Reuben Gaylord was the recognized leader of the missionary

Missionary

A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...

 pioneers in the Nebraska Territory

Nebraska Territory

The Territory of Nebraska was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until March 1, 1867, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Nebraska. The Nebraska Territory was created by the Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854...

, and has been called the "father of Congregationalism

Congregational church

Congregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing Congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....

 in Nebraska

Nebraska

Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....

." Writing in memory of Gaylord in the early 1900s, fellow Omaha

Omaha

Omaha may refer to:*Omaha , a Native American tribe that currently resides in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Nebraska-Places:United States* Omaha, Nebraska* Omaha, Arkansas* Omaha, Georgia* Omaha, Illinois* Omaha, Texas...

 pioneer George L. Miller

George L. Miller

Dr. George Lorin Miller was a pioneer physician, editor, politician, civic leader and land owner in Omaha, Nebraska. The founder of the Omaha Herald, which later became part of the Omaha World-Herald, Miller arrived in Omaha in 1854, the year the city was founded...

 said, "It was Reuben Gaylord, the brave Christian soldier who brought Sunday into Omaha and the Trans-Missouri country.

Early life

Born in Norfolk

Norfolk, Connecticut

Norfolk is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 1,660 at the 2000 census.Norfolk is perhaps best known as the site of the Yale Summer School of Music – Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, which hosts an annual chamber music concert series in "the Music Shed," a...

, Litchfield County, Connecticut

Litchfield County, Connecticut

Litchfield County is a county located in the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Connecticut. Litchfield County has the lowest population density of any county in Connecticut but is geographically the state's largest county. As of 2010 the population was 189,927...

, Reuben Curtis Gaylord was one of eight children of Reuben Gaylord and Mary Curtis who were of Congregational heritage. Gaylord committed himself to Christianity

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

 when he was fourteen years old. He attended Yale University

Yale University

Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

 in 1830 and graduated in 1834, when delivered the graduating oration. After he graduated Gaylord worked at the Illinois College

Illinois College

Illinois College is a private, liberal arts college, affiliated with the United Church of Christ and the Presbyterian Church , and located in Jacksonville, Illinois. It was the second college founded in Illinois, but the first to grant a degree . It was founded in 1829 by the Illinois Band,...

 in Jacksonville, Illinois

Jacksonville, Illinois

Jacksonville is a city in Morgan County, Illinois, United States. The population was 18,940 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Morgan County....

. There he taught and studied theology with Dr. Edward Beecher

Edward Beecher

Edward Beecher was a noted theologian, the son of Lyman Beecher and the brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe and Henry Ward Beecher. He was born August 27, 1803 in East Hampton, New York. He graduated from Yale College in 1822. After this he studied theology at Andover. In 1826, he became the pastor...

, president of the college and a son of Dr. Lyman Beecher

Lyman Beecher

Lyman Beecher was a Presbyterian minister, American Temperance Society co-founder and leader, and the father of 13 children, many of whom were noted leaders, including Harriet Beecher Stowe, Henry Ward Beecher, Charles Beecher, Edward Beecher, Isabella Beecher Hooker, Catharine Beecher, and Thomas...

, Yale 1797. In 1837 he returned to Yale Theological Seminary and graduated in 1838.

Gaylord belonged to a band of pioneer ministers well-known in the history of Congregationalism who came west after they graduated from the Yale Divinity School

Yale Divinity School

Yale Divinity School is a professional school at Yale University, in New Haven, Connecticut, U.S. preparing students for ordained or lay ministry, or for the academy...

 in 1838 to established churches in Iowa. He was ordained at Plymouth, Connecticut

Plymouth, Connecticut

Plymouth is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. It is named after Plymouth, Devon, England. The population was 11,634 at the 2000 census. The Town of Plymouth includes the villages of Terryville and Pequabuck.-Geography:...

 in August 1839. His first daughter was born on October 13, 1839. His 23-year-old wife died on September 23, 1840.

Career

Soon after graduation Gaylord was commissioned by the American Home Missionary Society of Yale College to work in Henry County, Iowa

Henry County, Iowa

-2010 census:The 2010 census recorded a population of 20,145 in the county, with a population density of . There were 8,280 housing units, of which 7,666 were occupied.-2000 census:...

. He was the second Congregational minister in that state, preaching at the Mount Pleasant

Mount Pleasant, Iowa

Mount Pleasant is a city in and the county seat of Henry County, Iowa, in the United States. The population was 8,668 in the 2010 census, a decline from 8,751 in the 2000 census. It was founded in 1835 by pioneer Presley Saunders.- History :...

 and Danville, Iowa

Danville, Iowa

Danville is a city in Des Moines County, Iowa, United States. The population was 914 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Burlington, IA–IL Micropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Danville is located at ....

 churches, and eventually became the permanent minister at the Danville Congregational Church. While there he became a founding member of the board of trustees of Iowa College at Grinell

Grinnell, Iowa

Grinnell is a city in Poweshiek County, Iowa, United States. The population was 9,218 at the 2010 census. Grinnell was named after Josiah Bushnell Grinnell and is the home of Grinnell College.- History :...

, now known as Grinnell College

Grinnell College

Grinnell College is a private liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa, U.S. known for its strong tradition of social activism. It was founded in 1846, when a group of pioneer New England Congregationalists established the Trustees of Iowa College....

.

O. D. Richardson

Origen D. Richardson

Origen Drew Richardson was a politician from the U.S. state of Michigan, and in the Nebraska Territory.-Biography:Richardson was born in Woodstock, Vermont, where he studied and practiced law...

