From subaya at berryhill.casa  Mon Jul 17 14:22:28 2023
From: subaya at berryhill.casa (Sue R Berryhill)
Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2023 14:22:28 -0400
Subject: [Reynolds-L] Introduction
Message-ID: <50a11be0-61de-842e-9df3-0fc8643f12d7@berryhill.casa>

Hi, my application to RFA has just been accepted, and I'd like to 
introduce myself.

I was born a Runnells, spent most of my life correcting people who tried 
to spell my surname "Reynolds" (till I moved to Maine from California, 
and HERE they understood my surname!).? I didn't know my name was 
originally Reynolds until several years ago.? I must confess, I was 
disappointed, but my elation at having a complete history of my ancestry 
in America outweighed that.

I am descended from James and Deborah Reynolds of Rhode Island. My 
ancestors later moved to Connecticut (Stafford in what is now Tolland 
Co.).? My 5th gr-grandfather Benjamin Rennells (1761-1851) was in 
Massachusetts for a few years after the Revolution (in which he served) 
before moving his family to Addison County, Vermont, and then down to 
Bradford County, Pennsylvania, where he died.? His youngest son Snow 
(aka Simon) was the first Runnells in my lineage, and for many years my 
brick wall, and still would be but for the kindness of a distant cousin 
I found on-line.? After the birth of their children, Snow and his wife 
Mary Strickland moved to Ohio for a few years, then on to Monroe County, 
Iowa. Their son Perry Stephen (my 3rd gr-grandfather) married Clarissa 
Cone in Iowa, where their children were born.? Perry must have developed 
a bit of wanderlust, as he and his family lived in Kansas, Texas, 
Arkansas, and back to Kansas.? His son Joel located in Oklahoma after 
the Land Run in 1889, and my grandparents left Oklahoma for California 
in the early 1940s, along with my gr-grandparents.

I became interested in my family history as a girl and began collecting 
what bits and pieces of information I could get from my older relatives, 
almost 60 yrs ago.? My great-grandfather had written down the names and 
birthdates of his paternal grandparents, his father, himself and his two 
sons, and his grandparents (Snow's son) were my earliest known Runnells 
ancestors for quite a few years.? I've been the grateful recipient of 
the research of many cousins, and have collected much information about 
the descendants of Snow and Mary (Strickland) Runnells.? If any of you 
are from that branch, or have Runnells ancestors from the last 200 yrs 
that were anywhere from Pennsylvania to California, I would be very 
happy to look for them in my records.? I have many favors to repay!

Sue Runnells Berryhill