born Sept. 28, 1772, was a farmer and wheel-
wright, and for a number of years was engaged
in making spinning wheels. He was indus-
trious, and was recognized as a fine workman,
many of his spinning wheels still being in exist-
ence — now prized for their antiquity. He died
in North Bridgewater June 22, 1842. In 1798
he married Rebecca Hayward, daughter of
Joseph Hayward, and their children were: Mar-
tin Luther is mentioned below ; Orren, born
Feb. 17, 1801, died unmarried Sept. 26, 1822;
Anna, born April 16, 1803, married in 1824
Simeon Carr, and she died in Brockton ; Mary,
born June 26, 1805, married John Tilden, Jr.,
in 1823, and she died in Brockton ; Joseph Hay-
ward, born Sept. 17, 1808, a farmer and car-
penter, who died at Brockton Heights, mar-
ried in 1834 Zibia Sumner; Rebecca, born
Sept. 28, 1814, married in 1834 Howard Til-
den, and she died in Philadelphia; and Eliza-
beth S., who was born Dec. 16, 1824, died July
25, 1826.
(VIII) Martin Luther Eeynolds, son of Jo-
nas (2), was born March 2, 1799, in North
Bridgewater, in that part known as Brockton
Heights. In early life he learned the carpen-
ter's trade, which he followed for a number of
years, during which time he located in that part
of the town known as Marshall's Corner, and
there he built his home, which is now the resi-
dence of his son, Jonas Eeynolds. He finally
engaged in farming, and also conducted a grist
mill near his home, continuing thus engaged
until his death April 27. 1880. He was an in-
dustrious man, and acquired a comfortable com-
SOUTHEASTEEN MASSACHUSETTS
653
petency. He was possessed of a quiet though
genial manner, and was a kind and considerate
friend and neighbor. In his political views he
early allied himself with the old-line Whigs, and
upon the organization of the Kepublican party
identified himself with the latter. On Nov. 30,
1826, Mr. Reynolds was married to Abigail
Tilden, daughter of John and Polly (Howard)
Tilden, of North Bridgewater. She died in
Brockton Oct. 29, 1885, aged seventy-eight
years. To Mr. and Mrs. Eeynolds were born
three children, as follows: Martin Bradford,
born Oct. 11, 1827, died unmarried Oct. 4,
1850; Orren Bgnton, born April 10, 1832, died
in infancy ; Jonas was born Feb. 2, 1837.
(IX) Jonas Reynolds, son of Martin Luther
and Abigail (Tilden) Reynolds, was born Feb.
2, 1837, in North Bridgewater, Mass., and in
the common schools of his native town began his
educational training. He then attended the
East Greenwich (R. I.) Academy for four
years, after which he was a student in the
Bridgewater normal school, from which insti-
tution he graduated. He left school when about
twenty-three years old, and then began teaching
school in Campello, continuing there several
years, three years of the time being principal of
the Campello schools. Resigning his position
as teacher he then engaged in the shoe manu-
facturing business in .partnership with Palmer
Newton. This partnership continued for only
a short time, however, when he became asso-
ciated with George G. Whitten, under the firm
name of Whitten & RejTiolds, shoe manufactur-
ers, locating in a small shop at Marshall's Cor-
ner. After several years this firm was dis-
solved, Mr. Reynolds purchasing his partner's
interests, and he continued alone in the busi-
ness until in 1876, when he took into partner-
ship Charles E. Drake, the firm becoming J.
Reynolds & Co. The firm so continued until
it was incorporated under the name of Reynolds,
Drake & Gabell, William F. Gabell, one of the
firm's salesmen, being made a member. They
engaged in the manufacture of the medium-
grade shoe, which retails for from $3.50 to $5.00,
giving employment to from 100 to 125 hands,
with an output of about five hundred pairs per
day. On the night of Jan. 24, 1909, the plant
was completely destroyed by fire. This factory
was a frame building 40x185 feet, three stories
high, and was built by Mr. Reynolds in 1870.
