William REYNOLDS (1560 – 1648) was Alex’s 10th great grandfather, one of 2,048 in this generation of the Miner line through his son John.  He was also Alex’s 11th great grandfather, one of 4,096 in this generation of the Miller line through his daughter Catherine.

William Reynolds was born in 1560 in London, England. His parents were Christopher REYNOLDS  and Clarissa HUNTINGTON (1533 – 1575). He married Esther RUTH on 2 Feb 1580 in Kent, England.  He came from England to Bermuda between 1600-1635.  He departed Bermuda for New England about 1625 and settled in Providence, Rhode Island. He suppposedly returned to Bermuda in 1646/47 and died there.  Many sources state he died in Bermuda in 1625.

There was another William Reynolds who lived in Bermuda who married Mary Smith.  From Julie E. Mercer’s book: Bermuda Settlers of the 17th Century.
REYNOLDS/REIGNOLDS – page 157
Port Royal Records – Baptisms:

1629, June; Mary dau. of William Reynolds.
1631, Feb: Elizabeth dau. William Reynolds.
1637, April: William son William & Mary Reynolds.
1639, Nov: Ursula dau. William & Mary Reynolds.
……: Ann dau. William & May Reynolds.
1678: Sarah dau. Ezra & Sarah (nee Darrel) Reynolds.

Esther Ruth (Roth) was born in 1560 in England. Esther died in 1655 in Bermuda.

Children of William and Esther:

	Name	Born	Married	Departed
1.	Stephen Reynolds	1601	Sarah Bradford	1696 Connecticut
2.	Jonathan Reynolds (Runnells)	1605
3.	Catharine Eunice REYNOLDS	1609 Wales	Edward STARBUCK c. 1630 Derbyshire, England. . Joseph Austin	4 Feb 1691 Dover, Strafford, New Hampshire
4.	William Reynolds	1613	Alice Kitson 30 Aug 1638 Plymouth, Plymouth, Colony	1675 Dover, Strafford, New Hampshire
5.	Christopher Reynolds (Runnells)	1617
6.	James Reynolds	13 May 1625	Susannah Sheldon c. 1645 . Deborah Jordan (or Sweete) c. 1647 – 1650 Rhode Island	Aug 1700 Kingstown, Washington, Rhode Island
7.	John REYNOLDS	13 May 1625 probably England	Anne HOLBROOK Weymouth, Mass c. 1652	bef. 14 Jan 1691 in Stonington, CT.

William Reynolds, the immigrant ancestor, settled in Providence, Rhode Island.

20 Aug 1637 – He and certain others were to pay two shillings six pence apiece for ground that they had granted to them, and he and twelve others signed the following compact:

“We whose names are hereunder, desirous to inhabit in the town of Providence, do promise to subject ourselves in active and passive obedience to all such orders or agreements as shall be made for public good of the body in an orderly way, by the major consent of the present inhabitants, masters of families, incorporated together in Town fellowship, and others whom they admit unto them only in civil things.”

27 Jul 1640 – He was one of thirty-nine who signed an agreement for a form of government.

17 Nov 1641 – He with twelve others complained in a letter to Massachusetts of the “insolent and riotous carriage of Samuel Gorton and his company,” and therefore the petitioners desired Massachusetts to “lend us a neighborlike helping hand,” etc.

Samuel Gorton (1593–1677), was an early settler and civic leader of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations and President of the towns of Providence and Warwick for one term. Having strong religious beliefs that were contrary to the established Puritan dogma and being very outspoken, he was frequently in trouble with the civil and church authorities in the New England colonies.

30 Jan 1644 – He was one of the Providence settlers who testified as to the outrage on Warwick settlers by Massachusetts.

27 Jan 1645 – He sold to Robert Williams all his houses and home share and three small pieces of meadow, and on the same date he sold to William Field a share of six acres on Fox’s Hill.

27 Apr 1646 – He sold to Thomas Lawton his valley of eighty acres, and three acres of meadow.

Timeline for the Reynolds/Runnels Family

28 July 1687 – John Sanders, aged about 20, testifies that the land he has was granted his grandfather and given to his father and then to him and that his mother is now the wife of John Cleag of Pemaquid. (Documentary History of the State of Maine IV:366-7).

14 Oct 1687 – John Sanders, John Cleg, and William Ranalds all taxed at Pemaquid, Maine (NEHGR 32:312).

23 Dec 1718 – John Runnels marries Hannah Clark at Durham, NH (Marriages by the Rev. Hugh Adams, NEHGR 23 (1869):179)

15 Jul 1720 – Samuel Renalds of Bradford, Massachusetts, husbandman for forty pounds sells to Thomas Perkins “all my right and interest in all ye lands which did formerly belong to my honored grandfather William Renalds lying at Cape Porpoise” (York Deeds X:130) [note that he does mention his father by name in this deed or in his will]

30 July 1720: John Renolds of Oyster River sells to Stephen Harding all rights to 200 acres which was my fathers and grandfathers. (York Deeds X:57)

2 Sep1721 – Thomas Perkins and Stephen Harding agree to arbitration over the 200 acres of land that did belong to John Raynolds of the aforesaid place deceased. (York Deeds X:268)

