EDWIN REYNOLDS
BIOGRAPHY
AS RECORDED IN:
COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF TOLLAND AND WINDHAM COUNTIES CONNECTICUT.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF PROMINENT AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS AND OF MANY
OF THE EARLY SETTLED FAMILIES.
PUBLISHER: J.H.BEERS & CO., CHICAGO; 1903 P. 93
EDWIN REYNOLDS, Mansfield, Conn. Edwin Reynolds, who spends his summers
at the home of his youth, Mansfield, Tolland county, is most highly esteemed
there as a worthy descendant of an old and honorable family of New England.
William Reynolds, the remote ancestor, came from Plymouth, Mass., to Providence,
R. I., in 1637, one year later than Roger Williams, and was one of the original
purchasers of the land from the Narragansett Indians. He married Alice Kitson,
in Open Court, of Massachusetts.
James Reynolds, son of William, died in Kingston, R. I., in 1700.
Joseph Reynolds, son of James, was born Nov. 27, 1652, and died in 1722,
in North Kingston, R. I. His wifes name was Susannah.
Samuel Reynolds, son of Joseph, was married Dec. 31, 1732, to Ann, daughter
of Samuel Gardiner. Thomas Reynolds, son of Samuel, and great-grandfather
of George H., was married Sept. 22, 1749, to Elizabeth Hopkins, who was
born Sept. 22, 1729, a daughter of William and Mary (Tibbitts) Hopkins.
Samuel Reynolds, son of Thomas, and grandfather of Edwin Reynolds, was born
Feb. 12, 1752, and lived in Frenchtown, R. I., and migrated to Eaton, New
York, where he died. On Dec. 4, 1777, he married Amy Weaver, who was born
Nov. 18, 1759, and who died near Buffalo. Their children were: Sally, Thomas,
Betsey, Peleg, Selah, Christopher, Samuel, Jonathan, John H, Eleanor and
William (twins) and Eunice. Of these, Sally married Andrew Moredock, a farmer
who died in Killingly; she died in South Coventry, Conn. Thomas died in
Kingston R. I.; in early life he was a seafaring man. Peleg married Mary
Wells, and died in Mansfield, Conn. Samuel, a farmer and merchant, was the
first agent at Danielsonville (now Danielson), Conn., of the old Norwich
and Worchester railroad, and was killed by the cars, at the age of ninety
years and two days. Jonathan was a farmer in Ashford, Conn., and died there.
John H. was a tailor and died in Beloit, Wisconsin.
Christopher Reynolds, the father of Edwin, was born July 11, 1790, in Frenchtown,
R.I., and spent his boyhood there. He was reared to farming. In 1810 he
located in Mansfield, where he was employed by Mr. Tillinghast (who resided
at the farm now owned by Steven C. Gardiner, between the Mansfield Depot
and Eagleville), until his marriage. During the war of 1812 he was a member
of the Mansfield militia, and he was one of the few men drafted from his
company to go to New London to assist against a threatened invasion by the
British.
After his marriage Mr. Reynolds moved to the fulling mill, a short distance
south of the Tillinghast farm, on land now owned by his son Edwin, the old
dam is still remaining, although the mill structure has been removed. There
Mr. Reynolds engaged in cloth dressing, and also operated a small farm,
and on this place ten of his twelve children were born. He continued the
business until it ceased to be profitable, and then moved to Eagleville,
where he assisted in the building of the first dam across the Willimantic
river at that point. In time his former farm was purchased by his two sons,
George H. and Edwin, and the parents returned and passed the remainder of
their lives there, the mother dying Sept. 24, 1860, the father on July 21,
1871.
