Obituary of Christopher Columbus Reno

DEATH OF CHRISTOPHER RENO OF NEAR PATTONSBURG.

CC Reno (1834-1906)
Source - Ellen Lovicy Waters Britton

Christopher Reno was born Oct. 9, 1834, near Elizabethtown, Ky. His father's family moved to Macoupin county, Ill., in 1850. In 1852 he united with the Baptist Church. In 1853 he went to California and remained there four years, when he returned to Illinois he was united in marriage to Miss Tabitha Ellen Fitz-Jarrell, Jan. 19, 1860. To them were born twelve children, five boys and seven girls, eight of whom are living - five girls and three boys. They moved from Illinois to Daviess county, Mo., in 1866 and they have lived in this county ever since. Besides his wife and children now living, he leaves one brother and two sisters. Brother Reno became a Universalist in 1879. He had Rev. Erasmus Manford and Rev. Stephen Hull preach in his home and school houses and such churches were open to them in the late sixties and from that time on he took a great interest in having Universalist preaching in his neighborhood. He passed to higher life on Jan. 11, 1906, after much suffering from stomach trouble, being 71 years, 3 months and 2 days old. The funeral services were conducted at the M. E. Church at Civil Bend by Rev. G. E. Cunningham of La Plata, Mo., who is State Superintendent of Universalist churches in Missouri. He used as his text, 1 Cor. 15:44 and Eccl. 7:1. A large concourse of friends followed the remains to the Civil Bend cemetery where other members of the Reno family are buried. A worthy and generous man has passed to his reward.

[Notes - The photo was not included in the original obituary. Christopher Columbus "Kit" Reno was the grandfather of Ellen Lovicy Waters Britton (1912-1999). Above is mentioned that he went to California in 1853. The reason for this was the California Gold Rush. Though still recovering from a four year illness, and without a penny to his name, he and others walked from Kentucky to California. He soon realized that he could make more money earning high wages working for other miners, than by mining a claim himself. After doing so for several years, he traveled, partly by ship around the horn, to Illinois, where his parents had relocated. The gold dust he had earned, though nearly stolen when another passenger thought him asleep on deck, was enough to build up his own farm.]