Class of 1825

John C. Reynolds was born the son of Reuben Reynolds in Cecil County, Maryland around 1810. He studied at an early age at the Nottingham Academy in his home county and then entered Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania with the class of 1825. When he graduated with honors, Reynolds was still only sixteen years old. He then went on to study medicine with Dr. Nathan Smith in Baltimore.

Reynolds interned in the hospitals of Baltimore and then became a commissioned surgeon in the United States Army. He saw his first action in the second Seminole War, fought between 1835 and 1842 in Florida. Reynolds also was involved with the Cherokee unrest. This included the subsequent treaty signing authorizing the final removal of that tribe in 1835, and the escorting of 5000 tribe members across the Mississippi in the infamous "Trail of Tears" in 1838. He went on to serve under General Winfield Scott in the Mexican War in 1846.

Reynolds married Eleanor Moore of Lewistown, Pennsylvania and from then on called Mifflin County his home. John Cromwell Reynolds died on February 20, 1849 in Lewistown. He was thirty-eight years old.

Thomas Williams was born in Greensburg, Pennsylvania on August 28, 1806, the son of Robert Williams, a Cecil County, Maryland native. He was educated at local schools and then enrolled in Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, graduating with the Class of 1825. He returned to Greensburg to study law under Judge Richard Coulter and was admitted to the Westmoreland County bar in 1828. Four years later he moved his practice to Pittsburgh. Though his mentor Coulter was a Jacksonian, Williams became a Whig in reaction to Jackson's anti-national bank stance. He edited the Whig journal The Advocate and was elected to the State Senate in November 1838 and served until 1841. He also supported the campaign of William Henry Harrison in 1840. He delivered a widely applauded eulogy in the Pennsylvania Senate when Harrison died soon after taking office. Almost twenty five years later, he delivered another eulogy at the same location for Abraham Lincoln.