Reynolds County began with the arrival of two fur trappers, Henry Fry, who settled there in 1812 as the county’s first white inhabitant, and Andrew Henry in 1816, followed by other pioneers who gradually filled the narrow stream valleys with log cabins. Named for Missouri’s 7th Governor, Thomas Reynolds, the county was organized on Feb 28, 1845, by authority of the 13th General Assembly. Governor Edwards appointed William C. Love, Landon Copeland, and James Crownover as the governing body, then called the Justices of the County Court, and also selected Marvin Munger as sheriff and John Buford as surveyor, while those three justices chose Colin C. Campbell as circuit and county clerk. Pate Buford, brother of John Buford, had been elected in 1844 as Shannon County’s state representative, and his efforts helped make Reynolds one of 19 counties organized in 1845; he was then elected in 1846 as the county’s first representative. The first County Court appointed 14 men as justices of the peace, and Aryes Hudspeth, John Miller, and Moses Carty were chosen in the Legislative Act of 1845 to locate a permanent county seat, which became Centerville. Until a permanent seat of justice was established, Lesterville and the home of Joseph McNail served as the first meeting places for the Circuit Court and County Court. James George of Madison County contracted to build the courthouse, completed in 1849, but in 1863 Tim Reeves of the 15th Mo. Cavalry surprised Capt. Bartlett’s Co. C of the 3rd Mo. State Militia, captured them, and burned the courthouse with all its records. A new courthouse built after the Civil War was also destroyed in 1871, and the present structure was built in 1872 by John Johnston and James B. Barnes at a cost of $8,000. The county is also associated with war losses recorded for the Korean War and the Vietnam War.