He was spending the winter in California with
his wife when the fire occurred, and upon his
return, in the spring of 1909, the firm was re-
organized under the name of the Reynolds-
Stetson Shoe Company, A. W. Stetson, a prac-
tical shoemaker, becoming a member of the firm.
A factory was obtained in North Easton, Mass.,
to which place the business was removed, and
where it is now being successfully carried on.
Mr. Stetson withdrawing from the firm in Janu-
ary, 1910, it became the Reynolds, Drake &
Gabell Company.
Mr. Reynolds is a director of the Cowesset
Cemetery Company of Brockton. In political
faith he is a Republican, and has served the
city as a member of the common council. He
attends the Pearl Street Methodist Church,
while Mrs. Reynolds attended the Olivet Mem-
orial Church (undenominational) at Brockton.
She formerly attended the Pearl Street Metho-
dist Church. She attended the meetings of
the Christian and Missionary Alliance at Old
Orchard, Maine, where the family has had a
summer home for many years. She was much
interested in missionary work and of a very
faithful and devout nature. Of strong per-
sonality and charming temperament, she made
friends with all with whom she became asso-
ciated. Her life was characterized by its
marked simplicity, and there was nothing osten-
tatious in her nature.
Mr. Reynolds is of a quiet and retiring na-
ture, but possesses a genial manner which has
made him many friends. He is keen, intellec-
tual and farsighted. When the business cares
of the day are ended he is found in his home,
where his friends are always welcome. He has
spent several winters in Florida.
On Nov. 29, 1866, Mr. Reynolds married
Ellen Sherman Keith, who was bom in North
Bridgewater, in the section then known as "The
Plain" (now Campello), Sept. 13, 1836, daugh-
ter of Bela and Mary (Kingman) Keith, of
Campello, where she was educated in the pub-
lic schools. To this union were born children
as follows : Abbie Keith, born June 30, 1868,
married Rev. George W. Higgins, of Durham,
Maine, and has three children, Caleb, Austin
Perry, and Miriam Reynolds; Mary Louise,
born" Oct. 20, 1872, married Carl J. Carlson,
who is engaged in the real estate and insurance
business in Brockton, and has a son, Bela Keith
Carlson; Martin Elbert, bom Jan. 23, 1876,
who is associated with his father in the shoe
manufacturing business, being president of the
RejTiolds, Drake & Gabell Company, married
Lula M. Sladen, of North Easton, Mass., and
they have two children, Alfred Sladen and
Ellene Marie. Mrs. Reynolds passed away at
the summer home of the family at Old Orchard,
Maine, July 25, 1910, in the seventy-fourth
year of her age.
Mrs. Jonas Reynolds was a descendant of
early New England families, in both paternal
654
SOUTHEASTERN MASSACHUSETTS
and maternal lines. Among her ancestors may
be mentioned Rev. James Keith, the first min-
ister of the ancient town of Bridgewater; John
Gary, the first town clerk of Bridgewater ; Dea-
con Samuel Edson, who erected the first mill
in the town of Bridgewater; Henry Kingman,
of Weymouth, Mass., the first of his name in
this country; and William Sherman, one of the
early settlers of Plymouth, who later removed
to Marshfield, Massachusetts.