On Sept. 26, 1813, in Mansfield, Christopher Reynolds was united in marriage
with Charissa Huntington, who was born in Mansfield March 5, 1794, daughter
of Jonas and Rhoda (Baldwin) Huntington, both members of families prominent
in Mansfield. Children were born to this marriage as follows: Adaline, born
May 2,1814, married Jacob S. Eaton, and died in Indian Orchard, Mass. Melissa,
born March 14, 1816, married Charles Shumway, and died in Mansfield. Elizabeth,
born March 14, 1818, married (first) Asa Sanders, a clergyman, and (second)
Benajah Gurnesy Roots, a civil engineer, who assisted in the construction
of the Illinois Central Railroad and became prominent State school affairs
in Illinois; she was killed in a runaway accident. Sarah H. born Jan. 31,
1820, married Fayette Barrows, and died in Mansfield. Julia, born Oct. 8,
1821, married Leander Derby, a comb manufacturer, who died in San Andreas,
Cal.; she is now living in Brooklyn, N. Y. Glenn H., born Nov 25, 1823,
married Elizabeth F. Eaton; he remained at home until of age, when he moved
to Providence; spent ten years at Danielson, Conn., two years at Cranston,
R. I., twenty years at Providence, engaged in the mill supply business ,
and returned to Mansfield in 1886; later he became a resident of Danielson.
Jane, born July 9, 1826, died when a little over one year old. John D.,
born July 28, 1827, married Martha Slater for his first wife, and Mrs. White
for his second; he is now postmaster at Andover, N. J. George H., born Feb.
8, 1829, is mentioned elsewhere. Edwin, born March 23, 1831, is mentioned
below. Benjamin Franklin, born Jan. 29, 1833, married Amanda Hawkins; he
has been chief engineer of the Omaha Water Works for the past seventeen
years, and resides at Florence, Neb. Albert W., was born Dec. 11, 1835,
married Rebecca Runion, and died in New York.
Edwin Reynolds, who for so many years has occupied a prominent position
in the business world, especially in the field of mechanics, is a native
of Mansfield. His literary education was acquired in the common schools,
and , as the family was large he began work early, commencing as a farm
hand. In the spring of 1847 he was asked by the owner of a machine shop,
who had heard favorable reports of the boys industry, to serve an apprenticeship
at the trade in his shop. He was plowing a field when the man came to him
with the proposition. It was entirely unlooked for, but with the promptness
which has been characteristic of him throughout life, young Reynolds at
once accepted, and he began his new work within a very short time. His remuneration
was $30 per year and board. Displaying remarkable aptitude, he was foreman
of the shop before the expiration of his three years apprenticeship.
Mr. Reynoldss apprenticeship was served with Anderson P. Kinney, who
made and repaired the machinery of the different textile mills in the locality
(his widow, Mrs. Kinney, now resides in Tolland street), and after leaving
him he entered the employ of Smith, Winchester & Co., at South Windham,
who manufactured papermaking machinery, remaining with them a year. At the
age of Twenty-one he was at the head of the stone-dressing machinery department
of the Woodruff & Beach Iron Works, at Hartford, erecting ass well as
building the machinery for quarrymen and stone contractors. He found employment
in various shops in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Ohio, up to 1857, at
which time he moved to Aurora, Ind., and became superintendent of the shops
at that place, conducted by Stedham & Co. The principal work carried
on in these shops was the building of engines, sawmills and drainage pumps
for Mississippi River plantations. His work in these positions, though it
may have appeared of no special importance at the time, had much to do with
the broadening of his ideas, and provided a variety of experience which
has had a noticeable bearing on his subsequence success. He was interested
in steam engineering from the beginning, but not until he became connected
with the Corliss works did he have scope for the display of his ability
in that line.
The outbreak of the Civil war materially interfered with the business, and
in the spring of 1861 Mr. Reynolds returned to Connecticut and until 1867
was engaged in various kinds of work mechanical and engineering
in New York and Boston. In those days progress was slow, if sure, and it
was not until the year last named that Mr. Reynolds made his first important
step forward. In that year he became an engineer and salesman for George
H. Corliss, the famous engine-maker, and so well did he demonstrate his
ability in this wide field that by 1871 he had won promotion to the position
of superintendent in general of the great Corliss Engine Works, at Providence,
a position he retained until July 1, 1877, when he moved to Milwaukee, Wis.
