Parents of Martha Jane Reynolds ID KG43-2PR
Need help in further identifying the parents of Martha Jane Reynolds. The obituary of John H. Reynolds, presumed to be her brother, shows the parents names as Henry Reynolds and Mary Johnston. Have not located Henry or Mary in the 1850 Census. Martha was raised in the family of Andrew Weagley.
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This is a tough one to locate records--i.e. guardianship, court, probate, etc, probably because the Washington county courthouse burned down in 1871. My question for you is how it is presumed that John H. is her brother, especially because there are so many Reynolds in Washington and Frederick counties?
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@fisherm , I didn't mean for my question to sound so confrontational! I was just wanting to know if you have more information that links John Henry to Martha because I couldn't find any and that is the only source for the parents being Henry and Mary Johnston. He was in Washington County at the same time as Martha and certainly could be her brother. There is another John Henry Reynolds, born in 1846 (parents Jacob and Sarah, married a Margaret) in Hagerstown, Washington County. On the 1880 census he is living near the Weagley's, but that could be a coincidence.
As I read through the sources on Family Tree, I am inclined to trust the birth year given on her church baptismal record and which is supported by her age on the 1860 census. It's very possible that she gave an age of 20 instead of 17 when she married in 1876 and then kept that age through the rest of her life.
When you ponder why Martha was raised by the Weagley's the assumption is usually that the parents died or one died and the other is incapable of caring for the child. I did find in a newspaper article (by googling) that there was a Henry Reynolds in Cavetown in 1858 who was in prison for not paying taxes:
Also, did you find any family relationship between the Weagley's and Martha? I did not. If they were just close friends who were named as Godparents (sponsors) at her baptism, then they would most likely have lived near each other and attended the same church. This 1877 Cavetown plat map is helpful to look at neiighbors, even though it is several years after Martha's birth. The surname Nole, which was mentioned in the life sketch of Martha is also found there.
Cavetown, Atlas: Washington County 1877, Maryland Historical Map (historicmapworks.com)
I would love to continue to help solve the mystery of Martha's parents. So sorry that it took so long to get back to you.
Nola Serra, Group Leader
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Nola Serra, Thank you for your response. I will try to answer some of your questions. The newspaper obituary for Martha Jane Reynolds Scott listed as a survivor, a brother John Reynolds of Funkstown, Md. This obituary is my only source for this brother. Martha died in January 1834. The 1935 Hagerstown, Maryland City Directory showed only one John Reynolds residing in Funkstown, Md. This John Reynolds, died in 1936, two years after Martha Jane’s death in 1934, which is consistent with him being named as a survivor in her obituary. The FindAGrave entry for John Henry Reynolds provides much information. His obituary shows his parents as Henry Reynolds and Mary Johnston. This John Reynolds was very likely the one named in Martha’s obituary.
I have found other men named John H. Reynolds in Washington County Maryland. Only John Henry Reynold(s) (1850 – 1936) of Funkstown, Md., lived longer than Martha Jane to have been named as a survivor in her obituary.
Other John H. Reynolds found in Washington County Maryland are listed as follows:
John H. Reynolds, 1856 – 1933, seems to have not married; parents were David and Elizabeth Reynolds.
John H. Reynolds, 1849 – 1913, married Sarah Stephey, buried in Welty Church of the Brethren in Smithburg, MD.
John H. Reynolds, 1846 – 1921, married Margaret Stephenson, buried in Christ Church Cemetery, Cavetown, Md.
John H. Reynolds, 1846 – 1884, married Mary Alice Jones, parents were Jacob Reynolds and Sarah Weagley. This Sarah Weagley Reynolds was a sister of Andrew Weagley in whose home Martha Jane was raised and married.
I have been unable to find John Henry Reynolds in the 1860 or 1870 Census records for Washington County or Frederick County. Md. I have not found Martha Jane Reynolds in the 1870 Census.
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@fisherm , Thank you for sharing your research! I do believe that you have enough evidence to show that John Henry, married to Lydia Shank and Annie Hollyday is the brother of Martha and therefore Martha's father is Henry Reynold. You didn't say how many possible Henry's you found that could be the correct father, but looking at land records for Washington County at the Maryland State Archives https://mdlandrec.net/main/index.cfm I came up with two:
Henry, born about 1816, son of William Reynold and brother to John Reynold. He can probably be ruled out because he was married to Margaret (possibly Margaret Welty). He received land from the John Welty estate for $2 and lived near the Wellty's on 1860 census. Deed Book IN2, pg. 600 and 759, Book IN3 pg. 552
Henry, son of Peter Reynolds, Sr. and Nancy Shank, born about 1818. Siblings: Peter Jr. (wife Susannah), Samuel Sr (wife Catherine), Jacob (wife Sarah Ann), Elizabeth (husband John Williams), Mary Ann (husband George Fishbaugh), Anna, and Margaret (husband James Robison). Deed Book SS pgs 413, 778, and 842, Book TT pgs 65 and 775, Book UU pg 523, Book IN1 pgs 823, 824, Book IN4 pgs 320 and 713
Of this family, Peter Jr. and Jacob both had sons named John Henry.
