Robert Floyd Reynolds Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1044, 1047 in "History of Dakota 
	Territory" by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. V (1915) and was 
	scanned, OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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				ROBERT FLOYD REYNOLDS. 

	A fine farm of three hundred and twenty acres situated on section 
34, La Prairie township, Spink county, is the property of Robert Floyd 
Reynolds and its fine condition is evidence of his energy and 
progressiveness. He has resided in South Dakota for over thirty years, 
coming in 1880 when this region was almost an unbroken prairie. He was 
born in Newport, Ohio, on the 12th of May, 1850, a son of Samuel and 
Frances A. (Jones) Reynolds, who were early settlers of that locality 
and are both deceased. The father was buried in Newport, Ohio, but the 
mother was laid to rest in a cemetery in La Prairie township, Spink 
county, this state. He was a farmer by occupation. The family is of 
English origin but has been established in this country for many years. 

	Robert F. Reynolds attended the schools of Newport, Ohio, until 
the age of eighteen, when he became associated with his father in the 
cultivation of a farm. He was later, for a few years, employed upon 
steamboats and then worked as a carpenter for some time previous to his 
arrival in South Dakota. On coming to this state he spent one summer in 
Goodwin, Deuel county, and then filed on his present place in Spink 
county as a tree claim, September 9, 1880. He then returned to 
Pennsylvania, where he remained until 1883 but in the spring of that 
year again came to South Dakota. He worked at the carpenter's trade in 
Athol, Spink county, until the spring of 1885, when he located upon his 
claim. The year previous, on account of the change in law, he was 
afraid he would be unable to prove up on his tree claim so changed it 
to a homestead. He devoted his time to the cultivation of his land, 
raising mostly grain, and his crops were generally good. He lived 
economically and saved his money, so that in 1887 he was able to 
purchase another one hundred and sixty acres directly north of his 
homestead. He has improved his land, erecting a good residence, barns 
and other necessary buildings. He also divided the land into fields of 
convenient size by strong and durable fences, and in every way possible 
developed the place. He raises grain chiefly and is now devoting some 
attention to alfalfa, raising eighteen acres of that product in 1914. 
He also raises some stock as he finds that more profitable than 
confining his attention exclusively to grain. He is a stockholder in 
the Farmers Union Grain Company, which has a chain of elevators 
throughout the southeastern part of South Dakota, and he has found his 
stock therein an excellent investment. 

	Mr. Reynolds was married at New Brighton, Beaver county, 
Pennsylvania, on the 9th of September, 1878, to Miss Ida Tea, a 
daughter of Richard and Mary (Oliver) Tea. The Tea family is of German 
descent. Her father who was a carpenter in Pennsylvania, is now 
deceased and is buried in New Brighton. Her mother survived him for 
some time but has now passed away and is buried in Deadwood, this 
state. Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds have three children' Clarence E., a farmer 
of Minnesota, who married Frances Gray, a native of Yonkers, New York; 
Ida M., the wife of John Kettering, a farmer in Tetonke township, 
Spring county; and Brady T., assisting his father. 

	Mr. Reynolds has witnessed the development of South Dakota from a 
wilderness to a highly developed agricultural section and from a 
territory to a state and it is a source of pride to him that he has 
been one of those who by their industry and courage have made possible 
the great transformation of three decades. All who know him respect him 
for his undoubted integrity of character, and his friends hold him in 
warm regard because of 0a agreeable personality.