Ellicott Reynolds

     Ellicott Reynolds was born in 1804 at Kanawha County, Virginia.¹ He was the son of John Reynolds and Miriam VanBibber.¹ Ellicott Reynolds married Elizabeth Howell in 1829.¹ Ellicott Reynolds died on 1 July 1880 at Kanawha City, Kanawha County, West Virginia, at age 76 years.¹
     BIOGRAPHY OF ELLICOTT REYNOLDS

Elicott was born in Virginia about 1804, the son of John Reynolds and Miriam VanBibber. His father was one of the founders of Charleston and the family undoubtedly lived there, so Elicott probably grew up in Charleston. He married, about 1830, Elizabeth Howe, the daughter of Chester Howe and Nancy Duvall Drown. Ellicott and Elizabeth had nine children born between 1830 and 1846. The 1860 US census for Kanawha County has seven children listed for Ellicott and Elizabeth. The 1850 census lists nine children, the same seven as 1860 and two older children who had probably married and moved away by 1860.

After receiving an interest in their father's salt making operation, Ellicott and his brothers apparently went into the salt making businees for themselves, taking over the whole operation after the father's death in 1832. The brothers' largest creditor was James McFarland, who married their sister Alethea in 1819. The brothers got into the salt business at a time when the need for salt at the stockyards in Cincinnatti was waning, and McFarland came to control more and more of their property. The Reynolds brothers continued to make salt, however, and in the two year period of 1830-31, produced over 50 thousand bushels. Salt making technology was changing, requiring greater outlays of capital. During the winter of 1834, Ellicott and VanBibber made costly improvements to their property, building a small railroad and two new salt furnaces. Unfortunately, they were over extended and creditors stepped in and forced them from the business when they were unable to meet their obligations.

No death record has been found for either Ellicott or Elizabeth, but she probably lived until after 1900, while Ellicott died a considerable time before that. Their daughter Aletha's obituary indicates that Ellicott was living in Brownstown, also known as Marmet, in 1875. The graves of Ellicott and Elizabeth have not been found either, but since they lived in Marmet, they might have been buried in the Ebenezer Church Cemetery. Their grave stones could have been lost when part of that cemetery was moved for turnpike construction.

In 2000, the grave of Ellicott's father, John Reynolds was located in the Reynolds Cemetery, circa 1830-1900, at West Belle, near the mouth of Burning Springs Branch, along with the graves of several other members of the family. There were also several unidentified graves in that cemetery, which could contain the remains of Ellicott's mother Miriam, and possibly even Ellicott. The graves were relocated to Montgomery Memorial Park in London, Kanawha County.

US Census, 1830, Kanawha County, Virginia
RUNNELS (Reynolds), Ellicott
1 male 20/30 (Ellicott, 26)
1 female under 5 (Miriam, under 1)
1 female 20/30 (Elizabeth, 23)
1 female 50/60 (possibly Miriam Reynolds, about 65)

US Census, 1840, Virginia, Kanawha County, p. 48
REYNOLDS, Ellicott
2 males 5/10 (Fenton, 7 & Rossamell, 8)
1 male 15/20 (This must be Ellicott, although he is 36)
2 females under 5 (Elizabeth, 2 & Lettie, 4)
1 female 5/10 (Ellen, 1)
1 female 10/15 (Miriam, 10)
1 female 30/40 (Elizabeth, about 34)

1850 US Census, District 29, Kanawha County, Virginia
REYNOLDS, Ellicotte, 46, None, b. Virginia
Elizabeth, 43, b. Virginia
Mariam V, 20, b. Virginia
Rosamelle, 19, b. Virginia
Fenton M, 17, Clerk, b. Virginia
Ellen A, 15, b. Virginia
Aletha M, 13, b. Virginia
Elizabeth V, 12, b. Virginia
Charles H, 10, b. Virginia
William F, 7, b. Virginia
Ellicotte, 4, b. Virginia
HAYMAN, Wolf, 34, Merchant, b. Germany

1860 US Census, Carbonvale, Kanawha County, Virginia, page 247
REYNOLDS, Ellicott, 56, M, Farmer, b. Virginia
Elizabeth, 54, F, b. Virginia
Rosamelle, 28, M, Clerk, b. Virginia
Ellen, 21, F, b. Virginia
Lethe, 20, F, b. Virginia
Elizabeth (Lizzy), 19, F, b. Virginia
Charles, 18, M, b. Virginia
William F, 12, M, b. Virginia
Ellicott, 11, M, b. Virginia



1880 US Census, Loudon, Kanawha County, West Virginia, page 29
Village of Brownstown
REYNOLDS, E, 76, Farmer, b. West Virginia, parents b. North Carolina
E, 74, Keep house, b. West Virginia, parents b. Virginia
W F, 30, Clerk, b. West Virginia, parents b. North Carolina, Virginia
WATT, W J, 6, Grandson, b. West Virginia, parents b. Virginia, West Virginia
William H, Laborer, b. Virginia, parents b. Virginia
COUGHLIN, Maggie, 20, Hired, b. West Virginia, parents b. West Virginia

Information for this biography from the 1850 & 1860 Kanawha County census; estate of Silas Reynolds, 1803, Botetourt County; estate of John Reynolds, 1832, Kanawha County; Gary Hawpe, owner of the Van Bibber data base; Betsy Howe information given to me by Diane Dieterle, a descendant of Nancy Duvall ; letters from and interviews with Betsy's great grandchildren, Avanalle Smith & Clarence Grim; Bioanthropological Investigations of the Reynolds Cemetery in Kanawha County; West Virginia Archives; Kanawha County vital records.