Post by Eric Standridge on Oct 27, 2011 9:29:29 GMT -6
At and in the vicinity of Castle mountain, near Cameron, Le Flore county, are seen many picturesque evidences of the substantial achievements and high standing of Captain James E. Reynolds—a brave, determined and able character to whom the Choctaw Nation was greatly indebted for its advancement in agriculture, commerce and the true American spirit. His unique and imposing castle of gray granite, double-turreted and mediaeval in outward form, stands at the base of the mountain, while at its apex is a splendid orchard of seventy acres, which he created on one of his wife's valuable allotments. In 1867 he came to the Choctaw Nation and located on Poteau bottoms in what is now Le Flore county and in the same year located and established a residence on the state line. There he lived about eighteen years, and then built the house that he now occupies. The land has lately been sold to a development company which is promoting the new town of Arkoma. On the other hand the Captain still maintains the farming interests which he opened up in the famous Poteau bottoms, near Fort Smith, in the form of about twelve hundred acres of improved and productive land, representing the allotments of the Reynolds family and which have so materially contributed to their independent standing in the community. Captain Reynolds is further recognized as the founder of old McAlester and, more than any other man, identified with the establishment and the development of the mercantile and coal interests of this locality.
James E. Reynolds is a Mississippian, born in Carroll county on the 17th of July, 1837, and is a son of Rev. Bowen and Sarah (Meaux) Reynolds, his parents having been married in Virginia in 1817. Both sides of the family were early established in the south, the paternal ancestors being of Irish origin and pioneers of North Carolina. Richard Meaux, Mrs. Reynolds' father, was a native of the Old Dominion, born in 1767, and in 1789 he married Frances Oliver, who was four years his junior. Captain Reynolds' parents spent their last days in Mississippi, his death occurring in July, 1845, ar,d her decease July 25, 1850. Thus orphaned when he had just entered his fourteenth year, the month of July in its many recurrences has always brought to him some of the saddest memories of his long life. The circumstances of his early years also made it impossible for him to secure anything like complete educational advantages, and he has little knowledge of the average care-free periods of boyhood. First employed as a dry goods clerk, at the time of the outbreak of the Civil war he had reached the dignity of an independent merchant, located at Carrollton, Mississippi.
On the 1st of April, 1861, Captain Reynolds joined the Confederate army at Carrollton, as a member of Company K, under Captain Lidell, and he helped Company K organize at Corinth the Eleventh Mississippi Regiment, commanded by Colonel Moore. The regiment was dispatched to Lynchburg, Virginia, and afterward to Harper's Ferry, where it was incorporated into a brigade which was commanded by General Stonewall Jackson. After the battle of Manassas Captain Reynolds was stricken with typhoid fever, and after a hospital confinement of four months returned to Mississippi, in November, 1862, and re-enlisted in Company K, Thirtieth Mississippi Infantry, under Colonel G. F. Neil. The regiment became a part of the Army of the Tennessee, and during its first engagement at Perryville, Kentucky, the young Mississippian was wounded, but not disabled, and within the succeeding eighteen months saw active and wearing service in Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia. At the battle of Lookout Mountain, November 24, 1863, he was severely wounded in the breast, and again sent to the hospital. Four months afterward he returned to his reorganized regiment with the rank of second lieutenant, as a reward for his bravery at that battle, but in May, 1864, he received another wound at New Hope Church, Georgia, from which he has never fully recovered. His first lieutenancy dated from that engagement and later he was commissioned to a captaincy, but the war ended before the arrival of his papers.
At the conclusion of the war in 1865 Captain Reynolds married Miss Felicity L. Turnbull, of Choctaw blood, born in Lexington, Mississippi, on the 17th of November, 1847, a daughter of Anthony and Hannah (Long) Turnbull. Her father was born in Mississippi in 1809, and died in that state September 21, 1849. ^rsReynolds' grandparents were Samuel and Felicity (Le Flore) Long, the Le Flores being among the most prominent Choctaws of the Nation. Mrs. Anthony Turnbull was born February 17, 1813; married in Holmes county, Mississippi, September 7, 1829, and after the death of Mr. Turnbull became the wife of James Jordan, herself dying August I3. l%77, in Scullyville county, Choctaw Nation. The children who were born to Captain and Mrs. Reynolds comprise the following: James T., who died at the family home in Cameron, November 22, 1908, unmarried; Ida, who married Dr. Murray and resides at Poteau, Oklahoma; Rosa O., now Mrs. F. H. Carr, and making her home with her parents; Hugh A., of Braden, that state; Earl V., who lives in Fort Smith, Arkansas; and Misses A. Grace and Felicity L. Reynolds, also at home with their parents. The Captain thoroughly educated his children, some of them being college graduates, and his sons are engaged in business and have other substantial interests. The family are identified with the Presbyterian church.
After his marriage Captain Reynolds lived for a year in Mississippi, but the condition of affairs in the reconstruction period immediately following the Civil war was so unsatisfactory that he removed with his wife to Scullyville county, Choctaw Nation, and settled on a farm near Cameron. As the result of the war his wife's Mississippi plantation had been ravaged and her slaves had been scattered and freed, so that but little of value was taken from Mississippi into the Indian Territory, and with resolute spirit the Captain began the work of acquiring another fortune. The allotments of land which came into the family through the Choctaw blood of Mrs. Reynolds were energetically and wisely improved, while Mr. Reynolds became also one of the most progressive and influential business men of that part of Oklahoma. He was the first capitalist to begin the development of the, now extensive coal mines at South McAlester and vicinity, and built the first business house in that place, where in partnership with R. L. Owen he established the large mercantile house conducted by the Indian Trading Company. Later he sold his interest in that enterprise, but for some years afterward was actively and extensively connected with the coal mining and agricultural interests. At the height of his activities in 1890 he erected his magnificent residence at Castle mountain, which at the time was one of the finest in the state, and is now the most attractive.