21 Feb 1721/2 –  John Wheelwright, Abraham Preble, Joseph Hill, arbitrators decide that Thomas Perkins gets 14/15 of the land and Stephen Harding gets 1/15. (York Deeds X:269)

15 May 1721: John Reynolds of Oyster River sells to Thomas Perkins all his rights in 200 acres that “I have to the premises by my grandfather William Reynolds or my father Job Reynolds late of the aforesaid place” (York Deeds XIV:168)

28 March 1722: Thomas Perkins is bound and indebted to Stephen Harding for 200 pounds since a difference contest and dispute between the two relating to a certain tract of land formerly sold and conveyed by Peter Turbet unto William Runalds containing 200 acres and a difference and dispute relating to settlement and division of another tract of land containing 200 acres that was arbitrated on 21 February 1721/2. (York Deeds XI:31)

9 April 1722: The arbitrators reaffirms their decision dated 21 February 1721/2 that Thomas Perkins hall have 14/15 of the land and Stephen Harding 1/15 (York Deeds XI:52)

11 July 1722: John Buss and Alice Buss, my wife and Richard Blanchard and Sarah my wife, all of Dover, for ten pounds sell to Stephen Harding all rights to one sixth part of all the land and marsh that formerly belonged to our Uncle John Runalds deceased and since descended to us ye heirs of ye said John Runalds (York Deeds XI:31)

14 December 1725: Eli Demerit and my wife Hope Demerit and William Wormwood all of Dover, for 10 pounds sells to Stephen Harding all right and title to land and marsh formerly the right and inheritance of our Uncle John Renolds deceased. (York Deeds XI:249)

14 June 1726: Thomas Perkins quitclaims to Stephen Harding land purchased of Samuel Runalls it being 3 1/2 acres where the said Hardings now dwelling house now stands (York Deeds XII:110)

24 June 1726: Stephen Harding quitclaims to Thomas Perkins all land by purchase or deed from the heirs of William or John Runalls late deceased excepting about 60 or 70 acres (York Deeds XII:46)

Children

1. Stephen Reynolds

Stephen’s wife Sarah Bradford was born about 1603 in England.  The date of her death is not known.

3. Catharine Eunice REYNOLDS (see Edward STARBUCK‘s page)

Reynolds Family Association -Edward Starbuck and his wife Katherine came to New England about 1635, and settled in Dover, NH. Although there is no documented evidence to date, Edward’s wife is traditionally known as Katherine Reynolds. As early as 1862, James Savage, in A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England, wrote that Edward Starbuck “m. Eunice or Catherine Reynolds, said to be from Wales.” Early Settlers of Nantucket, compiled by Lydia S. Hinchman and published is 1901, states that Edward’s wife was “Katharine (Reynolds), of Wales.” A footnote states “Some authorities give Eunice.” George Edward McConnell and David Ross McConnell, in Our Family’s Starbuck Ancestry, published 1963, state “his wife, Katherine Reynolds, daughter of Robert, is thought to have been Welch.” This Reynolds connection was also acknowledged in the Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire, by Sybil Noyes, Charles Thornton Libbey and Walter Goodwin Davis in 1939. They stated that “his wife Katherine is repeatedly called Katherine Reynolds, but no documented evidence of the ‘Reynolds’ has been seen.” Such long-standing tradition should not be taken lightly, despite the current lack of extant evidence, and until research proves otherwise, we will consider that Katherine and her descendants constitute a branch of the Reynolds family in America.

It has been written in the above stated sources that Edward was from Derbyshire, England. The Starbuck genealogy adds that he was from Derbyshire or from Attenborough, Nottinghamshire. Noyes, Libbey and Davis state that Edward was of Draycut, Co. Derby and Attenboro, Co. Notts. There has apparently been no success to date with research in English records for the ancestry of either Edward or Katherine, though further study has been started by the RFA.

4. William Reynolds

William first appeared at Kennebec, Maine with our ancestor John HOWLAND in 1634. (See John Howland’s page for the story of William’s  participation in the Hocking Affair.) If it’s too much work to click —

 A group of traders from Piscataqua (present day Portsmouth, NH) led by a man named John Hocking, encroached on the trading ground granted to Plymouth by a patent, by sailing their bark up the river beyond their post. Howland warned Hocking to depart, but Hocking, brandishing a pistol and using foul language, refused. Howland ordered his men [including William Rennoles] to approach the bark in a canoe and cut its cables setting it adrift. The Plymouth men managed to cut one cable when Hocking put his pistol to the head of Moses Talbot, one of Howland’s men, and shot and killed him. Another of the Howland group shot Hocking to death in response.

6 Feb 1637 – William was granted land in Duxbury, Plymouth Colony

3 Aug 1638: William Reynolds marries Alice Kitson at Plymouth, Mass. [Lee D. van Antwerp and Ruth Wilder Sherman, Vital Records of Plymouth, Massachusetts to the year 1850 (Camden, ME: Picton Press, 1993), p. 653.

ca. 1647 -William Reynolds was granted about 200 acres on the Kennebunk River from which to operate a ferry, charging about three pence a passenger.  He lived on the Cape Porpoise side of the river near its mouth.  The 200 acres embraced the village of Kennebunkport.

