Mentor joins in the celebration of the 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding by honoring the Revolutionary War veterans who settled – or were interred – in the city of Mentor.
Mentor City Council has declared March 18, 2026, as “John Reynolds Day” in the city of Mentor.
John Reynolds was born in Norwich, Connecticut Colony, on March 16, 1761, to Gamaliel Reynolds and Sarah Hazen.
He enlisted in the spring of 1776 at the age of 15 as a musician. The army used fifes and drums not only to boost morale but also for communication during battle. He served until December of that year in Captain Joshua Huntington’s Company as a part of Colonel Samuel Selden’s Connecticut Regiment and was likely part of the Lexington Alarm. Family tradition states that he fought at Bunker Hill as well.
Reynolds re-enlisted on March 9, 1777, for the duration of the war and served in Captain Jedidiah Hyde’s Company, Colonel John Durkee’s Fourth Regiment, Connecticut Line Troops, formation 1777-81. He was promoted to Sergeant on January 1, 1780.
As a member of the Fourth Regiment, he participated in a number of major battles including the Battle of Long Island where a bullet tore a large half-circle from the top of one ear and he suffered a wound to the leg. Accounts also attribute to his presence at Valley Forge.
While still in service, Reynolds married Mary Morgan on June 1, 1780. They were the parents of at least 7 sons.
He was honorably discharged from George Washington’s Army on June 7, 1783, and was “honored with the Badge of Merit for years of faithful service.”
After the war, he was described as a man of “much more than average intelligence; [he was a] judge in New York State and filled other offices with credit”.
Reynolds and his family moved from Connecticut to Broome Township, New York, where he applied for his pension in 1818, and from there to Mentor in September 1820 by way of an ox-team. His Mentor Township farm “near Little Mountain” is now a part of Kirtland Hills.
He later married Mary Van Pool on September 10, 1832.
Reynolds died in Mentor on March 3, 1840, and was buried alongside both wives at Blish Road Cemetery (on today’s King Memorial Road) on what is now private property. The inscription on his stone read: “In memory of John Reynolds Esq., a Revolutionary soldier who entered the Army in the year 1776 and continued in the service of his country during the War. He died March 3, 1840.”
A headstone is located in Mentor Municipal Cemetery 3-88-4.
We thank John Reynolds for his service to our country as well as contributing to the foundation of our community.