Guide to the Reynolds and Groves Family Papers

W.D. Reynolds and Patsy Bolling Reynolds

William Davis Reynolds, Jr. was born in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1851. He graduated with two degrees, a B.A. and a B.Lit., from Hampden-Sydney College in 1887. After several years as a teacher, Reynolds decided to become a minister. He attended the Union Theological Seminary from 1890 to 1892. During his seminary years, Reynolds became interested in the opening of a Southern Presbyterian Mission in Korea. In February 1892, Reynolds and his future wife, Patsy Bolling (born in Amelia County, Virginia, in 1868), were appointed missionaries to the Korea Mission field under the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. (PCUS). After his ordination by East Hanover Presbytery of the PCUS and his marriage to Patsy Bolling, Reynolds and his wife set sail for Korea in September 1892 as members of the "Pioneer Band" of seven missionaries sent to that country by the PCUS.

The Reynolds first lived in Seoul, where Mr. Reynolds served as the first chairman of the Mission and as chairman of the Presbyterian Council of Korea.  In 1895, he was elected to the "Board of Official Translators" of the Bible. He helped to establish a mission station at Chunju, moving there with Mrs. Reynolds in 1897. He served as stated supply of the West Gate Church from 1897 to 1899. Moving back to Seoul in 1902, Reynolds focused on completing the translation of the New Testament into Korean, which was published in 1904. The Old Testament translation was published in 1910.

Moving once again to Chunju in 1908, Reynolds resumed his role as stated supply of the West Gate Church until 1910. In 1913 he began teaching systematic theology at the Union Seminary in Pyeng Yang. During this time he continued his work as a translator. He assisted with the preparation of the first Korean Hymnal; translated theology texts and a Korean bible dictionary; and served on the revision committee for the Old and New Testaments from 1925 to 1936. During their missionary years, Mrs. Reynolds taught at Women's Bible Institutes and in Sunday Schools.

In 1937, the Reynolds retired to Montreat, North Carolina. They had three surviving children: John Bolling, Carey Mebane (Mrs. D.B. Wilson), and Ella Tinsley (wife of the Reverend John W. Groves). W.D. Reynolds received the honorary degrees of D.D. in 1908 and LL.D. in 1925 from his alma mater, Hampden-Sydney College. Dr. Reynolds died on April 2, 1951. Patsy Bolling Reynolds died in 1962.

John W. Groves and Ella Reynolds Groves

John Woodson Groves was born in Pisgah, Kentucky, in 1902. He earned a B.A. from Davidson College in 1922. He attended Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary from 1923 to 1926, and did post-graduate work at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, from 1927 to 1928. Groves was ordained as a minister by Muhlenberg Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. (PCUS) in 1926.  He served as a pastor in Central City, Kentucky, from 1926 to 1927, and in Lexington, Mississippi and Tchula, from 1928 to 1934. In 1930, Groves traveled to Pyengyang, Korea to marry Ella Reynolds, with whom he had corresponded for several years.

Ella Reynolds Groves, the daughter of William Davis and Patsy Bollings Reynolds was born in Korea in 1902. She was primarily educated in Korea until the age of fourteen, when she left her family to attend Peace College in Raleigh, North Carolina for the next five years. After attending the Assembly's Training School for Lay Workers for the following two years, she returned to Korea as a teacher, first in Soonchun and then in Pyengyang, where she was married to John W. Groves in May 1930.

The couple returned to the United States after their marriage, where Groves resumed his duties as a PCUS minister. He served various churches over the next thirty years: Millersburg, Kentucky (1934-1940); Mayesville, South Carolina (1940-1948); Fairview Presbyterian Church, North Augusta, South Carolina (1948-1955); Nicholasville, Kentucky (1955-1960); Manchester, Georgia (1960-1962); Reedy River Presbyterian Church, Greenville, South Carolina (1962-1968); and the First Presbyterian Church, Gainesville, Georgia (1968-1970).

John W. Groves died in Gainesville, Georgia, on March 11, 1970. Ella Reynolds Groves moved to Montreat, North Carolina in 1975. The couple had no children.