Date: Sat, 23 Aug 2025 04:13:13 -0400
From: Kevin Reynolds <ddsuac7@gmail.com>

BEGIN

I've appended a few descendant charts about the Reynolds family. John Arleigh
married Mary Delaney and her family information is appended as well. For
both, I've done a family history with a narrative. That doesn't seem to be
the direction you went in but for me, I grew up without any family history
whatever due to an estrangement between him and his father, John Arleigh
Reynolds, when I was four years old. I focused on the usual births, marriages
and deaths but more on stories and information about each generation. Marie
Lake Maloney got a shout out, as did Cleve in that history. I've appended that
narrative section as well. Let me know if you want these narratives. Neither
the narratives or the families seem to be your focus but I'm happy to share. 

My father was Richard Reynolds. He is gone but Mom (Sharon Ann Champion)
is still living so that is a marker for you if you plan to incorporate any
of the information I sent you into your own.

Nancy Lake and Jimmy Kane were my godparents. I recall Nancy as being my
Aunt Cee Cee's (Cecily Reynolds Payne) unofficial caretaker when I came to
visit Cee Cee. The Lakes were always around when I was growing up, which is
understandable since there were between 2 and 2.5 billion of them! Joanie
and Eddie Burke were favorites of our family and I remember Frankie Facik
re-roofing our house and maybe helping Dad with electrical when we lived
on Leroy St. in Binghamton. I culled that very sweet picture of Claire and
Cleve for my Mom. She lived with Aunt Claire for a bit when our peripatetic
existence separated the family back in 1973 and Aunt Clair died just a year
later. She'll be very happy to have that. 

I'll be glad to fill in a bit backwards about Marshall and Maria (Thayne). You
guys owned a camera! And took pictures!! My family was a bit too close to the
workhouse for that sort of thing  and I miss that aspect of our history,
so I've been culling some other pictures. Leo Lake owned the Cadillac
and a bunch of other hospitality places in town and my grandfather, John
Arleigh, was thick with him and Cleve. Pat Lake was a fireman and hurt his
back in the line of duty - ladder accident - and was in pain a lot of the
time. Michael Charles Reynolds had a double row of teeth, of all things and
loved to sing but was a bit nonchalant about religion after a few instances
recounted below. 

A couple of stories from the family narrative I wrote which concern Lakes:

Marie Maloney, who gave me some information about Ruth because Marie knew Ruth
personally, is kind of a character herself. I enjoyed my visit with her very
much. She had lots of color insights to some of the folks in this history. For
example, she said that Anna always made her wear a sun bonnet during the
summer to prevent freckles, which detracted from a woman's beauty. Somehow,
the image of Melissa Gilbert in "Little House on the Prairie" comes to mind!

She said that Anna told her never to buy a red dress - it is too flamboyant
and one could wear it one time, then put it away for years, and wear it
one time again and people would remark "here she comes again in that red
dress of hers, doesn't she ever tire of wearing it?" Marie said that Anna
told her never to call attention to a chore left undone - keep quiet and
they'll never notice it. Marie remembers fondly spending the entire summer
with Anna. She'd drink milk right from the cow from a big glass, warm and
frothy. She mentioned that she remembers making pouches of oatmeal to use
as soap, since ladies did not use soap then.

Since oatmeal soap has come back into vogue, maybe Marie was ahead of
her time?

Marie confirmed Cee Cee's pipe smoking in the outhouse for me, a wonderful
recollection for any who knew Cee Cee's independent nature. She says that
Anna would pinch Marie's cheeks to make her look healthy but NOT robust as
there was a fine line between looking sort of upper class-y and looking
like a farmhand. She says Anna had a passion for ferns of all things and
used to stencil them for decorations.

One of the best recollections of Marie for Anna was that as a young girl,
Marie was afraid of thunderstorms. She'd crawl into a closet to hide. Anna
would bring a stool into the closet and sit with her, telling her the story
of Christ and His walking on the water and the calming of the storm to
make Marie less afraid. Of course, it didn't hurt to have, at the peak of
a downpour, John Arleigh show up in a big car, honking the horn and yelling
"how are you fixed for soap?" and laughing it all off as a big joke. Marie's
memories were welcome additions to the history and I can't say how much I
enjoyed the opportunity to meet her.

