Together with his three sons, Gusztáv, Adolf, and Lajos, he started the regular collection of Slovak folk tales, revised them and wrote about the theoretics of the stories. He tried to explain the prehistoric history of the Slovaks with the help of folk tales, and he was the first to do so in Slovakia. At the time of the revolution in 1848 he became a lieutenant. On February 14, 1850, he was appointed administrator of the Tisza district by decree of Haynau by the Royal Imperial Government of Austria, a position he held until his death. When he fell ill, he was cared for by his son, Gusztáv Reuss - who was invited to Nagyrőcé in 1851 as a city doctor.