There he accepted the position of general manager and superintendent of
the Reliance Works, of Edward P. Allis & Co., though this concern has
since been consolidated with a number of other large establishments, being
now known as the Allis Chalmers Co., Mr. Reynolds holding the position of
consulting engineer. Perhaps there could be no better evidence of Mr. Reynoldss
ability as a mechanical engineer, and no less as a manager, than the remarkable
growth and prosperity of the Reliance Works under his management. In the
period that has elapsed since his connection therewith, the size of the
works, the number of men employed and the value of the annual output have
been more than quadrupled. From being an industry of mere local importance,
the works have become one of the leading engineering establishments of the
United States, enjoying, both at home and abroad, a well-deserved and enviable
reputation for the high grade and superior excellence of their products.
Mr. Reynolds has become known as the builder and designer of the largest
stationary steam engines in the world, and he has supplied most of the large
stationary steam engines in this country. Especially where enormous horse
power is required. One pump which he built still holds the record, the one
installed in Milwaukee some fourteen years ago, and which handles 500,000,000
gallons of water daily. Recently his establishment turned out engines for
the new electric works of the New York elevated railway system (eight, each
of twelve thousand horse power). New York elevated road, subway, surface
roads in New York, and in England, Russia and all European countries.
Mr. Reynolds has accomplished many remarkable things in steam engineering,
one of the most important branches of modern engineering, in which he ranks
among the foremost of the worlds experts. He has demonstrated , what
was before his successful attempt considered impossible, that it is feasible
to build high-grade engines and introduce the very best mechanical work,
and to make the venture commercially successful and financially gratifying
in the West. His "Reynolds-Corliss" engine was the first of the
kind to win success in the West, and the large number which are now in use,
not only in the West, on the far Pacific coast, from Lake Superior to the
Gulf of Mexico, but also in the East, through Massachusetts and Connecticut,
as well as about 200 shipped to foreign countries, six being used to furnish
power for the Central London Underground Railway, prove conclusively his
high mechanical standing. Lack of space forbids an enumeration of his many
successful engines; it is enough to say that those in use at the water works
in Milwaukee, St. Paul, Omaha, Allegheny City and other places give perfect
satisfaction, and to the last will soon be added the triple expansion engines
for the cities of Albany and Chicago. The many large engines in the steam
flour and saw mills, Western factories and Eastern cotton mills, the large
hoisting engines and steam stamps in the Lake Superior and Montana mining
regions; the blowing and rolling mill engines in Pittsburg, Birmingham,
and other iron making centers, are all regarded as standards of high mechanical
performance, unexcelled by any and rarely equaled.
One mechanical feat performed by Mr. Reynolds merits special attention.
When he first entered the Corliss Works their engines, though then considered
wonderful, were, compared with the products of the present day, very simple.
Forty or fifty revolutions per minute, was the average speed; eighty was
exceptionally high. During his time of service with the Corliss Company,
he was called to Trenton, N. J., to arrange for gearing an engineto a train
of rolls which were required to run 160 revolutions per minute. In looking
the matter over, he came to the conclusion that the correct thing to do
was to build an engine and couple it to the train direct without gears of
any kind, and closed the contract for an engine to be coupled in this way,
guaranteeing the same to work satisfactorily at 160 revolutions per minute.
On his return to Providence, he reported what he had done to Mr. Corliss
who exclaimed, "Why Mr. Reynolds, you are not going to undertake to
run that engine at 160 revolutions per minute," to which Mr. Reynolds
replied, "Yes, I have agreed to do this. It is better by far to run
an engine in this way than to use the gears." Mr. Corliss then said,
"You can have all the credit that goes with that kind of engineering,
I want none of it." And it was for that engine that Mr. Reynolds designed
the valve-gear which proved entirely successful at 160 revolutions per minute,
and which he has so successfully used since that time on all engines of
his designs.
One piece of work of which Mr. Reynolds may be mentioned as superintendent,
was the engine installed at the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia, in
1876, which was started in motion by President Grant, after a speech by
Gen. Hawley, chairman of the Exposition. Great as was this engine then regarded,
it may be mentioned that the Manhattan L. engines now drive a load twelve
times as great.