(snip about Aunt Cee Cee mentioning Thaynes)

Cee Cee was a wonderful source for me in this undertaking. I'd get some
info, run it past her and she'd put it into perspective for me. She told
me lots of background information about the people involved. For example,
she told me that Aunt Ellie (McCann) Carney broke up Ethel's romance with
William Thayne because he had no money. She allowed Ethel to marry Tom Dolan
because he had money and prospects. However, she kind of relented when Michael
Reynolds came to court Anna - he didn't have a lot, but he had some land, a
good team of horses for plowing and besides, was pretty dashing and handsome,
so the Reynolds charm won her over! Cee Cee referred to John and Amelia as
"Big Grandpa and Big Grandma" and considered their children "cousins". Cee
Cee is the one who bought her father's gravestone, she said. She thought
the McAvoy's were related to us through the Filans. I've since done the
McAvoy line and actually, the Filans ARE related us via the McAvoys. The
McAvoys were Reynoldses. One McAvoy married a Filan, so they married in,
not the other way around.

My personal recollections of Cee Cee were always good. At one point, my
family moved to Georgia and Cee Cee was one of the folks we made sure to
visit before leaving. While in Georgia, I was in a traffic accident and
while I was laid up in the hospital, she always sent me letters to keep
in touch. One was written in a pretty shaky hand and she claimed to have
written it with her toes! Later, she admitted it was done with her left hand,
but I got a huge laugh out of it anyway. She might never have had kids,
but she sure knew how to make me feel special.

Robert Donlin was one of her students when she taught school in Auburn. He
said she'd come to school in the morning in a horse and buggy and it was
a mark of honor for her to choose someone to put the horse away for the
day. I also remember she told me that she used to snitch a smoke on a
little clay pipe when she was young. She used to smoke out in the barn
but Michael caught her and whomped her for it. Instead of quitting, she
just did her smoking out in the outhouse where she knew she'd get privacy
(and a cover smell, if you catch my meaning).

One of the best memories I had of her was visiting her to do this history
and her telling me what life was like when she was a little girl, how
she remembered her grandmother Margaret collecting the stag horn sumac to
create a rinse to dye her hair and how Margaret would come down to watch
over her to make sure she was all right when Cee Cee went to bring in the
livestock. Cee Cee then said that one of her favorite songs was "The Stone
Pillow", a song about being in jail and after a bit of reflection, sang it
for me a capella in a very nice alto voice.

Later, after she had her stroke, she couldn't speak and that frustrated her
no end, but at Maureen Reynolds's wedding, she didn't need words to take
great pleasure in meeting my daughter, Colleen, who was a toddler then. The
pictures we have of her smiling and holding Colleen don't need any words
to tell how big her heart was. She was a great woman and I miss her terribly.

(snip about Uncle Cleve)

Cleveland Lake died Nov. 14, 1953. Clare lived until May 24, 1974. Two
interesting stories about Cleve Lake popped up when I was doing the
research for this. One was that Cleve was immensely strong. He could take
100 lbs. sacks of grain and sling them one-handed into a wagon and do this
all day long. The other story was that you never wanted to walk into his
house with your hands in your pockets - you'd get your face slapped. A guy
had to be "ready" at all times, according to Cleve. He never backed away
from a fight in his life, I'm told, and sometimes enjoyed fighting for the
sake of the exercise it gave him.

(snip about Charles Reynolds line, my own, Michael C. Reynolds's father
and Aunt Claire's grandfather)

8) Charles Reynolds

Born 1813 in Ireland, died April 1, 1870 age 57 of "bowel inflammation". There
is confusion over the date of birth stemming from differing dates given to
the census, which is unfortunately very common. The date of death and age
at death is from the Mortality Schedules of PA, 1870.  Charles shows up as a
laborer on a neighboring farm in the 1840 census. By 1842, he is in Auburn,
working 40 acres of land owning 2 oxen and 2 cows and is listed in Stocker's
history of the county with James and Felix as early members of St. Bonnie's
church. The three are also described as being "leading families" of the
parish. There is no deed granting title of land to Charles that I was able to
find. However, he paid taxes on the land he rented, a practice of the period.