I found no Henry Reynolds in Frederick County land records.
If you have never researched land records at the Maryland State Archive website and need some tips let me know. You must register but it is free. Deeds are not searchable by name and must be looked up in the index.
Hope this helps!
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I should have explained that the family of Peter Reynolds was put together from deeds showing Samuel acquiring the land from the estate of his grandfather Jacob Shank, from his siblings' inheritances. Hope that makes sense 😊
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@SerraNola, Sorry for the delay in responding to your very informative post. Thank you. I have not yet done any searching of land records at the Maryland State Archive website.
John Scott and wife Martha (Mattie) Reynolds had their first two children baptized (Mary Alice May Scott on 20 April 1878 and Charles Ripple Scott on 8 January 1880) in the Cavetown German Reformed Church in Cavetown, Md. This is the same church where the marriage record of John Scott and Mattie Reynolds (Her name was given as Mattie Weagley in the newspaper marriage record as well as in the marriage records in the courthouse of Hagerstown, MD) is recorded by the Pastor, Rev. J. W. Santee. The marriage was performed 30 November 1876 by Rev. J. W. Santee in the home of Andrew Weagley. John Scott and Martha Reynolds had their next five children (John Franklin Scott, Eliza Jane Scott, George Weagly Scott, Harry Bruce Scott, Percy Dillon Scott) baptized the same day, 5 May 1889, in the Trinity Reformed United Church of Christ in Waynesboro, Pa.
John Henry Reynolds, per his obituary and death certificate, was born 28 September 1850 in Wolfsville, Frederick, Maryland, son of Henry Reynold(s) and Mary Johnston. Martha Jane Reynolds Scott gave inconsistent information on her place of birth. On the death certificate for her son George Weagly Scott for which she was the informant, she stated her place of birth as Wolfsville, MD. Martha’s birth year was also inconsistently reported. The date of 1 October 1856 was reported on her death certificate; however, she appeared as a one-year-old in the home of Andrew Weagley in the 1860 Census and on her 1863 baptism record, her date of birth was recorded as 1 October 1859. Martha’s gravestone shows 1856 as her birth year and her age at death also indicates her birth to be 1856. With John Reynolds being born in 1850 and Martha being born in 1856/1859, there is a large gap and makes me wonder if there were other children?
John Henry Reynolds date of birth indicated that he would not have appeared in the 1850 Census which took place in the summer of 1850; however, it would seem logical that Henry and Mary would have appeared in the 1850 Census in Wolfsville, the identified place of John Henry’s birth. His birth in September would have been approximately three months after the 1850 Census, but no Henry or Mary Reynold(s) have been located in the census.
However, the couple may have appeared in a church record. Minister Theodore Apple served at the Reformed Church in Cavetown, the same church in which the Weagley’s had Martha Jane baptized, and also at the new church in Wolfsville. Reverend Apple noted new church members admitted at Wolfsville on 27 October 1850 which included a Henry Reynold and a Mary Ann Reynold. This was the same location as John Henry Reynold’s reported place of birth. The record does not specify if this Mary Ann was Mary Johnston. This couple joined the church only a month after John Henry’s birth in Wolfsville, so it seems possible that they were his parents. Reverend Apple did not report a baptism for John Henry, but his records ended about October 1850, and John Henry may have been baptized later.
The possible connection between John Henry’s parents to the Weagley’s church could explain how the Weagleys came to raise Martha Jane.
Henry Reynolds and Mary Johnston have not yet been located beyond this one possible record at the church in Wolfsville.
I believe two Henry Reynolds can be eliminated as parents of John Henry and Martha Jane. In Frederick County, the location of John Henry’s birth, there was a Henry Reynolds who was born in March 1817 and died in July 1856; buried at the Zion Lutheran Cemetery in Middletown, Frederick, MD. This cemetery was less than five miles from John Henry’s stated birthplace of Wolfsville, MD. Church records were located for what appeared to be this Henry Reynold and his family. A death record matched the July 1856 death date, and in the same church, Henry and wife Anna baptized five children on 14 July 1856, four days before Henry died of stomach cancer. There was no mention of a child named John, Martha’s brother. One of the children, Cyrus. Was born 31 May 1851. John Henry was born on 28 September 1850, eight months earlier, which made it unlikely that he was part of this family.