Captain Reynolds is one of the oldest Masons in the state, having joined the order while a resident of Mississippi in 1867. In politics he is still a Democrat, but has never voted, for since his service in the Civil war he has never taken his oath of allegiance to the United States.
James E. Reynolds is a Mississippian, born in Carroll county on the 17th of July, 1837, and is a son of Rev. Bowen and Sarah (Meaux) Reynolds, his parents having been married in Virginia in 1817. Both sides of the family were early established in the south, the paternal ancestors being of Irish origin and pioneers of North Carolina. Richard Meaux, Mrs. Reynolds' father, was a native of the Old Dominion, born in 1767, and in 1789 he married Frances Oliver, who was four years his junior. Captain Reynolds' parents spent their last days in Mississippi, his death occurring in July, 1845, ar,d her decease July 25, 1850. Thus orphaned when he had just entered his fourteenth year, the month of July in its many recurrences has always brought to him some of the saddest memories of his long life. The circumstances of his early years also made it impossible for him to secure anything like complete educational advantages, and he has little knowledge of the average care-free periods of boyhood. First employed as a dry goods clerk, at the time of the outbreak of the Civil war he had reached the dignity of an independent merchant, located at Carrollton, Mississippi.
On the 1st of April, 1861, Captain Reynolds joined the Confederate army at Carrollton, as a member of Company K, under Captain Lidell, and he helped Company K organize at Corinth the Eleventh Mississippi Regiment, commanded by Colonel Moore. The regiment was dispatched to Lynchburg, Virginia, and afterward to Harper's Ferry, where it was incorporated into a brigade which was commanded by General Stonewall Jackson. After the battle of Manassas Captain Reynolds was stricken with typhoid fever, and after a hospital confinement of four months returned to Mississippi, in November, 1862, and re-enlisted in Company K, Thirtieth Mississippi Infantry, under Colonel G. F. Neil. The regiment became a part of the Army of the Tennessee, and during its first engagement at Perryville, Kentucky, the young Mississippian was wounded, but not disabled, and within the succeeding eighteen months saw active and wearing service in Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia. At the battle of Lookout Mountain, November 24, 1863, he was severely wounded in the breast, and again sent to the hospital. Four months afterward he returned to his reorganized regiment with the rank of second lieutenant, as a reward for his bravery at that battle, but in May, 1864, he received another wound at New Hope Church, Georgia, from which he has never fully recovered. His first lieutenancy dated from that engagement and later he was commissioned to a captaincy, but the war ended before the arrival of his papers.
At the conclusion of the war in 1865 Captain Reynolds married Miss Felicity L. Turnbull, of Choctaw blood, born in Lexington, Mississippi, on the 17th of November, 1847, a daughter of Anthony and Hannah (Long) Turnbull. Her father was born in Mississippi in 1809, and died in that state September 21, 1849. ^rsReynolds' grandparents were Samuel and Felicity (Le Flore) Long, the Le Flores being among the most prominent Choctaws of the Nation. Mrs. Anthony Turnbull was born February 17, 1813; married in Holmes county, Mississippi, September 7, 1829, and after the death of Mr. Turnbull became the wife of James Jordan, herself dying August I3. l%77, in Scullyville county, Choctaw Nation. The children who were born to Captain and Mrs. Reynolds comprise the following: James T., who died at the family home in Cameron, November 22, 1908, unmarried; Ida, who married Dr. Murray and resides at Poteau, Oklahoma; Rosa O., now Mrs. F. H. Carr, and making her home with her parents; Hugh A., of Braden, that state; Earl V., who lives in Fort Smith, Arkansas; and Misses A. Grace and Felicity L. Reynolds, also at home with their parents. The Captain thoroughly educated his children, some of them being college graduates, and his sons are engaged in business and have other substantial interests. The family are identified with the Presbyterian church.
After his marriage Captain Reynolds lived for a year in Mississippi, but the condition of affairs in the reconstruction period immediately following the Civil war was so unsatisfactory that he removed with his wife to Scullyville county, Choctaw Nation, and settled on a farm near Cameron. As the result of the war his wife's Mississippi plantation had been ravaged and her slaves had been scattered and freed, so that but little of value was taken from Mississippi into the Indian Territory, and with resolute spirit the Captain began the work of acquiring another fortune. The allotments of land which came into the family through the Choctaw blood of Mrs. Reynolds were energetically and wisely improved, while Mr. Reynolds became also one of the most progressive and influential business men of that part of Oklahoma. He was the first capitalist to begin the development of the, now extensive coal mines at South McAlester and vicinity, and built the first business house in that place, where in partnership with R. L. Owen he established the large mercantile house conducted by the Indian Trading Company. Later he sold his interest in that enterprise, but for some years afterward was actively and extensively connected with the coal mining and agricultural interests. At the height of his activities in 1890 he erected his magnificent residence at Castle mountain, which at the time was one of the finest in the state, and is now the most attractive.
Captain Reynolds is one of the oldest Masons in the state, having joined the order while a resident of Mississippi in 1867. In politics he is still a Democrat, but has never voted, for since his service in the Civil war he has never taken his oath of allegiance to the United States.