Bela Keith, father of Mrs. Reynolds, was
a son of Benjamin and Martha (Gary) Keith,
and a direct descendant in the sixth generation
from Rev. James Keith (I), the first ordained
minister in Bridgewater, where he continued
in the ministry for fifty-six years, through
Timothy and Hannah (Fobes) Keith (II) ;
Timothy and Bethiah (Ames) Keith (III) ;
Levi and Jemima (Perkins) Keith (IV) ; and
Benjamin and Martha (Gary) Keith (V). Bela
Keith was born Feb. 2, 1793, in the village of
Gampello, in what was then the town of
Bridgewater, later North Bridgewater, and now
a part of Brockton. After acquiring his early
educational training in the district schools of
his neighborhood, he became apprenticed to the
carpenter's trade, and after familiarizing him-
self with the details of the business he estab-
lished himself in the contracting and building
business, in which he was successfully engaged
until his death. From early manhood till his
death, Mr. Keith was prominently identified
with the interests of the town, and was an ac-
tive worker in all measures which had for their
object the advancement of the social,, material
and religious welfare of the community. As
a contractor and builder he carried on a large
business in the erection of residences, factories,
churches, etc. He built the. second church edi-
fice belonging to the First Gongregational
Ghurch of Brocldon, and also erected the first
house of worship of the South Gongregational
Church at Gampello, which cost $4,307.37, of
which only $3,000 was subscribed, and he, as
master builder of the edifice, paid the balance
of $1,307.37 himself. This edifice was de-
stroyed by fire in May, 1853, and Mr. Keith was
chairman of the committee which erected the
present church edifice. Mr. Keith also owned
a large farm at Gampello, upon which a portion
of the village is now located. He was a safe
and prudent man to trust in the management
of town affairs, and as early as 1837 was com-
missioned a justice of the peace, a capacity in
which he served as long as he lived. He was
selectman of the town in 1845-46-47-48-51-52-
53-54, and was also assessor and overseer of the
poor for a number of years, and in all these
official positions he discharged the duties with,
an eye single to the public good, and he died
honored by his fellow citizens, and esteemed
by a large circle of friends and relatives. He
was a consistent Christian, and one of the prin-
cipal founders of the South Gongregational
Ghurch Society in 1837, remaining an active-
member of the church until his death Sept.
6, 1867, in the seventy-fifth year of his age.
At the time of his death, one who knew himi
and his family well wrote the following notice :
"The last of four brothers whose lives were-
spent in the vicinity of their early home at Gam-
pello, has been called from the scenes of his
early labors, cares and benefactions. Respected
and honored in life wherever he was known,
he is in death universally lamented by neighbors
and fellow citizens. Seldom has so large an
assembly of sincere mourners gathered to pay
the' last token of respect to a departed friend,,
as congregated at the funeral of Mr. Keith in
the church at Gampello. It wanted no elo-
quent language to awaken the sympathy of the
audience, and well did the pastor remark that
the 'deceased needed no eulogium from him.'
His life was a transparent one — well known
and well read by his acquaintances and friends.
Of a well balanced mind, an unpretending and
unambitious spirit, his fellow citizens had often
called him to positions of trust and honor. In
every public enterprise he had been liberal, in
every philanthropic object at home and abroad
he had taken a generous interest ; in supporting
the institutions of religion, in erecting temples
of worship, in maintaining the preached word,
he had borne no humble part, but had willingly
stood up under the burden and heat of the day.
Many have been the young men who received
their first lessons in business under his direc-
tion, and there is not one who does not gladly
attest to his unfailing integrity and scrupulous
uprightness even in matters of the smallest
consequence, and they will always remember
his almost paternal solicitude for their welfare,
and the constant courtesy and kindness which
characterized his demeanor toward them. Such
a family of brothers — Charles, Ziba, Arza and
Bela Keith — cannot soon be forgotten. The
blessed fragrance of their lives and examples
will remain to exert an abiding influence on the
surviving cotemporaries. They were worthy
to bear the name of the first minister of Bridge-
water, whose descendants they were, and may
their mantles fall on others who shall live and
act like them."
On Jan. 1, 1821, Bela Keith married Mary
Kingman, daughter of Seth and Judith (Wash-
burn) Kingman, of North Bridgewater, and
SOUTHEASTERN MASSACHUSETTS
655
their children were: Lewis, born Nov. 12, 1821,
married (first) Charlotte Louise White, of Nor-
ton, Mass., and (second) her sister, Mariette
White; he died in North Bridgewater June 11,
1859. Seth Kingman, born Sept. 23, 1823,
died Aug. 12, 1825. Henry Kingman, born
Dec. 17, 1826, married Vesta Snell Cary, and
died in Kingston, Mass., Aug. 8, 1909. Mary
Kingman, born Oct. 12, 1828, died in North
Bridgewater, unmarried. Louise, born Sept.