There was also a Henry B. Reynolds family from Cavetown, Washington, Md area, just across the mountain from Wolfsville, Md. The Henry B. Reynolds family interacted with Andrew Weagly as they were members of the same Reformed Church and they lived near each other.
Further investigation showed that this Henry B. Reynolds family did not match John Henry’s information that his mother was Mary Johnston. Henry B, Reynolds of Cavetown was married to Margaret Ridenour from about 1838 until their deaths in the 1890s. Although this Henry B. Reynold’s family had a child Henry, who was the same age as Martha Jane’s brother John Henry, this Henry was with his parents in 1880 when John Henry was living with his first wife Lydia.
Hope this will answer a few of your questions and will give you a little more information on research I have done. I still want to do more research into the church records.
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You have done some amazing research in being able to track down and sort out so many of the Reynolds in the area! The reference to Henry and Mary Ann in Rev. Apple's church records should be added as a source in Family Tree if you can. It is definitely a good supporting document to make the case for Martha's parents.
In looking at the land records in Washington County again--and going farther back to the 1700's, I believe that most (if not all) the Reynolds in the vicinity of Cavetown were descendants of Henry Renoll 9KC5-352 in Family Tree. Two of his sons, Daniel and Peter left York County, Pennsylvania and settled in Cavetown, Maryland in about 1779. The name is spelled many different ways but can generally be distinguished from other Reynolds in Washington County because there is no "s" at the end. The members of the family who went to Maryland are not complete in Family Tree but there is much information on the web and even a book titled Henry Renoll that you can read at FamilySearch/Books. Here is what I have gleaned:
Daniel Renoll and Anna Marie Lau
Children: Daniel, John, Margaret, Anna Maria, Peter, George, and Henry (This Henry was born in 1797)
Peter Renoll and Eve Lau
Children: Peter, Jacob (went to Huntington County), Barbara, Samuel (married Elizabeth), and ?
Peter (son of Peter) and Nancy Shank
Children: Peter, Samuel (married Catherine), Henry, Jacob, Elizabeth, Mary Ann, Anna, and Margaret
Samuel (son of Peter) and Elizabeth
Children: Susanna, Henry B., William, and Daniel
It is mostly the children (cousins) in these last two families that are living in Cavetown by 1850. The Henry above in bold letters would have been born about 1815, give or take a few years. His sister in law was Sarah Ann Weagley. This Henry could also be the Henry Reynold from Cavetown who was in prison in 1858, per the newspaper article. In any case, he is the only Henry not accounted for. Also, I read that Martha's daughter had given the name of "Noll" as her mother's maiden name. Could that possibly be a shortened version of "Renoll"? A DNA test could possibly shed light on which Reynolds line you are a descendant.
One more thing, did you notice that there are duplicate 1860 censuses taken for the Cavetown district? One taken on the 30 of July shows Martha, age 1, with the Weagley's. A second one taken three weeks later on August 20th does not have Martha listed.
I agree that more church records would be helpful! Good luck and stay in touch!
Nola Serra, Group Leader
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@SerraNola. Thank you very much for your last post. I did not realize there were duplicate 1860 censuses taken for the Cavetown district. How do I find the census enumerated on 20 August 1860? I hope to complete a further search of the Church records soon. I truly appreciate your help and suggestions.
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I was just reviewing some posts and saw that I had not responded to your question about where to find the August 20th Cavetown census. I found it on FamilySearch by filtering a search for "Andrew Weagley" to only 1860 in Washington County, Maryland. I tried to post a link but couldn't. How is your research going?
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@SerraNola Thank you for the note on the August 20th Cavetown census. I have reviewed the Cavetown German Reformed Church records. My goal now is to develop family sheets for all the Reynold (various spellings) families living in Washington County, Md. I may need to look at the church records again. I have found some DNA matches to John Henry Reynolds, so I do believe he was the brother of Martha Jane Reynolds Scott. I have not yet found records for the Henry Reynolds or Mary Johnston listed as parents in the obituary of John Henry Reynolds. I need to visit the Washington County Courthouse in Hagerstown to look in the probate records. It is a slow process. I may need to get research help with the courthouse records.
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@fisherm I'm sure you're aware that probate records for Washington County can be searched online at FamilySearch. I do not know if they are ALL the records found in the courthouse, but they can be accessed through the catalog. I wish you luck and hope you will let me know when you solve the mystery of Martha's parents.
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