William was born about 1761. He passed away about 1808.
Narrative from Findagrave.com:[1]
We have very little information about William at this time. Although many speculations, we still are not sure exactly who his parents were, when he was born, or the exact location of his birth. Most of the information that we have comes from the book by Capt. Paddock History of North and West Texas, 1906-Vol II which stated that William Reynolds was born in Kentucky and was descended from an honored old Virginian family.
William married Jane Milliken of Bedford County, Tennessee on August 23, 1790 in Greene County, Tennessee. It is believed that they produced a total of eleven children:
A lot of this is speculation and may be corrected at a later date. The exact order of children is not known. I feel there were possibly two sets of twins in the first half dozen children.
William was a Blacksmith and Farmer and spent most of his adult life in Kentucky and Tennessee. The first recorded history that I have of him is when he was married in Greene county Tennessee on August 23, 1790 to Jane Milliken, however, I believe that he left there and went to, or returned to Kentucky prior to 1795. He is listed on the Green County, Kentucky Tax list each year from 1795 to 1800. I do know that he purchased land in Green County, now Adair County, Kentucky in 1799 and is on the Adair County Tax List from 1802 through 1806. I believe that most, if not all of his children were born in Kentucky. William and Jane returned to Tennessee into what is now known as Bedford County and settled near the town of Flat Creek sometime prior to 1808. It is possible that he moved there around 1807, we know that he sold his land in Kentucky in October, 1807.
Jane was the daughter of James Milliken of Green County, Tennessee, and I believe she was born between 1776 & 80 in Virginia. It is possible that her mother's name was Elizabeth.
William died of heat exhaustion by overworking himself in his Blacksmith shop in the summer of 1808, and is buried in Flat Creek Cemetery (Near Shelbyville), Bedford County, Tennessee. In the book, Memories of Bedford County, Tennessee by William Floyd, he writes: The first grave yard was perhaps on J. L. Hutson's farm, where a few graves can still be seen from the turnpike. It was known as the Prewitt grave yard. Soon thereafter a grave yard was opened on the hill near the Separate Baptist Church. The first man buried was a Mr. Reynolds and he was carried to the grave yard in a sled drawn by oxen and over a road-way cut through the canes. On the same hill William Haselett killed a black bear. In Memories of William Floyd, of Bedford County, Tennessee Poly Bouton writes: First man buried at Flat Creek was named Reynolds; lived near Jim Floyd's; hauled him out through canes on an ox sled.
It is possible that William was several years older than Jane since records indicate he died from overwork. A young man did not normally do this in the 1700-1800 era. Jane had to be very young when she married in 1790, if later census records are accurate. She was listed as 26-44 years old (born 1776-1794) in the 1820 US Census for Bedford County, Tennessee and 50-59 years old in the 1830 Census (born 1771-1780). Therefore she was born between 1776 and 1780 which would make her about 13 years old when she got married and about 31 or 32 when William died in 1808. If William was indeed older that Jane, it is possible that he was married before, and could have had other children by this marriage. Jane also died in Bedford County, Tennessee in the year 1839, and is also buried in Flat Creek Cemetery.
From work of Joe Reynolds of The Reynolds Family Organization
Have you taken a DNA test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.
Featured National Park champion connections: William is 14 degrees from Theodore Roosevelt, 22 degrees from Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, 16 degrees from George Catlin, 16 degrees from Marjory Douglas, 20 degrees from Sueko Embrey, 17 degrees from George Grinnell, 27 degrees from Anton Kröller, 17 degrees from Stephen Mather, 22 degrees from Kara McKean, 15 degrees from John Muir, 19 degrees from Victoria Hanover and 19 degrees from Charles Young on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.
R > Reynolds > William Reynolds
Categories: Shelbyville, Tennessee | Old Flat Creek Cemetery, Flat Creek, Tennessee | Reynolds Name Study