, former governor of Michigan and Congregationalist, invited Gaylord to come and work in Omaha, Nebraska

Omaha, Nebraska

Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...

. He first came in September 1855. Moving his family there on Christmas Day, 1855, Gaylord preached his sermons in the Nebraska State House in Omaha, which was the only place in Omaha available.

On May 4, 1856, Gaylord organized the First Congregational Church of Omaha with nine members. A building was completed in August 1857. Later he organized the Congregational Church in Fontanelle

Fontanelle, Nebraska

Fontanelle is an unincorporated community in Washington County, Nebraska, United States. The site of repeated incursions by the neighboring Pawnee tribe, Fontanelle was an early boom town in the Nebraska Territory, but waned in importance after failing to secure a railroad connection in the late...

, Florence

Florence, Nebraska

Florence is a neighborhood in Omaha, Nebraska on the city's north end and originally one of the oldest cities in Nebraska. It was incorporated by the Nebraska Territorial Legislature on March 10, 1857. The site of Winter Quarters for Mormon migrants traveling west, it has the oldest cemetery for...

 and Fort Calhoun

Fort Calhoun, Nebraska

Fort Calhoun is a city in Washington County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 856 at the 2000 census.Fort Calhoun Nuclear Generating Station is built on...

. He also played a key roll in establishing the first Nebraska University in Fontanelle.

In 1864 he was appointed agent for the American Home Missionary Society for western Iowa and the entirety of Nebraska. He accepted this appointment and resigned from the church in Omaha, working there until 1871. Afterwards he returned to Omaha, regularly preaching in LaPlatte, Papillion

Papillion, Nebraska

Papillion is a city in Sarpy County in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is a suburb to the southwest of neighboring Omaha, and is the county seat of Sarpy County. The population of Papillion was 18,894 at the 2010 census. In 2009, Papillion was named the #3 best place to live in the United States by...

, Columbus

Columbus, Nebraska

Columbus is a city in east central Nebraska, United States. Its population was 22,111 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Platte County.-Pre-settlement history:...

, and other places. In 1875 he returned to Fontanelle as the minister, and preached at the church in Jalapa as well. Gaylord died suddenly in the town of Fontanelle in 1880.

Family

Gaylord's first wife was Sarah Burton, whom he was married to in 1838; she died two years later. They had one child. In 1841 Reuben married Mary N. Welles, a direct descendant of Thomas Welles

Thomas Welles

Thomas Welles is the only man in Connecticut's history to hold all four top offices: governor, deputy governor, treasurer, and secretary. In 1639, he was elected as the first treasurer of the Colony of Connecticut, and from 1640–1649 served as the colony's secretary...

, the Fourth Colonial Governor of Connecticut

Connecticut

Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

. Reuben and Mary were the parents of four children.

His daughter from his first marriage was Sarah Abia Gaylord. She was born in 1839 in Davenport, Iowa

Davenport, Iowa

Davenport is a city located along the Mississippi River in Scott County, Iowa, United States. Davenport is the county seat of and largest city in Scott County. Davenport was founded on May 14, 1836 by Antoine LeClaire and was named for his friend, George Davenport, a colonel during the Black Hawk...

 and died in Irvington, Nebraska

Irvington, Nebraska

Irvington is an unincorporated community located just outside the northwest city limits of Omaha, Nebraska. According to the 2009 estimate by the United States Census Bureau Irvington's population was 451, making it the smallest village in the Greater Omaha Metropolitan area, according to the...

 in 1919. She was married in 1862 to Sardius Brewster. He was a son of Harriet Clarke and Elias Brewster and a direct descendant of Elder William Brewster

William Brewster (Pilgrim)

Elder William Brewster was a Mayflower passenger and a Pilgrim colonist leader and preacher.-Origins:Brewster was probably born at Doncaster, Yorkshire, England, circa 1566/1567, although no birth records have been found, and died at Plymouth, Massachusetts on April 10, 1644 around 9- or 10pm...

, a Pilgrim leader and spiritual elder of the Plymouth Colony

Plymouth Colony

Plymouth Colony was an English colonial venture in North America from 1620 to 1691. The first settlement of the Plymouth Colony was at New Plymouth, a location previously surveyed and named by Captain John Smith. The settlement, which served as the capital of the colony, is today the modern town...

 and a passenger on the Mayflower

Mayflower

The Mayflower was the ship that transported the English Separatists, better known as the Pilgrims, from a site near the Mayflower Steps in Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Massachusetts, , in 1620...

. Sardius Brewster was also a descendant of Governor William Bradford of the Plymouth Colony and a passenger on the Mayflower, and Martha Wadsworth Brewster

Martha Wadsworth Brewster

Martha Wadsworth Brewster was an 18th-century American poet and writer. She is one of only four colonial women who published volumes of their verse before the American Revolution and was the first American-born woman to publish under her own name.-Early life:She was born on April 1, 1710 in...

, a notable 18th-century American poet and writer.

Gaylord's great-great-grandson, Robert Norton Noyce (1927 – 1990), was nicknamed "the Mayor of Silicon Valley". In 1957 he co-founded Fairchild Semiconductor

Fairchild Semiconductor

Fairchild Semiconductor International, Inc. is an American semiconductor company based in San Jose, California. Founded in 1957, it was a pioneer in transistor and integrated circuit manufacturing...

, and in 1968 he co-founded Intel.