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Gideon Reynolds |
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Gideon Reynolds |
Mr. Reynolds received a good education in early life, and for two terms was a teacher. At an early age he took a deep interest in politics, and was elected to the State Legislature, in 1838, by the Whigs. In 1843 he was elected sheriff of Rensselaer County, and served one term. He was elected to Congress in the fall of 1846, and re-elected in 1848. After the close of his second term in congress he retired to private life, preferring the quiet of home to any official honors; but on Aug. 29, 1862, he was appointed by Abraham Lincoln internal revenue collector of the Fifteenth District of New York. He served in this capacity for some two years, when he resigned, very much against the wished of President Lincoln.
Mr. Reynolds has very often been a delegate to county and State conventions. He was a delegate to the Fremont convention in 1856, and also to the Chicago convention that nominated Abraham Lincoln for President of the United States. In his political associations he was a Whig until the organization of the Republican party in 1856, when he became a zealous Republican, and continued in this relation until 1867, when he became a Democrat.
Mr. Reynolds is a man highly esteemed by his neighbors, and in early life was recognized by many as the political leader of his town and county. He was married to Miss Julia, daughter of Josiah and Phebe Warren Richmond, of Hoosick, Jan. 16, 1845. She was born Nov. 11, 1824. Of this union seven children have been born, four of whom are now living. The eldest, Josiah G., is a resident of Marquette, Mich.
GIDEON REYNOLDS. The subject of the sketch is the only son of Thomas and Waity Reynolds, and was born in Petersburgh, Rensselaer Co., N. Y., Aug. 9, 1813. His parents were natives of Westerly, R. I., and settled at Petersburgh in the year 1780. His father was a successful merchant for a number of years, and in 1836 removed to the town of Hoosick, locating on the farm now owned by his son, Gideon. He was very successful in his business relations. He died Feb. 2, 1853, and his wife died Feb. 12, 1854.
