Erastus D. Reynolds

1844 - 1884  (40 years)

• Name	Erastus D. Reynolds  [1]
  Birth	28 Jun 1844	, , New York, USA   [1, 2, 3]
  Gender	Male
  Military Service	Civil War, Company H, 15th New York Engineers  [4, 5]
  		Erastus D. Reynolds Civil War Pension File Original documents from the National Archives
  Census	25 Sep 1850	Venango Township, Erie, Pennsylvania, USA   [6]
  Census	11 Jul 1860	Amity Township, Erie, Pennsylvania, USA   [7]
  Census	2 Jun 1880	French Creek Town, Chautauqua, New York, USA   [8]
  Death	29 Jul 1884	Wattsburg, Erie, Pennsylvania, USA   [1, 2, 9]
  Census	1890	French Creek Town, Chautauqua, New York, USA   [5]
  Burial	Wattsburg Cemetery, Wattsburg, Erie, Pennsylvania, USA   [2]
  		Erastus D. Reynolds Photograph by William F. Bisbee
  Person ID	I2561	Bisbee
  Last Modified	28 Jun 2009

  
  

  Father	Truman D. Reynolds,   b. Abt 1808, , , New York, USA d. Bef 1875 (Age 67 years)
  Mother	Lydia Bisbee,   b. 26 Jun 1811, , , New York, USA d. Aft 1880 (Age 69 years)
  Marriage	The conclusion that Reuben Bisbee's daughter Lydia became wife of Truman D. Reynolds is not directly proven, but the circumstantial evidence is compelling. 1) From Reuben Bisbee's 1865 Last Will and Testament, we know that Lydia Bisbee's married name was Reynolds. 2) Lydia Bisbee was born in 1811; according to the census this Lydia Reynolds was born about 1811. 3) Lydia Bisbee grew up in Madison County, New York; according to the census Lydia Reynolds was born in Madison County. 4) Lydia Bisbee's parents were born in Massachusetts; according to the census Lydia Reynolds' parents were born in Massachusetts. 5) Mrs. Truman Reynolds lived in and around Wattsburg during the mid- to late 1800's. Three of Lydia Bisbee's siblings--Joseph, Reuben and Betsy--all lived in close proximity to Mrs. Reynolds at one time or another. In 1875 and 1880 she is living right across the road from the Joseph Bisbee homestead. 6) Through 40 years of electronically searchable census, no other "Lydia Reynolds" has surfaced, who is of Lydia Bisbee's approximate age and place of birth. 7) If Lydia Bisbee and Mrs. Truman Reynolds are indeed the same person (as your compiler believes they are), then Lydia's son Erastus married his first cousin Ruth, daughter of Joseph C. Bisbee, a conclusion supported by evidence that their two children suffered afflictions often associated with marriage between first cousins.
  Family ID	F7186	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Ruth Ann Bisbee,   b. 21 Jan 1838, Lebanon Town, Madison, New York, USA d. 2 Jun 1906, French Creek Town, Chautauqua, New York, USA (Age 68 years)
  Marriage	28 Jun 1871	Wattsburg, Erie, Pennsylvania, USA   [9, 10, 11]
  	An 1881 Atlas of Chautauqua County, NY shows a 50-acre parcel, with house, fronting on Old State Line Rd. belonging to Mrs. R. A. Reynolds.
  Children	+ 1. Mary Jane Reynolds,   b. 29 Aug 1873, French Creek Town, Chautauqua, New York, USA d. 12 Apr 1961, Erie, Erie, Pennsylvania, USA (Age 87 years)   2. Frank L. Reynolds,   b. 28 Nov 1880, French Creek Town, Chautauqua, New York, USA d. 17 Feb 1949 (Age 68 years)
  Family ID	F57	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	28 Jun 2009

  
  

• Event Map		Birth - 28 Jun 1844 - , , New York, USA Census - 25 Sep 1850 - Venango Township, Erie, Pennsylvania, USA Census - 11 Jul 1860 - Amity Township, Erie, Pennsylvania, USA Marriage - 28 Jun 1871 - Wattsburg, Erie, Pennsylvania, USA Census - 2 Jun 1880 - French Creek Town, Chautauqua, New York, USA Death - 29 Jul 1884 - Wattsburg, Erie, Pennsylvania, USA Census - 1890 - French Creek Town, Chautauqua, New York, USA Burial - - Wattsburg Cemetery, Wattsburg, Erie, Pennsylvania, USA  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Sources