20, 1830, married Jan. 25, 1855, Simeon
Franklin Packard, of North Bridgewater, where
she died Sept. 20, 1892. Ellen Sherman, born
Sept. 16, 1836, married Nov. 29, 1866, Jonas
Reynolds, of North Bridgewater. The mother,
although in feeble health for some years, was
always youthful in her interests and feelings,
a kindly neighbor and an affectionate mother;
she died Oct. 30, 1868.
REYNOLDS. The name introducing this
sketch is one synonymous with Brockton and
the development of the shoe industry in that
community, where for several generations the
family has been prominently identified with
the evolution of the industry which has made
Brockton famous the world over as "the shoe
city." This article is to treat particularly of
the branch of this family to which belong the
late Charles Turner Reynolds and his sons, the
latter of whom especially have made a name and
reputation for themselves in the shoe manu-
facturing world. They are descendants in the
ninth generation of Robert Reynolds, shoemaker
of Boston, and the early history of this family
is here given, the generation follomng in
chronological order.
(I) Robert RejTiolds, believed to have been
born in England, was apparently in Boston as
early as 1630, joining the church at Boston
Aug. 10, 1634. and is mentioned Sept. 3, 1634,
as a shoemaker and freeman. Soon thereafter
he removed to Watertown, and finally went with
his brother John to Wethersfield, Conn., being
dismissed March 29, 1636, by the church to
form a church in Wethersfield. He, however,
soon returned to Boston, and there passed the
rest of his life, dying April 27, 1659. The
Christian name of his wife was Mary. She died
Jan. 18, 1663. Their children, all believed to
have been born in England, were : Nathaniel
is mentioned below : Ruth married John Whit-
ney; Tabitha married Matthew Abdy; Sarah
married Robert Mason; Mary married Richard
Sanger.
(II) Capt. Nathaniel Reynolds, son of Rob-
ert, bom about 1627, in England, came when
a child to New England with his parents. He
became a freeman in 1665; was a shoemaker.
In a record dated Chelmsford. Feb. 25, 1676,
he was called captain, probably for service in.
King Philip's war. He was a lieiitenant in
an artillery company. [Professor Munro, of
Brown University, says in his History of Bris-
tol (1880) that Nathaniel Reynolds was a mem-
ber of the Artillery Company, and did good
service in the Indian war as captain of a com-
pany under Colonel Church.] He removed to
Bristol (now Rhode Island) in 1680 and was
recognized in the first town meeting there. He
became one of the principal men of the town.
He married (first) Nov. 30, 1657, the cere-
mony being performed by Gov. John Endicott,
Sarah, daughter of John Dwight, of Dedham.
She died July 8', 1663, and he married (sec-
ond) Priscilla, daughter of Peter Brackett, a
well-to-do tradesman of Boston. He had thre'-'
children by his first wife and eight by his sec-
ond. He died at Bristol, July 10, 1708. His
children were: Sarah, born July 26, 1659,
married John Fosdick; Mary, born Nov. 20,.
1660, died young; Nathaniel, born March 3,
1662-63, is mentioned below; John was born
Aug. 4, 1668; Peter, Jan. 26, 1670; Philip,
Sept. 15, 1674; Joseph, Dec. 29, 1676; Hannah,
Jan. 15, 1682 (married Samuel Royall) ; Mary,
1684 (married Nathaniel Woodbury) ; Benja-
min, May 10, 1686; Ruth, Dec. 9, 1688 (mar-
ried Josiah Cary).
(III) Nathaniel Reynolds (2), son of Capt.
Nathaniel, born March 3, 1662-63, lived in Bos-
ton, and there died prior to 1717. The Chris-
tian name of his wife was Ruth, and she died
Sept. 19, 1716. They had nine children,
namely: Sarah, born Oct. 25, 1687, married
Robert Young; Ruth, born Sept. 11, 1689, died
March 16, 1693; Mary, born Aug. 21, 1691,
married Edward Marion; Nathaniel, bom Jan.
