Nathaniel Reynolds (bef. 1717 - 1746)

Born before 27 Oct 1717 in Bridgewater, Massachusetts

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (Little) Millard — married 3 Aug 1741 in Bristol, Bristol County, Rhode Island

Descendants

Died Sep 1746 after age 28 in Jamaica, West Indies

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Biography

Nathaniel was baptized at Bristol, Rhode Island on 27 October 1717.^[1] He was the son of Peter Reynolds and Mary Giles.^[2]

Nathaniel possibly filed intention to marry Mercy Pitts at Bristol in 1739.^[2][3]

Nathaniel married Mary Little at Bristol in 1741.^[2][3] They had a son Peter Reynolds baptized at St. Michael's Church in Bristol, Rhode Island on 26 December 1742.^[4] The record names his parents Nathaniel and Mary.

Nathaniel died suddenly "at Jamaica" in September of 1746.

On 30 July 1739, Nathaniel Reynolds, cordwainder, and Jonathan Peck, Gent., both of Bristol, and Peter Reynolds of Enfield in Hampshire County, Mass. Bay Colony, clerk divided a 96 acre tract at Bristol that they owned in common. The land had been willed to Peter, Nathaniel, and also Eleazer Reynolds by their father Peter Reynolds, decd., and Jonathan Peck had purchased Eleazer's portion.^[5]

On 30 August 1744, Nathaniel Reynolds of Bristol, cordwainer, and Mary his wife sold 1/4 of an acre of land at Bristol.^[6]

Research Notes

The "Mayflower Families Through Five Generations volume on Richard Warren would have that Mary Little's first husband was a different Nathaniel Reynolds, son of Nathaniel, born in Bridgewater in Plymouth County, Massacusetts in 1718. Unfortunately, no proof of this parentage is offered.

All other evidence supports instead that Nathaniel was the son of Peter Reynolds recorded in Bristol in 1717. A summary of this evidence includes:

1. the marriage record of Nathaniel Reynolds and Mary Little in Bristol in 1741; this offers negative evidence in that the record makes no mention of Nathaniel being from Bridgewater. The 30 mile trip from Bridgewater to Bristol was an unusually long migration in those days, especially for someone who worked as a cordwainer and not, say, a mariner or soldier, and it was often noted in records if a bride/groom or a parent was from some distance away.
2. land records calling Nathaniel the son of Peter a cordwainer in the division of his father's estate and then again a cordwainer when Nathaniel and wife Mary of Bristol sold property there in 1746; it is clear that the son of Peter had lived and remained in Bristol and that his wife was Mary
3. a lack of evidence that there was any other Nathaniel Reynolds in Bristol at this time, neither in probate records or additional land records
4. onomastic evidence in the form of Nathaniel and Mary Reynolds baptizing a son "Peter" at Bristol in 1742, the same name of Nathaniel's purported father, who had died a few years prior
5. probate records from 1756–8 in which Mary (Little) (Reynolds) Miller was pronounced non compos mentis by the Warren Town Council and assigned a guardian, then inventory of her estate was presented, and then within a span of months her eldest step-children requested guardianship in Warren, and then Peter Reynolds son of Nathaniel Reynolds of Bristol deceased requested guardianship at Bristol
6. the Reynolds genealogy by Marion H. Reynolds pub. 1931, which agrees that there was no other Nathaniel Reynolds contemporary with this one in Bristol at that time, and assigns him as the son of Peter Reynolds

The only evidence known to support the assignment of the Nathaniel from Bridgewater, other than the uncorroborated statement in the Silver Book, is the recording of a marriage intention at Bristol between Nathaniel Reynolds and Mercy Pitts. But there is no marriage record, so it is quite possible the marriage was forbidden after banns were posted or otherwise never happened. It is also possible that they did marry and that Mercy died shortly after, perhaps in childbirth. So the existence of this intention record is not outweigh the evidence listed above.

There are also records of a man or men named Nathaniel Reynolds living in Bridgewater in the mid-1700s. On 30 March 1739/40, Nathaniel Reynolds and Thomas Reynolds of Bridgewater, yeomen, sold land at Easton.^[7] These are the two sons of Nathaniel and Mary (Snell) Reynolds, son Nathaniel recorded at Bridgewater in 1718 and Thomas at Boston in 1720. Mary was from Bridgewater, and she and Nathaniel were given an estate at Bridgewater by her father, which they sold in 1718 before returning to Boston. Nathaniel died shortly after the birth of Thomas, and Mary later remarried David Ames. In her 1755 will, Mary Ames of Bridgewater gave her interest in a certain property to her sons Nathaniel Reynolds and Thomas Reynolds. This family is described clearly and in depth by the Reynolds genealogy.^[8]

Sources

1. ↑ Paine, Register 34 (1880) page 261
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Reynolds: Page 84
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Arnold: Vol. 6, Bristol Marriages, Page 45
4. ↑ Arnold: Vol. 8, Page 176
5. ↑ Bristol Co., Mass., deeds vol. 27 pages 517–518
6. ↑ Bristol Co., Mass., deeds vol. 35 page 100
7. ↑ Bristol Co., Mass., deeds vol. 34 pages 392–3
8. ↑ Reynolds, pages 71–78 person #57, and pages 95–97 person #93.

• Arnold, James N. Vital Record of Rhode Island, 1636-1850 (Narragansett Historical Pub. Co. , Providence, R.I., 1891)

• George T. Paine, "List of Baptisms from the Records of the Church of Christ at Bristol, R.I. (formerly Bristol, Mass.), organized May 3, 1687" The New England Historical & Genealogical Register serialized in various volumes.

• Reynolds, Marion H. The History and Some of the Descendants of Robert and Mary Reynolds (1630?-1931) of Boston, Mass. (Brooklyn, N.Y., 1931)

• Mayflower Quarterly, Volume 87, Number 3, Fall 2021, Mayflower Families Silver Books Additions and Corrections, page 37