One of the interesting facts gleaned about Charles, who left a pretty light
mark on the records of the time, was that he started picking up judgments
soon after he began farming. In 1849, he and Felix Reynolds incurred a
judgment in the amount of $12.98 to a Thomas Johnson. On August 1, 1866,
Thomas Donlin secured a judgment against Charles for $2000.00 for "words,
damages". The amount of money involved at the time was astronomical. Sort
makes you wonder if the famous Reynolds temper has a genetic component.

A final judgment in the amount of $20 was secured by the local undertaker
at the time of his death. That, to me, is pretty sad. His family could not
even afford to bury him.

Charles married Margaret Farrell, who was from Corning, NY. Her parents
were Cornelius "Corny" Farrell and Kitty Fumes Farrell (the certificate says
"Corny" but Cee Cee says that was a nickname for Cornelius). All were born
in Ireland. This occurred between 1840 and 1850 as Charles was a bachelor
in the 1840 census and married in the 1850 census. Margaret was born March
10, 1817 and died March 24, 1911, aged 94 years. The cause of her death was
officially listed as marasmus. Cee Cee said that was because her teeth were
all gone and she was only able to eat bread soaked in tea. Family tradition
has her living to 100 years, but this is not so.

The longest lived Reynolds seems to have been Cee Cee, who knew Margaret
well and who died April 28, 1994 at age 98. Margaret is buried nearer to
the road as the accompanying map shows. Charles is buried in an unmarked
grave between Felix and John Reynolds.

It would be a nice family project to erect gravestones for each of these
forgotten Reynoldses.

Side note: Charles, James and Felix are listed in the county history together,
they are listed in Church records together, Charles and Felix's farms appear
to abut one another, Charles and Felix incur judgments together. It seems
that there is a pretty strong relationship among them.

It might be that the family legend of three brothers coming to America
wasn't wrong. Cee Cee has stated that Felix and Charles were "cousins". I've
heard that relationship stated so many times, including for people who were
siblings, that I'm inclined to believe that it represents in most cases
an indeterminate familial relationship that gets subsumed into a generic
label. In other words, when people don't know exactly the relationship
but know they are related, they

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intended to call those relations "cousins". I don't think that extrapolating
from the term assuming that the term is a precise designation is going to
be successful. I tried that in the past and gave up. Just too nebulous. My
thought is that the legend of three brothers - James, Felix, Charles -
coming originally to the area is correct and that later, brothers John and
Patrick showed up with sisters Anne, Margaret and Catherine.

Cee Cee states that when Charles died, the family did not put up a gravestone
due to poverty.

This is confirmed by the judgment secured by the local undertaker. Cee Cee
also states that Charles died of pneumonia. Pneumonia or bowel inflammation,
take your pick.

Charles and Margaret lived on a farm on what is now the Fannin-Muldoon
Road. At the north end were the Muldoons. At the south end is a
"Mrs. R". Their immediate neighbors in the 1870 census were Felix Reynolds
and Ellen Fannin Reynolds.

Charles and Margaret had five children together, though only two lived
past infancy.

