FRED REYNOLDS.
Born in Johnson county, Iowa, on August 16, 1856, Fred Reynolds, one of the older residents of Audubon county, has lived in this county during the period of its greatest growth and prosperity and is widely known and highly respected. Mr. Reynolds is the son of John H. and Lucy (Seamons) Reynolds, natives of Suffolkshire, England. The father was a laborer in the old country, who came to the United States in the spring of 1856, landing at New York city. He did not remain long in New York, but started west, proceeding as far as Iowa City, at that time the terminus of the railroad. There the father secured work on the farm of Samuel J. Kirkwood, later governor of the state of Iowa during the time of the Civil War. He worked there for several years and then, for a few years, rented land. In 1867 he purchased forty acres of land, on which the family lived until 1880, in which year they came to Audubon county, purchasing one hundred and sixty acres of land in Greeley township, where John H. Reynolds and his wife spent the rest of their lives. They were the parents of eight children, who lived to maturity, as follow: Fred, the subject of this sketch; Marguerite, wife of George Hoover, of Audubon, and Samuel W., Mrs. Mary J. Hunt, Mrs. Katie V. Bell, Mrs. Esther M. Barrack, Mrs. Lillian L. Stonebrook and Ida.
Fred Reynolds lived with his parents until he was married. Several years before his marriage he had purchased eighty acres of wild prairie land, without fences or any other kind of improvement. Shortly before his marriage he built on this place a small house, sixteen by twenty-four feet, consisting of three rooms, which served as a home until 1912, in which year he built his present commodious eight-room house. This house is entirely modern in its construction, except for the furnace, and is equipped with gaslights, bath and waterworks.
On January 1, 1888, Fred Reynolds was married to Savilla Paige, of this county, who was born on March 6, 1862, daughter of Jerome B. and Sarah M. (Durfee) Paige, natives of Ohio, who moved from Ohio to Illinois, and from Illinois to Guthrie county, Iowa, where their daughter, Saville, was born. The family came to Audubon county in 1864, and here Jerome B. Paige and his wife spent their last days. They were the parents of nine children, Mrs. Mariah Bateman (deceased), George, Malachi, Mrs. Ruth Currier, Mrs. Sylvia Carley, Mrs. Levina McMullen, Mrs. Fred Reynolds, Mrs. Matie Herron and Mrs. Laura Judea.
To Fred and Savilla (Paige) Reynolds have been born two children. Lulu L., born on August 19, 1890, and John D., May 12, 1892, both of whom live at home with their parents. Lulu is a teacher in the schools of Greeley township, this county, and has been very successful in her useful calling.
One of the organizers of the Greeley Center Methodist Episcopal church and a charter member of that congregation, Fred Reynolds has been quite prominent in the ailairs of the Methodist church in Greeley township. His father and mother also were charter members of this congregation. Politically, Mr. Reynolds is a Republican and for nine years served as township trustee. He previously had served for four years as township clerk, and is now serving his second term in that office. For twenty years Mr. Reynolds has been township committeeman of the Republican party and has taken a very active part in local politics. Long before the days of rural delivery, when the mail was carried on horseback or on foot, Mr. Reynolds was postmaster at Horace, in Greeley township, serving for seven years in that capacity.
Not only from the standpoint of long residence, but from the standpoint of the many friends he has made since coming to Audubon county, Fred Reynolds deserves to rank among the leading citizens of Greeley township.
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Transcribed from History of Audubon County, Iowa Its People, Industries and Institutions With Biographical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Many of the Old Families, by H. F. Andrews, editor, Indianapolis: B. F. Bowen & Company, 1915, pp. 388-389.
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