14, 1694, married Mary Snell; John, bom
March 29, 1696, married Anna Blanch; Eben-
ezer, born in Jime, 1699, died July 29, 1701;
Philip, born May 12, 1701, died Dec. 27, 1727;
Ruth (2), born Sept. 1, 1704, died June 22,
1721; Naomi, born Oct. 27, 1706, married
Samuel Ridgeway.
(IV) Nathaniel Reynolds (3), son of Na-
thaniel (2), born Jan. 14, 1694, in Boston,
was a shoemaker, as were his father and grand-
father. On Jan. 27, 1717, he married Mary
Snell, daughter of Thomas Snell, of Bridge-
water, and they had sons Nathaniel, bom March
19, 1718, and Thomas, born Feb. 25, 1719. The
father died in Boston Oct. 29, 1719, and his
widow moved to her native town of Bridge-
water, Mass., taking her two sons with her.
(V) Thomas Reynolds, son of Nathaniel (3),
656 SOUTHEASTERN MASSACHUSETTS
was born Feb. 25, 1719, in Boston, on Milk 20, 1898. (10) Martha, born June 26, 1820,
street, in the same house in which Benjamin married Isaac A. Reynolds, of North Bridge-
Franklin was born in 1706. He married Nov. water, where she died. (11) Mary Ann, bom
3, 1748, Elizabeth Turner, and their children July 28, 1822, married Samuel A. Clark, of
were : Amy, born Oct. 29, 1749, who died Deering, N. H., and died in Abington, Mass.
May 9, 1752; Joseph, born June 21, 1751 ; Amy (12) Joseph, born Sept. 30, 1824, married Eliz-
(2), born Feb. 25, 1753, who married Silas abeth M. Stoddard, of Canton, Mass., and both
Dunbar; Elizabeth, born June 22, 1755; Su- are now deceased. (13) Elizabeth Whitcomb,
sanna, born April 24, 1757, who married Oliver born April 8, 1827, married George H. How-
Howard; Martha, born March 23, 1759, who ard, of Easton; they reside in Brockton. (14)
married Capt. Parmenas Packard; Thomas, Harriet, born April 10, 1829, married Lewis
born Jan. 27, 1762; and Josiah. Randall, of Easton, Mass., and both are de-
(VI) Joseph Reynolds, son of Thomas, born ceased. (15) Olive died March 12, 1836, in
June 21, 1751, married Sept. 17, 1772, Jemima, infancy.
daughter of Luke Perkins, and their children (VIII) Chables Turner Reynolds, eldest
were: Ichabod, born March 27, 1773, who son of Joseph (2) and Phebe (Whitcomb)
married Polly Brett; Joseph-, born April 18, Reynolds, was born May 6, 1818, in North
1775; Daniel; Simeon, who married Mary Bridgewater (now Brockton), where he died
Snell; Azel, who married Susanna Nash; May 20, 1898, aged eighty years. After ac-
Thomas, born Jan. 19, 1776, who taarried quiring his early training in the district schools
Nancy Pike; Jemima; Olive, who married Jo- of his native town, he as a boy took up shoe-
seph Macomber ; Amy, who married Ziphion making, and when he had become familiar with
Howard ; Susanna, who married Capt. Silas the making of boots and shoes he was employed
Dunbar; and Vesta, who married Isaac Clapp. for several years after the fashion of shoemak-
(VII) Joseph Reynolds (2), son of Joseph, ers of that day, taking stock from the factories
born April 18, 1775, married (first) April 19, and making up the boots and shoes at his home,
1798, Martha (Patty), daughter of Silas Dun- returning to the factories with the finished pro-
bar and Amy (Reynolds) Dunbar, and after duct. Later he engaged in the manufacture of
her death (second) Phebe, daughter of Noah shoes on his own account, having his factory in
Whitcomb. Mr. Reynolds was a resident of a part of his house on Pleasant street, where
North Bridgewater, where he was occupied as he continued for a number of years, subse-
a farmer and shoemaker. He also made nails, quently removing the business to larger quar-
which he marketed in Boston. He served as ters, where he was located during the remainder
major in the State militia. He stood over six of his active business career. Mr. Reynolds was
feet in height, was a powerful man, possessed possessed of an amiable, genial disposition, and
a hardy constitution and lived to be upward of enjoyed the friendship as well as the respect
ninety-three years of age, dying in August, and esteem of the community in which his long
1868, in North Bridgewater, Mass. His chil- and useful life was spent. He was an active
dren were: (1) Olive, born April 26, 1799, member of the Pearl Street Methodist Episcopal
died in February, 1800. (2) Pamela, born Church, and for several years played the violin
Aug. 1, 1800, married Azel Packard, and died in that church. In early life he was a member
in North Bridgewater. (3) Sophia, born April of the North Bridgewater Dragoons, and pos-
29, 1802, married Azel Macomber, of Jay, sessing a military bearing made a fine appear-
Maine, where she died. (4) Oliver, born Jan. ance on horseback.
