Anthony Hart Reynolds

Anthony was one of four boys who sailed across the Atlantic with his parents from Ireland just before the devastating Irish famine began in the 1840s. He became a naturalized citizen in 1846.

That same year saw the United States declare war on Mexico after Mexico disputed the Texas border after Texas was annexed by the U.S. There was an opportunity to help his new country, so he enlisted with the New Jersey Volunteer Battalion. In 1849, after the war was over, he left Fort Marcy in Santa Fe, New Mexico with the rank of captain.

No date of his marriage to Emma Jane Black was found but it was most likely around 1855 in Philadelphia. That’s based on the fact that Sarah, the first of their four children, was born in 1856. Another daughter and two sons would follow over the next seven years.

It wasn’t easy being a child in the 1800s when there were no vaccines or antibiotics to stop the spread of disease. It was especially difficult for Anthony’s family in 1863 as noted here. Adelaide, age 5, and two-year-old Washington, died of the same bacterial infection within six days of each other.

After the Mexican War, several local veterans formed a fraternal club named after the hero of the war, General Winfield Scott. Andrew was a member and served once as president. When the Civil War began, they decided to enlist as a group. Almost all of the officers of the 20th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment were from the Scott Legion. Their term was for three months, with Andrew as captain of Company D.

 Samuel Bates, author of History of the Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-65, wrote this long but colorful sentence as a description of the 20th Regiment: 

The three months’ service in which it was engaged was not fruitful in stirring events nor apparent results, but the readiness manifested to enlist, and the promptness with which the regiment was filled, are not without merit, and the character of the troops and the discipline to which they attained, gave assurance, had the opportunity been given, that they would have displayed nerve and steadiness in the face of the enemy, and won signal honor on the battle field.

After that enlistment was over, Andrew resumed work as a salesman. A year later he dusted off the uniform, this time wearing the insignia of Lieutenant Colonel with the 68th Infantry. They were engaged in the Battle of Fredericksburg in December, before coming home to see two of his children suffer death in February of 1863.

He soldiered on to do his duty and fought in the Battle of Chancellorsville in April. The bloodiest battle of them all was in Gettysburg on the first three days of July. That’s when Andrew was wounded, and his disability forced his discharge in November.

The knowledge that his wife was pregnant certainly sustained both of them in that tumultuous year. The happiness over returning home was doubled by the birth of Anthony Hart Reynolds, Jr., known simply as Hart. 

A huge memorial from the state of Pennsylvania (shown here) was erected years later in Gettysburg to honor every soldier in every unit from the state that fought there. Each name was listed on bronze panels surrounding the base. A close-up shows the name of Lt. Col. A H Reynolds. The name beneath his is that of his friend, Major Robert Emmet Winslow, who took his place. Like Anthony, he was in the Mexican War and the Scott Legion before joining the 68th. He was also buried at Mount Moriah and his Notable story can be found here. In the upper right corner of this photo is the name of Sgt. Major John Reynolds. Anthony had a brother by that name but this man was from Pittsburgh and there is no documentation to prove any relationship. The photo at right shows a monument placed by the state to honor the 68th Regiment.

The military life was over for Anthony and his career in sales resumed. In his free time he tried several times to win a nomination as his party’s choice for various offices, including once for the House of Representatives in Harrisburg. He tried three times for one of the three City Commissioner seats, and before the war he tried for an alderman’s position. What made it more difficult was that he was a democrat. In those days Philadelphia politics was dominated by republicans, just as it is today by democrats.

His sales experience was in the field of clothing and woolen goods. Anthony’s obituary says he was “of the firm of Henry C. Biddle & Company,” having taken an ownership stake in the company in which he was once an employee. This story lists the great number of organizations he supported over his lifetime which, in turn, honored him at his funeral.

Anthony suffered from liver cancer and that’s what eventually cut short his life in 1884. He was originally buried at Glenwood Cemetery but was moved a year later to Mount Moriah. His wife, Emma, died in 1888, their son, Hart, in 1890. Both were buried with him here in the family plot. A photo of the grave site has not yet been located. Their daughter, Sarah, married and died in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania in 1916. The two little ones were buried at the now-defunct Passyunk Road Cemetery.