Jasper Newton Reynolds

As printed in 1907

JASPER NEWTON REYNOLDS.

Jasper Newton Reynolds, who carries on farming on section 28, Cass township, belongs to one of the most prominent and honored families of Guthrie county. His birth occurred in Owen county, Indiana, on the 31st of August, 1847. He is a brother of E. J. Reynolds and a son of Gillium Reynolds. His remote ancestors were English and his grandfather Reynolds was a participant in the American Revolution.

Gillium Reynolds, his father, was a native of North Carolina, born in 1796, emigrated to Indiana in early manhood and settled in Owen county when that part of the state was nearly all covered with heavy timber. In Owen county he was married to Miss Winnie Beman, a native of North Carolina and a daughter of Jacob Beman, who was born in that state of English parentage. To this worthy couple were born thirteen children, two of whom died in infancy, the names of the others being as follows: Nancy Jane, wife of Thomas Burgess, who was a soldier in the Civil war and is now deceased; Sarah, wife of Jonathan Morris, of Stuart, Iowa; E. Jackson; Isoni R., of Santa Barbara, California; 'healthy, the wife of Arthemus McClaran, who resides in Panora; Matilda, the wife of Isaac Morris, of Snohomish, Washington; Liniiie Ann, the wife of James Morris, who resides near Panora; Allen H., of Panora; Willis, deceased; Jasper N., of this review; and Mary Ellen, the wife of Moses Morris, a resident of Washington.

The father left his home in Indiana, May 10, 1852, accompanied by his wife and little ones, and set out for Iowa, traveling with an ox team and bringing with them three horses and twenty-five head of cattle. The journey from Indiana to Guthrie county, Iowa, consumed twenty-three days and on their arrival here they stopped on a hill just south of Panora, where the father bought a claim on which was a log cabin. In July of the following year he took up a tract of government land, but he was not permitted to enjoy his new home long, for in October, 1856, at the age of fifty years, he was called to his last home. Politically he was a democrat and a strong adherent to that party. He was, however, a great admirer of (general Taylor and voted for him, the only time he left his favorite party. He was a man of strong physique and great moral courage and exerted an influence for good wherever he resided. His widow, after surviving him many years, passed away- in December, 1876.

[This passage is too damaged in the scanned book to reproduce. See the original book.]

In 1870 Mr. Reynolds was married to Miss L. C. Plaine, who was born in Maryland. April 22, 1845, her father being B. E. Plaine. Three children grace this marriage: F. E.. who resides on a farm adjoining that of his father, and who wedded Miss Mollie Derr> by whom he has five daughters: Elsie, who died at the age of seventeen years, and C. B., who is still at home.

Mr. Reynolds and his family are members of the German Baptist Brethren church and he affiliates with the republican part, but has no ambition for office. He is a good farmer, diligent and persevering in his business life, and as one of the county's pioneer settlers deserves creditable mention in this

\-volume. His memory forms a connecting link between the primitive past and the progressive present, and many events which to others are a matter of history and of record are familiar to him from experience or because he has been a witness thereof.

As printed in Past and present of Guthrie County, Iowa : together with biographical sketches of many of its prominent and leading citizens and illustrious dead (1907). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.