Esther Ruth Reynolds

GEDCOM Note

Possibly the daughter of Benjamin Gardner who, with Alexander Campbell, were prominent preachers in the Church of Christ in Ohio.

Needless to say, the "unknown first wife" of Benjamin Gardner Jr is our big brick wall. Ester Gardner, as best as we have determined, was born in Stephentown, NY about 1777-80 (give or take a few years).

Several sources reference an unnamed first wife and Lucy Hawks/Hanks as the second wife, and all pretty much say their records are incomplete:

Carl Thompson's Collections of Brown County, Ohio, page 517, "Married twice. His second wife being Lucy Hawks."

Gardner History and Genealogy. May, Lillian and Charles M. Gardner. unknown. (1907), p. 291, "Benjamin Gardner, son of Benjamin and Elizabeth (Olin) Gardner, was born September 13, 1760, at Exeter, Washington County, Rhode Island. We have not the record of his first wife. His second was Lucy Hawks, born in Connecticut and probably emigrated to New York with her parents. No date of their marriage secured. As near as we can determine, and the record is not complete, the following were their children..." and on p. 296, "Lucy Hawks Gardner, wife of Benjamin Gardner, was born in Connecticut, September 29, 1762. She was Benjamin Gardner's second wife. It is said of her that she was a very devout Christian woman, and all of her children loved her."

All of the evidence putting Ester as Benjamin Gardner Jr.'s daughter is circumstantial, but it was the widely held view among the Reynolds Family Association and their researchers. William and Ester (Gardner) Reynolds named their first son Gardner, times and places of names and families, etc.

There is a Revolutionary War Pension letter dated 11 May 1935 that puts the date of Benjamin Gardner's second marriage at Oct 1874 (and there are a dozen or more children after that). If Benjamin were born in 1760, he would have been a mid-late teenage father to Ester.

Also, Benjamin served in the Revolutionary War for several tours:
from March 1, 1776 for nine and one-half months
from May 1, 1777 for five and one-half months,
from May 10, 1778 for two months, and
from September 15, 1779 for two months.

Needless to say, the time period of the first marriage and when Ester would have been conceived was unusual. I'm guessing it would have been a Quaker marriage with the Gardners, right?

CENSUS-YEAR: 1838 STATE: Iowa COUNTY: Muscatine ENUMERATOR: J A Davis, Sheriff

William Reynolds is enumerated in the 1838 Wisconsin Territorial Census, Muscatine County; page 5, line 7, ( no Names of Master, Mistress, Steward, Overseer or Other Principal Person listed), Division No. 1, with 3 Free White Males and 1 Free White Female, and is listed as a farmer.
http://iagenweb.org/census/muscatine/1838-ia-muscatine.html
Census Year: 1838
Media Source: Wisconsin Territorial Census: 1836, 1838, 1842. State
Historical Society Wisconsin Archives Division, Madison, WI
Filmed 25 April 1950, Microfilm call #: HA 377.A6
Other Microfilm: FHL# 1293919 Item 2
Other Transcriptions: FHL Books 977.5 X22j 1838, X22ji 1838 v2 (indexes only)
State: The area to become Iowa
County: Muscatine
Divisions: Divisions 1 & 2
Enumerators: James Cevary, Assistant; J A Davis, Sheriff
Enumerator Dates: 4 Jun 1838
Transcriber's Notes:
Page and Line number columns have been added. No line numbers appear on the original census but have been assigned to retain the enumeration order. Page numbers are handwritten at the top of each page. Notes in brackets [] are the transcriber's.

The census is bound in a ledger and additionally appears to have fold-out pages.
DIVISION: CENSUS-YEAR: 1838 STATE: Iowa COUNTY: Muscatine ENUMERATOR: J A Davis, Sheriff
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Pg Ln Names of Master, Divi- Heads White White Free Free Total Remarks
Mistress, Steward, sion of Males Fe- Males Fe- Amount
Overseer or Other No 1 Families males of males
Principal Person Color of
First Name Last Name First Name Last Name Color

===============================================================================================================================================================================================================

5 7 1 Wm Reynolds 3 1 4 Farmer

In the 1840 US Census, Esther is found in Muscatine County, Iowa Territory as a Free White Female head of household aged between 60-70 with a Free White Male aged 15-20 in her household.

1840 U Census
Name: Esther Reynolds
Event Place: Not Stated, Muscatine, Iowa Territory
Page Number: 240
Affiliate Publication Number: M704 , Affiliate Film Number: 102 , GS Film number: 0007790 , Digital Folder Number: 004410617 , Image Number: 00493
"United States Census, 1840," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-11665-140039-90?cc=178... : accessed 29 March 2015), 004410617 > image 493 of 632; citing NARA microfilm publication M704, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

http://iagenweb.org/muscatine/1840cen.htm
Viewed 30 Mar 2015
MUSCATINE COUNTY IOWA
1840 CENSUS INDEX
First Name Surname Page Page For Image
Addison Reynolds 470 239
Eli Reynolds 470 239
Esther Reynolds 472 240

http://iagenweb.org/muscatine/probate/libraryrolls_contents.htm
Probate #     Name     Year     ROLL     BLIP
1.5  Reynolds, William & Esther (couple)  1847 1 2

http://iagenweb.org/muscatine/cemetery/kleincem.htm
Viewed 30 Mar 2015
KLEIN CEMETERY
MOSCOW TOWNSHIP
MUSCATINE COUNTY, IOWA
Directions to the cemetery: From Highway 38, turn west onto Highway 6. Go about 2.3 miles on Highway 6, then turn left (south) onto X54 at the Moscow sign. Go about 3.5 miles on X54. Cemetery is on the left hand side (east side). You will have to go a short distance on a gravel road to get to the cemetery.
http://iagenweb.org/muscatine/cemetery/kleincem-map.htm
Lot Space Surname Given Name Birth Date Death Date Notes
row 1 b Reynolds Esther G. Mar 1848 aged 68yrs; born in York State
row 1 b Reynolds Family Monument Listed are Jeannetta, Wm., Esther G. Reynolds
row 1 c Reynolds Jannetta 11 Sep 1841 14 Sep 1842
row 1 d Reynolds Wm. Sep 1838 aged 61 yrs; born in York State
Source Link: https://www.geni.com/documents/view?doc_id=6000000205656231105label=@S7@

GEDCOM Note

close but not a match

https://books.google.com/books?id=t2oZAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA300&lpg=PA300&d...

similar
https://books.google.com/books?id=7NJKAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA334&lpg=PA334&d...