Captain John Reynolds
John Reynolds was born in 1713 and is best known for being an officer of the Royal Navy, as well as the First Royal Governor for the Colony of Georgia. His legacy lives on in the city of Savannah with Reynolds Square, one of the city’s 22 squares, named after him.
Reynolds joined the Navy in 1728, at the young age of 15, and served for six years. At 23 years old, he was promoted to lieutenant. Between 1739-1740, he served aboard the HMS Argyll when the War of the Austrian Succession began, and the following year he was assigned to the fireship HMS Vulcan in the West Indies.
His career in the Navy took him to many places, and by the age of 32, he was promoted to be the commander of another fireship, the HMS Scipio, and several others. His travels then took him on a two-year-long mission to fight against pirates plaguing the South Carolina, Georgia, and the Bahamas coasts.
Once his pirate mission was complete, he returned to England in 1751. He searched for a new command, and just three years later, he was appointed as the new governor of royal Georgia. He traveled to Savannah and arrived on October 29 1754 to an excited group of residents. They welcomed him with bells and bonfires and hoped he would bring on the start of a new era for the colony.
Reynolds established a more structured royal government with courts, a council, and Commons House of Assembly. This was in line with what the town wanted, as their previous government had failed them in creating a more structured unified body. However, where Reynold fell short was in his military efforts. The Seven Years’ War was just beginning when he arrived in Savannah, and his reliance on British troops was above what they were willing to provide.
Tensions grew with the council Reynolds had established, as his manner of handling relations with others was overly brash, and not diplomatic. He enacted several bills to help administer the colony, but fearing they may try to challenge his authority, Reynolds dissolved the legislature in 1756. Reynolds’s leadership affected the public perception of the colony of Georgia and is held responsible for the loss of revenue and immigrants did not appear to want to come to the colony due to its negative public image.
Reynolds was not a popular governor during his term, and it’s often joked that the celebrations held during his arrival were the only time the population was happy with him. Regardless, the city of Savannah commemorated the governor by naming Reynolds Square after him. Originally, the park was called Lower New Square, because it was the first to be laid out after the original four squares that were part of Oglethorpe’s plan. The park was later renamed and is located on Abercorn Street and East St. Julian Street. The square also has a bronze statue honoring John Wesley, who was the founder of Methodism and founded the first Sunday school in America in the mid-1700s.
