John Reynolds

Early life Reynolds was born in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. His father, Robert Reynolds and his mother, née Margaret Moore, were both natives of Ireland, from which country they emigrated to the United States in 1785, arriving first at Philadelphia. When Reynolds was about six months old, his parents emigrated with him to Tennessee, where many of their relatives had already located, at the base of the Copper Ridge Mountain, about northeast of the present city of Knoxville. After experiencing raids from Native Americans, the Reynolds moved into the interior of the state in 1794. They were poor, and brought up their children to habits of manual industry.

In 1800 the family moved to near Kaskaskia, Illinois,

In 1818, John Reynolds was an unsuccessful candidate for election to the United States Senate. for the first time, serving until 1830.

Reynolds was elected in 1846 for one term as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives

Personal life Reynolds married twice, to Catherine Dubuque in 1817 and to Sarah E. Wilson in 1836, and had no children. He died in Belleville in May 1865, shortly after the Civil War, and his body was laid there in Walnut Hill Cemetery.