Week 6–Surprise

The Envelope-A Thrilling Find

I found an envelope glued onto a page of Grandma’s Perritt scrapbook soon after the scrapbook came into my possession. The envelope, labeled Wesley Papers, contained an affidavit from Rulough J Dutcher. The affidavit was typed on yellow paper and copied from the original. Finding this thrilled me as this was oldest paper in Frances’s scrapbook. The original bore the date August 25, 1879 and location of Otsego, New York. It starts like this.

Summary

I, Rulough J. Dutcher, of the village of Richfield Springs in said County, certify and declare, that I am the only survivor of the children of Cornelius Dutcher. I was born at Granville in Washington County in the state of New York, and am now sixty nine years of age. Mary Dutcher, a daughter of my father by a former wife was ten years older than myself.

He goes on to said the Dutcher family moved to Cherry Valley, Otsego county in 1820. Mary married Smith Reynolds here in 1822. Smith Reynolds died in 1826, after which Mary traveled to Albany, New York to live with a sister. Mary meet James Edwin Reynolds, a widower, in Albany. They married in February of 1834 and came to Cherry Valley where Mary had two children. Her son, Edwin Wesley was born in October 1837.

How James Wesley Left Mary Dutcher

The surprising part of this story is that James wasn’t there for the birth of this son, Edwin. By the summer 1837, James lived in Canada with his new wife, Lucy Pennell.

The oldest son of James Wesley and his third wife, Alfred Z. Wesley wrote to Bessie Reynolds Cabell Curtiss in 1912 telling her something about why James E. Wesley left Cherry Valley, New York. He wrote:

Mr. Dutcher (Rulough) must have made a mistake in dates (the date of Edwin’s birth in 1837). Father (James E. Wesley) told mother that he had trouble with this man Dutcher, and he left there (Cherry Valley). They were in the blacksmith business, and Dutcher was cheating him.

Rulough Dutcher did make a mistake the birth order of Edwin’s and Mary’s children. Their daughter was born first. Later census reports (1860, 1870, 1880 and 1900) are consistent with the year 1837 being the year of Edwin’s birth. The 1840 U. S. census reports that Mary Wesley had two children under 5, a boy and a girl. Assuming these children were born two years apart, their births would be in the 1835 to 1837 range.

In this same letter from Alfred to Bessie Alfred wrote of his father’s marriage to his mother.

…Now dear, my sister has my mother’s marriage certificate where she was married in Mill Village, Queen’s Co., Nova Scotia, by Rev. Moody, pastor of the Episcopal Church of Liverpool, N. S., on the 3rd of July, 1837 and on the 12th day of October,1838, I was born. The Rev. Moody christened me and was my God father. He lived to be 95 years of age, and I remember him well. After me came five sisters, Emma, Ellen, Cassie, Jessie and Fannie. Father’s son by his first wife was Friend Charles. Wesley and his daughter was Merceilla. My stepbrother and sister were born in Albany, N. Y. His first wife was Nancy Smith, a native of Macclesfield Eng. We are directly descended from the Rev. John Wesley in America. Father had a heavy scar on one side given by his brother John when boys with a hatchet. My brother (Friend Charles Wesley) died in Halifax when I was 9 years old and Merceilla in 1875. Hoping these lines will find you all well, and with love to mother (Margaret Reynolds) and all my nieces and nephews. I am your loving old Uncle T. Alfred Z Wesley.

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So, James Edwin Wesley married Lucy Pennell in Nova Scotia. Edwin Wesley was born in Apple Valley, New York 3 months later.

I don’t know why James Wesley left Mary Dutcher Reynolds Wesley in the short time before Edwin’s birth. As a result of this abandonment, Mary went back to using her first husband’s surname, Reynolds. Edwin Wesley became Edwin Reynolds.

Oregon

Little more is known about Edwin’s early life. We know he came to Oregon in 1856 at the age of 19. He spent three years steam boating on the Columbia traveling between Portland and The Dalles.

Eight years later, Edwin Reynolds married Margaret St. John Ferguson at the Portland home of the Daniel Ferguson family. Her mother, Jeannette, and her brother, James Ferguson, were witnesses. March 2nd was the day. The Ferguson family bible records it this way,

Edwin W Reynolds and Margaret were married in Portland, Oregon the year AD 1864 by the Rev Mr. Cornelius, a Baptist minister. 

First Home

Margaret and Edwin moved into their first home in Auburn shortly after they married. During the first few years of their marriage Auburn was the largest town in Eastern Oregon. It was the first county seat of Baker Country. Edwin Reynolds ran one of the twenty stores here, a Hudson Bay Company store. Their home was one of about a thousand which dotted the landscape around this booming gold mining community.

Two children were born to the Reynolds while they lived in Auburn. George Putnam Reynolds was born on October 15, 1864, at Auburn. Addie Jeannette Reynolds was born October 15, 1864, in The Dallas, Wasco County, Oregon.

Shortly after Addie’s birth the Auburn gold mine pinched out. The family moved to the nearby town of Baker City where they settled and raised their family.

Baker City

Edwin’s first business in Baker City was an express office. He ran this ad in the Oregonian for between 1867 and 1872.

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Miles F. Potter in his book about early gold mining in Oregon listed some of Baker City’s first business establishments. One was Reynolds and Ferguson’s express office.

The Wells Fargo part of Edwin Reynolds express business involved gold dust and mail. Baker City, a mining town, needed employees who would handle robbers. Another part of this job was exchanging, storing and transporting gold.

In 1874, Edwin served as city recorder, filling out the term of W.J. Eastabrook who had resigned. The next year Edwin lost his city recorder post to J. M. Shepherd even though the editor of the Bedrock Democrat supported him and wrote, “Mr. Reynolds is a good scribe and a first-rate accountant”.

In 1887 the Baker City water committee undertook solving the problem of supplying water to the town. In November of 1889, Edwin Reynolds was appointed water superintendent and held that position until 1891. At the end of this appointment Mayor McCord addressing the city council said this in thanking Edwin.

Our city water system is not on a paying basis (there were no charges for water). We have good wells, reservoir, pump, boiler and appliances; also, about 7 ½ miles of water mains and 71 fire hydrants.

Children

Edwin and Margaret had seven more children. They were Frances, Bertha, Bessie, Margaret Stewart, Mildred, Louis and Mary Lydia.

The Chilling End

The abrupt end of Edwin’s life came as a shock. This event at the end of Edwin’s life shocked Oregonians as this event was widely reported in the papers.

At the Oregon State Archives in 2000, as I searched for Reynolds death records, I found Edwin’s. It listed the cause of death. “The cause of death was as follows: prussic acid poisoning(self-administered). Other information on this record is:

Place of death: Portland, 362 Third; Married; Father, Jas. Edwin Wesley; Father’s birthplace, England; Maiden Name of Mother, Dutcher, Date of Death, Sept 1, 1906; Burial Lone Fir Cemetery; Date, Sept. 4, 1906

Afterthought

Edwin had been ill for at least 3 years. He and Margaret had recently moved from Baker City to Portland, Oregon. They lived at the Iris Hotel where he died.

Edwin thought he had liver disease. He had watched his son-in-law die a slow death of this illness in 1901. He did not want the same ending.

Edwin Wesley Reynolds was a hard working, intelligent, civic-minded family man; but he was not patient.