  [S2309] Viola Drake Bisbee, compiler, Geneology of The Bisbee Family (I) - Viola Drake Bisbee, (June 2000, Bisbee Family Connection, Decatur, MI), p. 57. [S1809] Reynolds, Erastus D: Gravestone, (Wattsburg Cemetery, Wattsburg, Erie County, Pennsylvania). [S2069] Reynolds, Erastus D. (I2561): 1875 NY State Census, (family 47.). [S44] Reynolds, Erastus D: Military Service, (Washington, D. C.: National Archives). [S2072] Reynolds, Erastus D. (I2561): 1890 US Census Special Sched, (Special Schedule, Surviving Soldiers, Sailors, etc., Chautauqua County Courthouse, Mayville, New York, Jun 1890, ED 67, page 1, dwelling 57, family 57.). [S1938] Reynolds, Truman D (I18312): 1850 US Census, (www.ancestry.com (2005): National Archives and Records Administration micropublication M432, roll 777; page 70(B), line 2, dwelling 111, family 114; image downloaded 9/2/2008.), 1850-Venango.16.jpg. [S1943] Reynolds, Truman D (I18312): 1860 US Census, (www.ancestry.com (2004): National Archives and Records Administration micropublication M653, roll 1107; enumerated page 20, master page 20, line 9, dwelling 1410, family 155; image downloaded 9/2/2008), 1860-Amity.20.jpg. [S2071] Reynolds, Erastus D. (I2561): 1880 US Census, (www.ancestry.com (2005): National Archives and Records Administration micropublication T9, roll 815; enumeration district (ED) 57, enumerated page 2B, master page 374B, line 25, dwelling 22, family 22; image downloaded 11/3/2008.), 1880-French_Creek.57.2.jpg. [S42] Reynolds, Ruth A. Bisbee: Widow's Declaration (CWPF), (Washington, D. C.: National Archives). [S1457] Reynolds, Ruth A. Bisbee: Marriage, (Washington, D. C.: National Archives). [S43] Reynolds, Erastus D: CWPF, (Washington, D. C.: National Archives Soldier's Pension Application No. 420 002 Soldier's Pension Certificate No. 330 497 Widow's Pension Application No. 319 872 Widow Certificate No. 223 608 Disabled son's Pension Application No. 861 333 Disabled son's Certificate No. 634 942). Ruth Bisbee married John W. Reynolds about 1860 in Smyrna, Chenango, New York, by whom she had two normal, healthy children, Addison and Nellie. After John's death in 1866, Ruth moved to French Creek, Chautauqua County, New York, across the road from her father. In 1871 she married her first cousin, Erastus D. Reynolds, and had two children by him: Frank L. and Mary Jane Reynolds. Frank was severely retarded and his intellectual capacity never exceded that of a child, five to ten years old. In her will, Ruth directed that her son Addison care for his half-brother after her death. On 28 October 1907, Addison became guardian to Frank and collected a Helpless Child disability for him, stemming from his father's Civil War service. When Addison died in 1942, a trust company in Pittsburg was appointed gaurdian. Frank went to live with his sister Mary Jane Gorndt, who, in the opinion of Veteran's Administration Field Examiners, was of limited intelligence, and displayed signs of extreme nervousness. "She was a frail neurotic type of person." A neighbor had convinced Mary Jane that she should not accept any money from the government to avoid a lot of red tape and trouble. For years, she adamantly refused to take Frank for a Veteran's Administraion physical examination. She even went so far as to hire a lawyer to make the government stop paying Frank's monthly benefit. Frank's legal guardian, the trust company in Pittsburg, refused to allow his disability payments to be discontinued. The Veterans Administration found itself in the unusual position of fighting for Frank to keep his benefits against the wishes of his family. Frank was paid a Civil War disability pension up until he died in 1949.