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The Reynolds family were United Empire Loyalists from Duchess County, New York that first moved to New Brunswick in 1783 at the close of the American Revolution, but later came to the Locust Hill area of Markham Township in 1799-1800. Samuel Reynolds and Margaret (Van Rensselaer) Reynolds had several children: John, Azariah, William, Henry, Justus and Jane. The family is mainly associated with Lot 10 in the 10th Concession but had an early lease on Lot 10, Concession 9, the location of 7482 Highway 7 East. By the mid-19th century the property had been purchased from King’s College. William Reynolds and his wife Sarah (Crosby) Reynolds initially lived on the family homestead on Lot 10, Concession 10, but by the time of the 1851 census they were recorded as residing in a one storey stone house on Lot 11, Concession 9. A date of c.1850 is suggested for the dwelling’s date of construction but it may be somewhat earlier since William’s son Henry Reynolds was noted as living on the property in Brown’s Directory of 1846-47. William Reynolds is noteworthy as a founding member of the Methodist Church at Locust Hill, known as Reynold’s Chapel since he donated the land it was situated upon. The stone house property on the east half of Lot 11, Concession 9 remained in the ownership of his descendants until 1879. |