John (b. 1855, d. August 7, 1895 at Battle Mountain, Nevada). His obit
says he was 39 years old at the time. He came to Nye County NV from Eureka
County in 1879 and located in Tybo, where he engaged in silver mining. Bob
Donlin confirmed this for me and said several residents of Auburn including
the Filans went west to try their hand at getting rich by mining silver at
the time in question. John went then to Grantsville and again tried mining
for several months but gave that up and then was appointed a school teacher
in the Grantsville public school, teaching for several years during which
time he also held the position of Justice of the Peace for Grantsville. From
Grantsville, he went to Belmont and taught there for several years. He became
District Attorney for Nye County in 1886 and was reelected in 1888. In
1892 and 1893, he taught school in Kingston Canyon, Lander County. From
there he went to Austin and was admitted to the bar to practice law. He
became a teacher in the "first grammar department" of Austin schools. While
"coasting" (family legend has him as tobogganing), he got hurt and in April,
he sought medical attention, going to Battle Mountain for surgery. His
doctor, a Doctor Hood, initially relieved him and he started to recover
but took a turn for the worse in July and died after an emergency surgery
August 7, 1895. His obituary lists him as being a learned and gentle man,
big-hearted and a great teacher. He was a member of the Belmont Lodge 24,
I.O.O.F., and was buried at Battle Mountain. He left a mother and a brother
in PA and two cousins in Battle Mountain.

As a side note, things get garbled over the years with respect to family
legends. I have not yet come across any evidence that any of the male
Filans that I know about went west. I haven't looked into it much. However,
there was definitely a Filan that did go west - Mary Filan, who married
John McAvoy. They also came back to Auburn. I'm half convinced that this is
the source of the family legend about Filans that went out west with John
Reynolds and then returned but I don't know. I DO know that things get pretty
garbled between generations. Katie Conaty said on a Census report that her
mother came from Northern Ireland and that just ain't so. Anne Reynolds is
like all of them - from County Longford. So even when you have the person
right in front of you to ask, things don't always come out true. Take family
legend as having a basis in fact but not necessarily accuracy.

In 2001, Donna and I stopped in to find John Reynolds's grave during a
visit out west. He is indeed listed, but unfortunately a flood had occurred
some years back and all the markers were ruined. A flood in Nevada? Hard
to believe, but there you go. We took pictures of the cemetery and walked
all through it just in case his marker survived. It hadn't. At least we
now know what happened to him.

Charles Reynolds died without having become a US citizen so far as I can
tell. This needs to be followed up on. When he died, Margaret was left with
the following estate:

Page of 9 20

One house: $150
One double harness: $30
One bow: $40
One bow: $30
two beds: $20 each
one stove: $5
one bureau: $4
one clock: $2
one set of chairs: $3
one table: $2
15 bu. wheat: $7.50
11 bu. damaged corn: $7.00
Total of goods: $300.50

Not a lot for the family to continue on. No land was mentioned. I was
told that at a family reunion in the early 2000s, when this information
was presented, there was some grumbling about how poor the family was. As
is often said, it is what it is. The record is there for anyone to see. If
nothing else, it is a reminder of just how far our personal living standards
have improved over the generations.

Margaret lived with Michael for quite a few years after Charles died. It
was she who purchased land in partnership with Michael over the years. They
bought approximately 50 ac. from A.J.

Tingley on August 2, 1919 for an unspecified amount of money. This was
described as the east half of lot 202 and was the culmination of a land
contract dated October 25, 1904. The land included the Nick Pond and was later
sold to Mark Williams on May 17, 1926. The present owner is Maureen Jackson.

Michael also purchased 54 acres, the south half of lot 206, from Peter and
Mary Brugler, on April 25, 1894 for $800. Felix Reynolds owned the north half
of the lot. This property was sold on January 2, 1896 to William McAvoy. The
problem seems to have been a judgment incurred by Michael and Margaret
Reynolds to William McCarty for $1500. Half of that amount had been paid
before the land was sold, the remainder being remitted through sale proceeds.
Michael also purchased land from William Jessup. He purchased 52.9 acres
on January 11, 1896, nine days after he sold land to McAvoy. This was a
portion of lot 215. It was later sold to Cecily Reynolds on March 2, 1939.

It would be kind of interesting to do a map of these lands, if anyone
was interested.

Whether or not anyone was aware of its significance, the original parcel
purchased by Michael was kept in the family until 1944. Margaret died
intestate, so Michael inherited it. Michael also died intestate, so John
Arleigh, Mary Reynolds, Cecily Payne, L. Max Payne, Clare Lake and Cleveland
Lake all inherited it from Michael (and Anna, when Michael died). They
sold it to Herbert and Winifred Bell on October 6, 1944, who also purchased
the west half of lot 215. The Bells later sold the property to their son,
Christopher. I have pictures of the original house and barn.

