Fort Scott, Kansas Visitors Center by Kathy Alexander.
Charles Reynolds was a writer and minister in Kansas.
Reynolds was born on December 19, 1817, in Newcutt, Gloucestershire, England, the son of Samuel and Elizabeth Freyer Reynolds. He immigrated to New York at the age of 14 and taught school in Putman County in 1835 and 1836. He returned to New York City in 1837 and entered Trinity School before transferring to Columbia and graduating with a bachelor’s degree in 1843. Continuing to the Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary of New York City, he received his master’s degree in 1846. He married Mary E. Braille and was ordained into the ministry in 1847.
He became a pastor of Christ’s Church of North Brooklyn, took charge of Trinity Church in Columbus, Ohio, in 1855, and came to Lawrence, Kansas, in 1858 as pastor of Trinity Church. When the Civil War began, he became a chaplain of the Second Kansas in 1862. He was ordered to Fort Scott, Kansas, as Post Chaplain in 1863, where he was in charge of providing for thousands of refugee contrabands from the south. Upon being mustered out in December 1864, he became the chaplain at Fort Riley, Kansas.
Kansas State Agricultural College is now called Kansas State University.
Dr. Reynolds was also, for a time, regent of the Kansas Agricultural College (Kansas State University) and was a regular contributor to the Kansas Magazine and various Kansas publications. He authored a book entitled Literature of the Farm. He married Florence Clarke of Wakefield, Kansas, for a second time in 1884 but died at Junction City on December 30, 1885.
Compiled and edited by Kathy Alexander/Legends of Kansas, updated January 2024.
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