1653 – He took the oath of allegiance in 1653 in Cape Porpoise (aka Kennebunk) . where he may have removed as early as 1640,

7 April 1654 – George Cleaves grants to William Reynolds 200 acres at Kennebunk. ((York Deeds XI:52)

1657 – A William Reynolds takes the Oath of Fidelity at Duxbury, MA (Shurtleff’s Records of Plymouth Colony, p. 182).

2 Jul 1657 – William Renalds bought Peter Turbat’s house and 200 acres on the East side of the Kennebunk river in 1657 and kept the ferry there, being licensed as late as 1673.  (York Deeds III:57)

13 Feb 1666: Deposition of William Renolds being at Boston in the fall of 1665 regarding land John Batson sold Peter Oliver (York Deeds II:146)

27 Jun 1671 – William Renolds of Kennebunk mortgages to Francis Johnson of Boston, “all my land bounding on the land of my father William Renolds,” it being 200 acres of upland and 5 acres of marsh. (York Deeds II:99)

12 Feb 1674/75 – William Renalds Senior deeds to my son John Renalds with the consent of my wife Alice Renalds all his land in return for care for the rest of their lives. Also it certifies that William pays to his son William 10 shillings and his son Job Renalds 5 shillings before the sealing of the deed. (York Deeds III:57).

1675 – William settled his whole property on his son John in return for life support for his aged parents, John giving money to his brothers William and Job before signing the deed.

18 Nov 1679 – Turbet deed of 1657 filed with the 1674 deed. [probably indicating the death of both William and Alice Reynolds].

Children of William and Alice:

i. Jane Reynolds (Runnels); m. William Wormwood

ii. Samuel Reynolds

iii. William Reynolds Jr.

iv. Job Reynolds (1645 – 1721

Job Reynolds dies between 1689 (listed at Cape Elizabeth, ME) and 28 May 1692 (widow at Portsmouth, NH, NH Provincial Deeds 17:115). (GDMNH, p. 582).

13 Apr 1696: Widow of Job Renouls at Newcastle, NH with “several children.” (Newcastle Town Records 1:14)

21 June 1718: Job Renalds of Dover, husbandman, John Renalds of same place, hubandman and James Langley of ye aforesaid Dover, husbandman and Mary my wife for 20 pounds sell to Thomas Perkins “all right and interest to one certain tract of land containing 200 acres in Arundell.” Note that John Renalds did not sign this deed. (York Deeds X:131).

v. Hope Reynolds b. 1650 – m. 23 Oct 1664 at Saco, Maine to Thomas Sanders (GDMNH, p. 606)

vi. John Runnels b. 1651; d. Before 1722 in Portsmouth, Rockingham, NH; m. 1674 in Portsmouth, NH to Sarah Crawford

13 Oct 1681 –  John Renolds Deposition as being aged about 30 (York Deeds III:104)

4 Nov 1684 – John Renalds of Kennebunk, fisherman sells to Peter Rendle, mariner, land that late in the possession of my father William Renalds, about 100 acres. (York Deeds IV:29).

2 Jan  1687 – John Rennalls of Cape Porpoise, fisherman, sells to Nicholas Morey. (York Deeds VI:49)

14 Dec 1687 – John Reynolds licensed as a ferryman (Province and Court Records of ME, III:267.

6. James Reynolds

James’ first wife Susannah Sheldon

James’ second wife Deborah Jordan (or Sweete or Potter)  was born 1628 in North Kingstown, Washington, Rhode Island. Deborah died 15 Oct 1692 in North Kingstown, Rhode Island.

A Genealogy of James and Deborah Reynolds of North Kingstown, Rhode Island, and Descendants. 1st ed. Stephen C. Roth, compiler and editor. In 2 vols., 1785 pp plus 486-page annotated index. Salem MA: Higginson Book Co. For information about price and shipping, please contact Higginson Books at http://www.higginsonbooks.com/

Steve Roth, a descendant of James and Deborah Reynolds, has been compiling this genealogy for many years, before and after the time he served as Registrar for the Reynolds Family Association.

James Reynolds was born in 1625, probably in England, and died in 1700 in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. Various theories as to the possible ancestry of James Reynolds are presented and discussed. James Reynolds was an early settler in New England, known to be living in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1643, and later obtaining land and establishing himself and his family in the Quidnessett region (now North Kingstown) of Rhode Island prior to 1669.

Deborah died prior to October 1692, also in North Kingstown. James and Deborah had seven children (John, James, Joseph, Henry, Deborah, Francis, and Mercy), and this book traces the generations forward through these seven offspring. In some cases, information is presented on descendants who are more than 15 generations removed from James and Deborah.

7. John REYNOLDS (See his page)

Sources:

http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/13449189/person/41628860

http://www.geni.com/discussions/85512

http://www.reynoldsfamily.org/progen.html

http://lythgoes.net/genealogy/familygroup.php?familyID=F5159&tree=

http://www.reynoldsfamily.org/line24/index.html