Michael married Anna Maude McCann, of Westport Canada, in 1891. I have a
copy of their marriage certificate. It lists Michael as 32 years old and
Anna, daughter of Michael McCann and Margaret Ferrigan of North Crosby,
as 24. Michael McCann and Theresa McCann witnessed. The marriage was at
St. Edwards in Westport, CA.

Page of 10 20

John Hugh Carney (b 1942) gave me some information about this marriage. The
Carneys were tied into the Reynoldses back in Ireland. They were neighbors
and friends. Eileen Reynolds tracked down the backstory here given. Back in
the day, John's grandfather John (father to Everett Carney and grandfather
to this John Carney) had a subsistence dairy farm that barely provided so
during logging season (which, unlike today, was winter so the logs could
be drawn out on ice-covered roads) he would take the train up to Upstate
NY to work in the lumber camps. He was obviously not afraid of hard work
and he had to have been physically quite powerful. At that time, a Catholic
Church in Gananocque Ontario would run socials that were well-attended. He
took a ferry from NY over to Canada, then a train down to Gananocque.
Young people from quite some distance away came, including Ellen McCann,
who lived about 50 miles away.

John Carney and Aunt Ellie were introduced at the social, he courted her
(a feat, given the distances involved) and eventually married her up in
Westport. Aunt Ellie would have her sister, Anne, come visit her in Auburn for
the summer and that is how she met Michael. The rest is history, so to speak.

Michael and Anna had 5 children, of whom three lived:

Clare Mary (b. 2/13/1892)
John Arleigh (b. 12/26/1893)
Cecily Margaret (b. 4/17/1896)

One child, Walter, was born after Cecily, but died in infancy. The
date of his birth and death have not been established. Further research
warranted!!! He didn't live long enough to have his birth recorded by the
county, it seems. A fifth child was born between John Arleigh and Cecily
apparently, but this is also not certain. Cee Cee states this child was a
miscarriage. No church record exists for this child, so it is possible. Anna
fudged her age her entire life. When her father was asked how old she was
for the Canadian census, he gave an age six years older than she did whenever
she was asked. She was married at at 30, pushing 31, instead of "24" which is
noted on her church record in Westport for the marriage. That means that by
the time Cee Cee was born, she was in her mid to late 30s. A miscarriage is
understandable at that age given the medical care of the times. The McCanns
were prolific producers of children, with ginormous families, so having
three children would be unusual if not for having started a bit later in life.

I asked Cee Cee why the strange names for children. They are certainly
not the usual run of the mill stuff. She said Anna was a great reader of
all sorts of books and the names came from whatever she was reading at the
time. Good thing she wasn't reading the Niebelungenlied!

Clare was confirmed in St. Bonaventure's on 9/15/1901 as Clare Mary Ann
Reynolds. In her confirmation class were Anna and Everett Carney. John
Arleigh and Cecily were confirmed together on February 18, 1906.

Michael Reynolds died on February 2, 1929, aged 72 years, of septicemia
following an ulcerated tooth. His estate was the following:

56 chickens at $0.75: $42.00
1 horse: $10
1 cow: $65.00
2 pigs: $6.00
small tools: $10
cash in Meshoppen bank: $180.90

Page of 11 20

Grand total: $313.90

Michael Reynolds was buried at St. Bonnie's on 2/5/1929. A high Mass was
said for him, all sacraments were given, a point that Marie Maloney, who
was at the funeral, was insistent upon.

There was a family legend that Michael's troubles with the church kept him
from receiving a Church burial. This is not true.

Robert Donlin provided some background for Michael by telling me a bit
of oral history. He said that Michael loved music and that Katie Conaty,
who could sing, taught Mike to read music.

