Rash's Surname Index
Notes for John REYNELL
The Historical Society of Pennsylvania's collection is full of accounts of haunted houses and supernatural sightings. In time for Halloween, we explore the mysterious story of John Reynell, a Philadelphia merchant who claimed to have a vision, or paranormal experience, while in Jamaica in 1726. Reynell, who was originally from England, traveled to the West Indies to serve as an apprentice. (pictured at right) His nephew, Samuel Coates, recorded his uncle's experience:
" ... At the age of about 18 years an Angel hover'd over his bed and utter'd these words: 'The Almighty will bring a hurricane over this Island tomorrow ... The Almighty is offended with the inhabitants of Jamaica ... and is determined to inflict a judgement upon them,' having said this, the Angel immediately disappeared."
The next morning, the young Reynell attempted to warn his landlady, but she scoffed at his words, stating how "the morning was without clouds." She continued to mockingly remark, "Well Johnny, where is your hurricane now?" He replied, "Have patience ... it will come."
Samuel Coates's account of the "vision"
A small cloud appeared in the distance, which quickly "thickened and grew black; the winds blew, the rain descended in torrents; the landlady became terrified..." Reynell, along with his landlady and another gentlemen, felt the full force of the storm as "the very planks under their feet ... the floor boards were started and the nails drawn out, by the force of the wind." They fled the building amidst the gale to a neighbor's home, whose residents were "almost frightened out of their senses."
Once the storm abated, Reynell opened a window and "the first thing he observed was that the house he had left was swept from the very foundation and not a wreck of it left on the ground." Many buildings were destroyed, and some 200 individuals met their death by drowning.
Reynell eventually immigrated to Philadelphia, where he became a successful Quaker merchant. He served as president of the Pennsylvania Hospital from 1757-1780, and was active in politics. He would later be imprisoned along with other pro-British sympathizers in the city's Masonic Lodge in 1777 during the Revolutionary War.
Reynell's obituaryReynell died on September 3, 1784, at his home at northwest corner of Front and Walnut streets. He was eulogized in a short obituary that appeared in Benjamin Franklin's Pennsylvania Gazette. (pictured at right) To his death, Reynell would never retract nor deny his supernatural experience of 1726.
Reynell, John. City of Phila. Merchant. July 6, 1784. Sept 11, 1784. T.18. Estate in Pennsylvania and Maryland. Sister: Mary Groth, City of Exon, Great Britton. Kinsmen: Samuel Coates, Hannah Shoemaker, Beulah Burge, Benjamin and Edward Shoemaker, Edward and Sarah Pennington, John and Mary Pennington, Josiah Langdale Coates, John Reynald and Hannah Coates, Joseph and Beulah Paschall, Samuel Coates, Junr., Alice Langdale, Joseph and Beulah Coates, Joseph Clarke, Joseph Paschall, Samuel and Lydia Coates, Elizabeth Fassett and her children, Sarah Pennington, Sarah Humphreys, Mary Coates, Wife of Joseph L. Coates. Friends: William Wilson, John Field, John Parish. In Trust for families in need, Joshua Howell, Joyer Benezet, William Brown, David Estaugh, John Houghton, Rebecca Jones, Hannah Cathrall, Daniel Offly, Junr., Margaret Porter, Sarah Dickinson, Overseers of the Publick School called Friends Grammer School and for a Negro School. Exec: Joshua Howell, Samuel Coates, Joseph Paschall.
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