John Merriman Reynolds

John Merriman Reynolds ( born March 5, 1848 Quarryville, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, † September 14, 1933 in Bedford, Pennsylvania ) was an American politician. From 1911 to 1915 he was Deputy Governor of Pennsylvania; this state he represented also 1905-1911 in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Career

John Reynolds attended the public schools of his home. In 1867 he graduated from the Pennsylvania State Normal School. Later he studied also at the Columbian University, now the George Washington University in Washington DC Between 1867 and 1869 he worked in Bedford in the teaching profession as a Principal. After studying law and his 1870 was admitted as a lawyer, he started working in Bedford in this profession. There he gave 1872-1880 out the newspaper Bedford Gazette. Politically, he was a member of the Democratic Party. In 1873 and 1874 he sat as an MP in the House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. From 1875 to 1879 he served as District Attorney in Bedford County.

Between 1884 and 1900, Reynolds was also a member of the Education Committee of the town of Bedford. In the years 1888 and 1892, he participated as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, on each of which Grover Cleveland was nominated as a presidential candidate. Since 1893 he has also worked in the banking industry. From 1893 to 1897 he was Assistant Secretary of the Interior Deputy Secretary of the Interior. 1896 Reynolds broke with the Democrats because he refused their presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan. He switched to the Republican Party and supported the then victorious candidate William McKinley.

In the congressional elections of 1904 Reynolds was elected as a Republican in the 19th Election District of Pennsylvania in the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, where he became the successor of Alvin Evans on March 4, 1905. After two re- elections he could remain until his resignation on 17 January 1911 at the Congress. His resignation took place after he was elected lieutenant governor of his state. This post he held on 17 January 1911 to 19 January 1915 as Deputy Governor John Tener. He then practiced as a lawyer again. Besides, he was still in the banking industry operates. Between 1917 and 1915, Reynolds was part of a commission for the revision of the banking laws of the State of Pennsylvania. John Reynolds died on September 14, 1933 in Bedford, where he was also buried.