They sang duets together often and would playfully try to work up to high
"C" but that he (Donlin) and others usually fled the room before that note
was reached. Mike told Donlin that the Church had "knocked all the religion
out of me". Apparently, during a catechism class, the priest at the time
used direct methods of instruction. If you didn't know your catechism, you
got nailed by a blow. Mike received a blow that rung his bell enough for
him to be knocked senseless. After that, he said, religion never seemed too
important to him. Cee relates that Mike was a carpenter and did work for the
Church one year in order to get money to buy new shoes for the children but
when the work was done, the Church reneged and Mike had to find other ways
to pay for the shoes. These types of stories seem to have culminated in a
family legend that Mike was somehow shunned by the church at death but as
Marie Maloney states, this was not so.

Robert Donlin worked with Mike as a young boy and remembered John Arleigh
quite well as a premier catcher for the local baseball team and someone who
liked to fight but who would normally do so to stick up for someone else
getting whomped. Mike was known as "Blackie" due to his dark complexion and
dark hair. Robert Donlin and Mike sawed maples together and talked a fair
amount about various subjects and people. For example, Mike had picked Robert
over another prospect, from the Winans family, due to Robert's familiarity
with hard work. The Winans boy, Mike said, "laid on the saw" instead of
using it. It was fascinating to hear Robert Donlin, then in his 90's, talk
about Mike as if it were yesterday. I appreciated visiting with him very much.

Robert Donlin told me a bit about the Donlins themselves and as they are
relatives, here's a bit of their story:

The Donlins came to Auburn in the 1820's, the same as Felix, from Granard
just like the Reynolds family. The Donlins and the Reynoldses came together
to America to work on the North Branch Canal and settle with people from
their hometown. Land was running at 50 cents an acre and if someone got a
piece of land, rented it and made improvements, he could work into eventual
ownership. Or, if that was not desired, one could half-way "buy" the land
for the value of the improvements made to it. The original house for our
family was on the Fannin- Muldoon road and the foundation for it is still
there. He also gave a bit of info for anyone wanting to track down the
Margaret Farrell Reynolds line - she had a brother (and the Census shows
a Thomas Farrell, age 14, living with Charles and Margaret in 1860) and a
sister who became a Murphy. He states that when John Reynolds went west, so
did some Filans, along with a Cornelius Murphy, who he says is Margaret's
sister's son, and a Dougherty that he couldn't remember at the time. The
Filans helped to build the Reynolds family barn at the new location for
the house, so the Filans are tied in pretty closely to the Reynoldses in
some manner. Further research warranted!!!

Thomas Donlin, a brother to James Donlin (father of Squire Donlin and Charles,
who married one of John and Amelia's children, Florence) was married to
Margaret Reynolds (daughter of John Raynolds and Anne) in Ireland, so our
blood tie to the Donlins began in Ireland.

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Anna McCann Reynolds continued to live on the farm stead (it having been
moved from the original site by Bunnell in 1915, according to Robert Donlin,
who "rode the house" as it was moved. The winter of 1914 was terrible, with
drifts covering homes, lots of snow and wind. The house was moved the next
year. A Keough moved his home that year as well. When I talked to Cee Cee,
she said that the house would get drifted in for weeks at a time in the
winter and that moving it from the hill down to the main road meant they
could get out all winter long. It was a tremendous improvement in their
lives. Robert Donlin said that Bunnell had teams of horses pulling it and
that Anna was busy cooking for everyone as the house trundled along. The
big thing that year was to say you "rode the house" as it got moved.

Anna died March 5, 1939, having been buried in St. Bonnie's but having
had her sacraments given to her at St. John's in Binghamton. Burial was on
March 7, 1939.

Clare married Cleveland Lake on June 18, 1913 and had seven children:

Marie (married Robert Maloney) b. 4/12/15
Joseph: b. 10/16/16
John Michael (never married) b. 9/28/18
Betty Jane (married Frank Faciszewski) b. 6/8/22
Joan Clair (married Ed. Burke) b. 4/4/24
Patrick (married Diane Richmond) b. 4/3/30
Nancy (married Jimmy Kane) b. 5/26/33

END