Mr. Reynolds has ever proved himself equal to emergencies, in fact, limitations
apparently only spur him to increased effort. The blowing engines which
he designed and built for Joliet (Ill.) Steel Works early in his Western
experience, winning the contract in competition with first-class engineers
from both home and abroad, widened the horizon perceptibly for the Allis
Works. His last proof of this special faculty, however, probably surpasses
all others the construction of the electrical engines for the Manhattan
"L" road. Many times during his connection with the Allis Works
he had to overcome difficulties in construction, hampered in the earlier
days by want of machinery of suitable size of make, and in this great
problem, though he was in competition with the foremost engineers of the
world, men who had every opportunity and ambition to study and learn the
highest achievements in their profession, he proved that his mind is as
fresh and as prompt to act as in his younger days. There were many requirements
which a man who had handled lesser enterprises would have deemed it impossible
to meet; indeed, even those who had experience in that special line were
not altogether certain that they could be met. Mr. Reynoldss plans
not only met with such approval from the "L" Company as to secure
the Allis-Chalmers Company their contract, but also engaged the attention
of interested parties to such an extent that large orders have come in to
the firm as a result a most substantial form of admiration and a
genuine tribute to the worth of the machines and the confidence placed in
their builder. In the building of the "L" electrical engines there
were restrictions of space for the required 96,000 horse power not readily
to be overcome. This difficulty Mr. Reynolds solved by dividing the area
into eight equal parts, and then proceeded to build eight engines of 8,000
(minimum) horse power each; these engines have since developed energy to
drive a load of 13,000 horse power each. The first was installed on New
Years Day, 1902.
As an acknowledgement of superiority Mr. Reynolds could not have received
a higher compliment than the one paid him last spring, on the occasion of
Prince Henry of Prussia to America his selection as one of the hundred
men who have done most for the commercial progress of the country, who dined
with the prince in New York. In addition to the duties of his position,
he finds time for various other interests, and is a stockholder and director
in various manufacturing enterprises, is president of the German-American
Bank, the Milwaukee Boiler Co., the Central Improvement Co., the Badger
State Long-Distance Telephone Co., and National Metal Trade Association,
the West Allis Malleable Iron and Chain Belt Company, and the Northwestern
Casualty Company. In political connection he has always adhered to the Republican
party.
To his high standing as a mechanical engineer Edwin Reynolds adds a character
for honesty and integrity, and he is regarded by all who have the honor
of his acquaintance as in every sense a high-minded, thorough and representative
selfmade man, worthy of universal esteem in every relation of life. It is
a matter of congratulation to the residents of Mansfield that, in all his
material success, Mr. Reynolds has retained an affection for his boyhood
home and a desire to pass his declining years among the friends and scenes
of his youth. He purchased a farm of 200 acres in the town of Mansfield,
located one-half mile from Mansfield Depot, on which he has expended large
sums in improvements, making it a most attractive home. He has since increased
the area to over 600 acres, in the town of Mansfield. When he resigns the
reins he has held so long, and shifts his great responsibilities to other
shoulders, he will find a warm welcome awaiting him in the home of his boyhood.
On Sept. 28, 1853, Mr. Reynolds married Miss Mary A. Spencer, daughter of
Christopher N. Spencer, of Mansfield, and to this union were born two children,
both of whom died in infancy. They adopted a daughter (who came into their
home at the age of eighteen months), who is now the wife of C. C. Robinson,
of Mansfield Depot. Mrs. Reynolds father was born in Greenwich, R. I., came
to Connecticut at the age of twenty-one years, and died in Mansfield. His
wife was a native of Mansfield and died there. Some years ago the University
of Wisconsin conferred on Mr. Reynolds the honorary degree of LL. D., and
more recently honored him by placing his name in the frieze of their new
engineering building the only living engineer whose name there appears.
These honors have all been fairly won, but their tender was highly appreciated
by all his friends, as well as by himself. He was recently elected president
of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, a position which he honors.
Personally, Mr. Reynolds is a man of very regular and simple habits; he
rises at seven in the morning, drives to work at eight, and retires early.
Submitted by:
Linda D. Pingel
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