and settled in Marshalltown, where he engaged in the meat business, opening the first market in that city. He was one of the pioneers of the Hawkeye state, coming her by ox team, and for several years hauled freight by wagon from Iowa City to Fort Dodge before any of the railroads were built into Fort Dodge. When the Civil war spread its dark shadow over the land he enlisted in Company D, Fifth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, at Marshalltown, serving therewith for a period of ninety days. At the expiration of that time he reenlisted for three years, faithfully serving his country for that length of time, and then again reenlisted, remaining a valiant supporter of the stars and stripes until the end of the war, when he was honorably discharged at Davenport in 1865. During his service in the army he was appointed regimental butcher and very satisfactorily filled that position. When peace was declared he returned to Marshall county and engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1887, when he removed to the vicinity of Rockwell City in Calhoun county, where he resided until he retired from active life in 1906 and settled in Lake City, Iowa. He remained there for one year and then removed to Greeley, Colorado, where his wife died on the 25th of August, 1909. He then returned, to 1910, to Iowa, making his home at Jolley, there passing away March 2, 1911. In the family were four children, namely: Larkin, of this review; Albert, a farmer of Jolley, Iowa; Timothy, also engaged in agricultural pursuits at Jolley; and Minnie, the wife of William Hite, a farmer of Canada.

Larkin Reynolds remained on the home farm and under the parental roof until he was sixteen years of age. He received a common-school education in Marshall county and afterward removed with his parents to Calhoun county. On the 10th of March, 1896, he settled in Emmett county, near Armstrong, where he purchased a farm on which he lived for two years, then, selling that place, he come to Kossuth county, where he bought his present homestead of one hundred and sixty acres in Grant township. He added to his purchase from time to time until his farm contained four hundred and eighty acres of fine land, all of which is well improved. He has very ably handled this fine property and is recognized as one of the most extensive and best known dealers in stock in the county. He also owns land in Canada, an interest in a half section of land in Eagle township, Kossuth county, and an interest in the old Reynolds homestead at Rockwell City.

Mr. Reynolds was married June 9, 1906, to Miss Mamie Anderson, a native of Smalands, Sweden, and a daughter of Fredin and Sarah (Carlson) Anderson, who were also born in that country. The father was a mason and plasterer by trade and emigrated to the new world with his family 1880, settling at East Chain, Minnesota, where he embarked in agricultural pursuits upon a farm which he purchased there. He lived on his Minnesota farm until shortly before the time of his death, which occurred in Bancroft, Iowa, on the 2d of August, 1909. He had there been engaged in business for a brief period. His widow still resides on the old home place at East Chain, Minnesota. In their family were seven children, namely: John, a farmer of East Chain, Minnesota; Theodore, carrying on agricultural pursuits in Eagle township, Kossuth county; Anna, the wife of Fred Thiel, a real-estate man of Alexander, South Dakota; Edith, the wife of Byron Sterling, a hardware merchant of Buffalo Center, Iowa; Solomon, a railroad agent of Frazee, Minnesota; Mrs. Reynolds; and Clara, the wife of John Pearson, who is at this writing a candidate for county treasurer of Timber Lake, South Dakota. Mrs. Reynolds was but a child when brought to America by her parents and in the common schools of Iowa obtained her early education, later attending the State Normal College at Cedar Falls. She afterward engaged in teaching, profession which she followed for about twelve years in the schools of Kossuth county. By her marriage to Mr. Reynolds she has become the mother of four children, namely: Arden, who was born February 23, 1907; Clara Dorothy, born June 26, 1908; Wallace, born December 4, 1910; and Doris, born November 19, 1911. Mr. Reynolds is a republican and has since 1905 served as clerk of Grant township, still holding that position. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and also belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America camp, his membership in both orders being at Swea City. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church of Grant township while Mrs. Reynolds belongs to the Swedish Lutheran church of Swea township, and is a member of the Ladies Aid Society of that organization. Mr. Reynolds has long been recognized as one of the leading citizens of his township as well as one of the best men of the county. He is a man of unusual business ability, possessing a keen foresight, wise discrimination and using great care in all of the many details of his extensive business. He has built up a comfortable fortune on the theory that honesty is the best policy and his reputation for integrity and square dealing is well established. He is one of the prominent men of Grant township and has an extensive acquaintance throughout Kossuth county, being greatly respected by all who know him.