John M. Reynolds (February 26, 1788May 8, 1865) was a United States lawyer and politician from the state of Illinois who served in all three governmental branches. One of the original four justices of the Illinois Supreme Court (1818–1825), he later won election several times to the Illinois House of Representatives (1826–1830, 1846–1848, and 1852–1854, including as Speaker of the House) and the United States House of Representatives (1834–1837 and 1839–1843), and as 4th Illinois Governor (1830–1834). He also took the rank of major general of the Illinois militia during the Black Hawk War. He published a large autobiography titled My Own Times. Early life Reynolds was born in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. His father, Robert Reynolds and his mother, née Margaret Moore, were both natives of Ireland, from which country they emigrated to the United States in 1785, arriving first at Philadelphia. When Reynolds was about six months old, his parents emigrated with him to Tennessee, where many of their relatives had already located, at the base of the Copper Ridge Mountain, about northeast of the present city of Knoxville. After experiencing raids from Native Americans, the Reynolds moved into the interior of the state in 1794. They were poor, and brought up their children to habits of manual industry. In 1800 the family moved to near Kaskaskia, Illinois, where Reynolds spent most of his childhood. As part of his upbringing, he adopted the principle and practice of total abstinence from intoxicating liquors. In 1807 the family made another move, this time to the Goshen Settlement, at the foot of the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River southwest of Edwardsville. At the age of twenty, Reynolds attended college for two years near Knoxville, Tennessee, where he had relatives, taking courses in classical studies. He then studied law in Knoxville; health problems forced him back to Illinois, but he afterward returned to college and law in Knoxville. In the fall of 1812 he was admitted to the bar at Kaskaskia, and began practicing law in Cahokia, Illinois, opening his first law office there over the winter of 1813–1814. About this time he also learned the French language, which he regarded as being superior to all others for social intercourse. Military service He also served as Judge Advocate. For this service, Reynolds became known as the "Old Ranger". In 1814, Reynolds opened a law office in the old French village of Cahokia, then