Prof. Franklin Eugene Reynolds
Prof. Franklin Eugene Reynolds, of Waverly, Ohio, is one of the foremost educators and one of the best teachers in Southern Ohio. He was born on the twenty-fourth of January, 1870, the sixth son and eighth child of Stephen Reynolds and Maria Moore, his wife, near where the town of Peebles is, on the old Dunbar farm. His mother was a daughter of Newton Moore, one of the most successful of the Brush Creek farmers. His father was an extensive farmer and stock raiser and was very successful in each of those occupations. Our subject attended the common schools near his home until 1887, when he attended the school at Lebanon, Ohio, and graduated in the Scientific course in 1889. He began his career as a teacher in the Fall of 1889, and few have accomplished as much as he in ten years. From 1889 until 1892, he taught District schools in the Fall and Winter in Adams and Scioto Counties.
In the Summer of 1890 and 1891, he taught a Normal school at North Liberty, Ohio, in connection with Prof. J. W. Jones. In the Summer of 1892, he read medicine with Dr. George F. Thomas, at Peebles. From the Fall of 1892 until June, 1895, he was principal of the High school in Manchester. In the Summers of 1893, 1894 and 1895, he taught Summer schools at Manchester in connection with Prof. J. W. Jones. In the Fall of 1895, he was elected Superintedent of the schools at Manchester, and served until June. 1899. In the Summer of 1896, he taught a Normal school at Manchester. In the Summer of 1898, he taught a Normal school at West Union in connection with Prof. J. E. Collins. In the Summer of 1899, he attended the Summer post graduate course at the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, Ohio. In the Fall of 1809, he accepted the position of Superintendent of the schools at Waverly, Ohio.
In December, 1895, he was granted by the State Board of School Examiners a Common .School Life Certificate. In December, 1898, the same Board granted him a High School Life Certificate. Eighty percent, of the teachers who taught in Adams County in the years 1898 and 1899 had been pupils of his in the County Normals, or Summer schools. In 1897, he was one of the County School Examiners of Adams County. Mr. Reynolds is a Free Mason. He is a member of the Blue Lodge and Chapter of Manchester, and of the Commandery in Portsmouth. He is also an Odd Fellow and Knight of Pythias and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Prof. Reynolds is a man of strong personality and exceptional attainments in the branches of learning he has studied. His perceptions are quick and keen. He is a disciplinarian and an organizer of rare ability. His influence for good, wherever he has taught, has been remarkable. His administration of the Manchester schools has been the brightest in their history. While the work in the common branches under his supervision was well carried on, he introduced new subjects of study and infused in his pupils a love of them and enthusiasm in the pursuit of them. Since his location at Waverly, he has become largely instrumental in the founding of the Riverside Tri-County Teachers' Association and is its President.
He has tireless zeal and energy in his chosen profession. He puts his whole soul into his work, and makes the tedious pursuit of learning attractive, delightful and interesting. He possesses strong will, wonderful energy and is full of confidence in his plans and projects. He has a fine constitution and excellent health. He has a sound mind in a sound body and conserves all his mental and physical forces. His carreer as a teacher fairly begun will be one of the best and most brilliant. He is a Democrat in his political principles, believing in "government of the people, by the people and for the people."
From History of Adams County, Ohio from its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time - by Nelson W. Evans and Emmons B. Stivers - West Union, Ohio - Published by E. B. Stivers - 1900