Parents: Nancy Jane Cox and Hardin William Reynolds m. 1843
Siblings: Mary Joyce Reynolds Lybrook, Agnes Catherine Reynolds, Abram David Reynolds, twin brothers, Richard Joshua Reynolds, Hardin Harbour Reynolds, John Gilmore Reynolds, Lucy Burrough Reynolds Critz, Nancy Bill Reynolds, Earnest C. Reynolds, twin brothers, Walter Robert Reynolds, and Nannie Kate Reynolds

Spouse: Kate Gertrude Bitting Reynolds
Children: None

Mr. Will, as he was called by family and friends, was a son of Hardin William and Nancy Jane Cox Reynolds and a younger brother of R. J. Reynolds. He was a tobacco manufacturer and philanthropist. While attending Trinity College (now called Duke University) in Durham, North Carolina, he worked on an irregular basis in R. J.'s tobacco factory, then joined him full time. He learned the tobacco business from the ground up. He and R. J. formed a partnership in 1886 that also included Henry Roan, the company's bookkeeper. The R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company was chartered as a corporation by the State of North Carolina on February 11, 1890. Mr. Will was given charge of the leaf purchasing department and he served as a director of the Company from February 12,1890 to May 14, 1942. He also was vice president (the first one) from the beginning of his directorship until August 2, 1918 (after the death of R. J.), when he became president. He filled this position until April 8, 1924, and was chairman of the board (again, the first one) from that date until May 6, 1931. He then was chairman of the executive committee of the board until May 14, 1942. As well as his tobacco interests, he was president of the Piedmont Co., the Winston-Salem Hotel Co., and he was a director of the W. S. Judy Seed Company. He and his wife, Kate, owned Tanglewood Farm where he raised fine stock and was widely known for his standard-bred race horses, many of which he trained himself. In the 1909-1910 racing season, one of his horses won fifteen of the seventeen races. He was the first president of the Union Trotting Association. He also owned the Arrowpoint breeding farm near Lexington, Kentucky, and held an interest in Seminole near Orlando, Florida. With others in racing he established the Hambletonian Stake and in 1933 one of his horses won it. Mr. Reynolds erected and equipped a hospital in Winston-Salem and named it the Kate Bitting Reynolds Memorial Hospital in honor of his wife. He founded the Cox School in Stokes County, North Carolina, as a memorial to his mother, and the Hardin Reynolds School in Patrick County, Virginia, as a memorial to his father. Duke University was an early beneficiary of his philanthrophy, as well as North Carolina State College and Wake Forest College. He was active in the creation of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation in honor of the youngest son of R. J. The foundation was instrumental in moving Wake Forest College to Winston-Salem where it was established on the R. J. Reynolds estate, Reynolda, and renamed Wake Forest University. He and his wife had no children and his Tanglewood estate was left as a public park, playground, and amusement center. The City of Winston-Salem acquired the estate and opened it to the public. The Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation received the remainder of his estate to benefit various charitable causes in North Carolina. Descendants of Hardin William Reynolds have influenced the economic and cultural growth of the U.S., particularly in the South, through their business successes and philanthropy.

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BACKGROUND AND TRAINING OF R. J. REYNOLDS

The two youngest sons of Hardin W. Reynolds also attended the local subscription school and possibly received instruction from a governess in the Reynolds home. In 1882 both entered King College in Bristol, remaining there for several months. They then entered Trinity College in Randolph County, North Carolina—eventually to become Duke University. William Neal Reynolds' record there for 1882-83 and 1883-84 was good. Unlike R. J.'s handwriting his was that of a man somewhat accustomed to holding a pen and his use of the English language was fairly smooth and generally grammatical. There is no indication that his knowledge of figures approached that of R. J. Reynolds. On leaving Trinity he immediately joined the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in Winston where he remained for the rest of his working life.

Tilley, Nannie M. The R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. The University of North Carolina Press, 1 Jan. 1985.

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WILLIAM N. REYNOLDS, OF WINSTON-SALEM, NORTH CAROLINA

William N. Reynolds, one of Winston-Salem's most distinguished and popular citizens, was born in Patrick County, Virginia, and spent his boyhood in the home of his parents, Captain and Mrs. Hardin W. Reynolds. He attended the schools in that locality until he entered Trinity College. After his graduation he joined his brother, R. J. Reynolds, whose tobacco manufacturing business was established in Winston, and by his talents and close application to business as a member of the firm, while still a young man became a leader in the management of the colossal manufacturing business, being elected president upon the death of his brother, R. J. Reynolds. He filled that position for a number of years and when he decided to resign was made Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Mr. Reynolds is widely known in this country and abroad and is admired and esteemed for his many splendid qualities of mind and heart. If the story of what Mr. Reynolds has done for them could be told by employees and many others, it would fill volumes.

The advancement of popular education has claimed his interest, and he has given largely to the Cox School in Stokes County, North Carolina, established as a memorial to his mother, and the Hardin Reynolds school in Patrick County as a memorial to his father. Through his munificence the latter school has been enabled to enter the list of accredited high schools.

Mrs. W. N. Reynolds, who was Miss Kate Bitting, member of one of Winston's most prominent families, is possessed of a wonderful personality and perpetual vivacity. She is a leader in social circles, very prominent as a leader in the society of the Daughters of the American Revolution and many other activities. She is the donor of a magnificent organ to Colonial Hall in Washington, D. C., a splendid dormitory to Salem College, this city, in memory of her mother, Mrs. Louise Bitting, and Sunday school building, a memorial to her father, to the First Presbyterian Church, of which both she and Mr. Reynolds are leading members.

Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds occupied a handsome home in the city for a number of years but "Tanglewood," a magnificent estate several miles from the city near the Yadkin River, is a favorite place of residence. There Mr. Reynolds' fine horses, splendidly cultivated land, the home in an ideal location, surrounded with wonderful gardens and magnificent trees, some of them centuries old, and where unstinted and gracious hospitality is dispensed, make it one of the outstanding places in the state.

Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds also have a winter home in Orlando, Florida, where they spend a portion of each year.

Pedigo, Virginia G. & Lewis G. Pedigo. History of Patrick and Henry Counties Virginia. Roanoke, The Stone Printing and Manufacturing Company, 1933.