INTRODUCTION

 The following is an excerpt from the book  Genealogy of the Reno/Reneau Family in America, 1600-1930, by Steven Fancy and Sue Damewood, used by permission:

Link to Genealogy of the Reno/Reneau Family in America, 1600-1939

The origin of the Reno and Reneau families in America can be traced to religious events in their home country of France following the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes signed by Henry IV in April 1598.had allowed the French Protestants or Huguenots some religious freedoms, including free exercise of their religion in 20 specified towns in France. The revocation of the Edict of Nantes by Louis XIV in October 1685 began anew persecution of the Huguenots, and hundreds of thousands of Huguenots fled France to other countries

Many went to England where they took out Letters of Denization which permitted them to remain and to hold land in England or its colonies. Large numbers of Huguenots migrated to British North America, especially to the Carolinas, Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York.         Most of the Reno family in America can be traced to Louis Reynaud, a Huguenot from the former province of Angoumois, corresponding today to the Department of Charente near the Bordeaux region of western France    The only written evidence for the origin of our Reynaud ancestors in France comes from the September 8, 1687 bounty award to "Louis Reynaud of Angoumois".

Two of Louis Reynaud's sons, Louis and Benjamin arrived in Stafford County, Virginia, by October 1688.  This is documented by records in the Stafford County,VA Record Book, pages 94-95,containing sworn statements from Nicholas Hayward, Notary Public, dated October 2nd and 3rd, l688, certifying that he had seen Letters Pattents of Denigracon" from King James II for two of Louis Reynaud's sons: Lewis Reynaud and his family,and Benjamin Reynaud and his family.  On the same page of Stafford County records Lewis and Benjamin record the brands that they will use for their livestock. 

The study of the Reno family, from their origins in Virginia in 1688 to the current situation where Louis Reynaud's descendents can be found in almost every state in the country.  The first Renos settled in and around Stafford County, Virginia ,parts of which became Prince William County,where Lewis Reno and his sons were tobacco farmers.    Most of the Reno-Reneau family descended from Lewis' son John Reno and his wife SusannahThorn,who moved from Prince William County to Pattersons Creek in Hampshire County, Virginia about 1760 and then further north in about 1773 to the newly opened wilderness area of Chartiers Creek near present day Pittsburgh. Both Virginia and Pennsylvania claimed this land until 1784 and the Renos claimed land there on Virginia certificates, but later a federal commission determined that Pennsylvania's claim was valid. Two of John Reno's sons, Charles and Thomas, fought in the Revolutionary War. Ten years earlier, King George III had made the Proclamation of 1763 that reserved all lands west of the rest of the Allegheny and Appalachian mountains for the Indians, and the settlement on Chartiers Creek was one of the most Western settlements of the growing country.  

Other sons of John Reno, including Charles Reno, John David Reno, and Thomas Reneau went south to Tennessee,  Kentucky and Alabama   Some of the grandchildren of John Reno and Susannah Thorn were early settlers in southern states and fought in the Indian Wars of Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi, later settling on lands previously held by the Cherokee, Choctaw,  Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole tribes    Three Reneau brothers were in Texas during the 1830's,when those lands were under the control of the Spanish and then the Mexican government  Other Reno families were in Arkansas while it was still part of the Missouri Territory, after the Louisiana Purchase but prior to the assignment of the Indian Lands    As new lands opened, whether Reno or Reneau, the families were there,moving further westward.     Some of the"southern contingent"moved north to areas inhabited by other related families, but the "northern contingent" migrated into southern areas.    In the late 1700's and early 1800's, the Renos/Reneaus moved around by boat,horse, and oxcart.  Even as late as 1840, the railroad only went as far west as Missouri and the wagon trains of the Oregon Trail started there around 1843.  The transcontinental railroad that opened up the country did not occur until after the Civil War