20, 1804, married Olive K. Gay, of Stoughton, On Oct. 15, 1843, Mr. Reynolds married
and they both died in Brockton. (5) Nancy, Sarah Stephens Knowles, daughter of John and
born March 30, 1808, married Joseph Macom- Susannah (Cram) Knowles, of Wilmot, N. H.,
her, of Jay, Maine, where she died. (6) Daniel, and granddaughter of David and Sarah (Ste-
born May 11, 1810, married Hannah Tribou, phens) Knowles. This union was blessed with
and he died in North Bridgewater. (7) Su- children as follows: (1) Charles Wesley, bom
sanna, born June 26, 1812, married Samuel July 17, 1844, was a member of Company D,
Peabody, of Canton, Maine, where she died. 58th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, and
(8) Luke, born April 10, 1815, was a shoe- was killed on April 2, 1865, at the last battle
maker and mason, and is now living retired, in front of Petersburg before Lee's surrender.
He married Emeline Harding, of Abington. All during the Civil war; he was unmarried. (2)
these children were born to the first marriage. Sarah Almena, bom Feb. 21, 1847, married
The following were by the second union: (9) Aaron S. Harlow, of Brockton, who is foreman
Charles Turner, born May 6, 1818, died May in the cutting room of Bion F. Reynolds' shoe
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SOUTHEASTERN MASSACHUSETTS
657
factory. They have one son, Herbert Wesley,
born Nov. 15, 1872 (now bookkeeper for Bion
F. Reynolds), who married Abby Frances
Smith, of Barnstable, Mass., and they have one
son, Wesley Spear Harlow. (3) Lowell Mason,
born Feb. 4, 1849, is mentioned below. (4)
Susan Eldora, born Sept. 3, 1851, married Jus-
tin Hewett, of Brockton, where they reside. He
is mentioned elsewhere in these volumes. (5)
Jay Bird, born May 2, 1854, is mentioned
below. (6) Bion Fourth, born March 4, 1856,
is mentioned loelow. (7) Luke Webster, born
Feb. 3, 1859, is mentioned below. (8) Zira,
bom March 22, 1862, is the widow of William
L. Grout, of Greenfield, Mass., whom she mar-
ried Sept. 1, 1894, and who was prominently
identified with the growth and development
of the New Home Sewing Machine Company,
of Orange, Mass., and who at the time of his.
death, which occurred April 15, 1898, was one
â– of the wealthiest and most influential business
men in his section of the vState ; Mrs. Grout
still makes her home in Greenfield, Massachu-
setts.
Mrs. Sahah Stephens (Knowles) Rey-
nolds, wife of Charles T. Re^Tiolds and mother
of the above cliildren, survived her husband,
passing away in the house where she had lived
nearly sixty-four years, and in which all her
xaarried life had been spent, and where her
children were all born, on June 14, 1909, in
the eighty-fourth year of her age. Mrs. Rey-
nolds was born June 25, 1825, in New Chester,
N. H., and after her marriage came to North
Bridgewater and went to housekeeping in the
house on Pleasant street which was built in
1844, and which was ever afterward her home.
â– She was of a home-loving nature, a devoted and
affectionate wife and mother, her interests cen-