Hamilton Reynolds

   Another name for Hamilton was Hamilton Runnels.

"Hamilton Reynolds, b. 1761 in N. Carolina, and his wife, Rachel Clements, b. 1775 in Georgia, came first to Lawrence County, Tennessee from S. Carolina about 1815, along with most of their eight children. Hamilton was a veteran of the Revolutionary War, serving in the Georgia Militia, and his eldest son, Hugh Riah Reynolds, born in 1795, served in the War of 1812 with a Tennessee militia unit. In September of 1816, Hugh Riah married Elizabeth Hamm, a 16 year-old girl he met at a dance, the daughter of a S. Carolina Revolutionary War veteran, John Hamm, Sr. and his wife, Phoebe Jane Blassingame who then lived in Giles County, and later settled in McNairy County, Tennessee. Hugh and "Betsy" settled on Shoal Creek in Giles County. The 1820 census shows their nearby neighbor was a man named Davy Crockett.
Shortly after the Chickasaw Secession opened up the area for settlement, Hamilton and Hugh Riah Reynolds came down to Lauderdale County to obtain land for Hugh's growing family. They settled on property close to the state line, in an area that came to be known as Pruitton. By 1825, Hugh was able to move his wife and five children to a log home on a ridge overlooking Sour Branch near Butler Creek.
The family continued to grow and prosper. Hugh and Betsy Reynolds had, by 1843, fourteen children. Born in Giles County, Tennessee were: Thomas Hamilton, b. 1817; William Carroll, b. 1819; Nancy Emily, b. 1821; James Marion, b. 1823, and John Wiggins, b. 1825. Born in Lauderdale County were: Phoebe Jane, b. 1827; Hugh Riah L., b. 1828; Wesley Blassingame, b. 1830; George Riley, b. 1831; Joseph Pleasant, b. 1834; Anderson Pinkney, b. 1836; Winston Pettus, b. 1838; Elizabeth Dorinda, b. 1840, and Richard Randolph, b. 1843.
About 1845, Hugh Riah's father, Hamilton Reynolds died at the age of 84 and is believed to be buried in the family cemetery on Hugh Riah's farm. In December 1845, Hugh and Betsy's son, John Wiggins Reynolds, died at the age of 20. He is also believed to be buried in the family cemetery.
By 1860, Hugh and Betsy owned several hundred acres, and 20 slaves, as well as obtaining land for several of their married children. By this time, all but the youngest two had married. Then came the Civil War. Hugh Riah was 65 years old in 1861, wife, Betsy, 61. Most of their sons, sons-in-law and nephews joined the Confederate Army. Son James M. Reynolds served as Captain of Company B, 9th Tennessee Cavalry, a unit of Biffle's Battalion under General Nathan Bedford Forrest. Capt. Reynolds' brothers, Richard Randolph and Wesley Blassingame, served as 2nd Sgt. and 3rd Sgt., while a third brother, Winston Pettus, and ten cousins, brothers-in-law and nephews served as privates.
The war years were difficult and made more so by the ravages of various bands of Union and Confederate deserters, draft-dodgers and criminals who came generally to be called "The Buggers." Their focus of activity was the area of Lauderdale near the state line. According to one family member, Hugh Reynolds was "hung" on three occasions by these thieves, trying to force him to tell where his money was hidden.
Though several were wounded in action, and James was taken to a Union prison camp (from which he escaped), all of Hugh and Betsy's sons returned home safely. Daughter Elizabeth Dorinda, who had only recently married William Hough, died in 1865 and was buried in the family cemetery.
The ravages of the war in Lauderdale County, coupled with the martial law, tax increases and loss of slave labor, made the Reconstruction Era, in many respects, more damaging to the family than the war had been. Property was lost in Sheriff's sales, criminal activity by The Buggers and others continued, and the price of cotton plummeted. Several of Hugh and Betsy's children moved to Arkansas, in an effort to find a better life. These included Nancy Emily and her husband, William Carroll Bailey; George Riley and his second wife, Nannie Hamm (his first wife, Elizabeth Hamm, died in 1857 and is buried in the Wade Cemetery in Iron City, Tennessee); Winston Pettus and his third wife, Margaret J. Bell, and Wesley Blassingame and his wife, Sarah Brewer. In August 1871, Hugh Riah Reynolds died at the age of 76, and a few months later, his 37 year-old son, Joseph Pleasant, was shot and killed. Both are buried in the family cemetery. Joseph Pleasant's widow, Mary Eliza Ragan, and their six children moved to Tishomingo Co., Mississippi where her family lived.
In January 1879, Sarah Olive, mother-in-law of Hugh and Betsy Reynolds' daughter, Phoebe Jane, died and was buried in the family cemetery. Phoebe Jane was married to Sarah and James Olive's son, William B. in 1842. Sarah's headstone shows the earliest birthdate (1789) of those with currently legible inscriptions in the Reynolds' cemetery. In June 1882, Hugh Riah's widow, Elizabeth "Betsy" Hamm Reynolds, died and was buried in the family cemetery. She was 81 years old. The only known direct descendant of Hugh and Betsy Reynolds living in Lauderdale County today is Marjeenia Reynolds, a great, great granddaughter of their son, Thomas Hamilton. Most of Hugh & Betsy Reynolds' descendants eventually migrated to Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma, but can be found across the country today, from Maryland to California. As their youngest son, Richard Randolph Reynolds, wrote in a survey of Civil War veterans conducted about 1911, the Reynolds were a hard-working and "respectable" family. They were pioneers with a strong belief in duty and honor, who helped civilize and settle Lauderdale County."
Submitted by: Michele L. Valkenaar, 11000 Calloway View Dr., Knoxville, Tennessee 37922.
Note: This was submitted in July 1998 for inclusion in the Lauderdale County Heritage

American Revolutionary War Rejected Pensions
Name: Hamilton Reynolds State: Tennessee Location: Purdy, McNairy Reason: Not six months service.

Hamilton married Rachel Clements, daughter of John Clements and Hannah, in 1791.¹ (Rachel Clements was born 10 Oct 1775 ¹ and died in 1833.)